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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Sayon Charles went from out of sorts to in sync after halftime — and it pushed Xaverian to a playoff win.
The junior forward’s ability to rebound and thrive after an uneven first half is what really stood out to Clippers’ boys’ basketball coach Jack Alesi.
“When things are going wrong, to will us to a win like that was the impressive thing,” he said. “The kid really stepped up, big time.”
Charles scored 16 of his game-high 22 points after the break to help propel Xaverian to a 48–39 victory against Mount St. Michael in a Catholic High School League Class AA intersectional outbracket game at Archbishop Molloy last Sunday.
Xaverian trailed 23–19 at the half, got the scored tied, and then watched Charles convert consecutive three-point plays early in the fourth quarter to give the team a 38–34 lead with 6:23 remaining the game. The Clippers never trailed again.
“That’s usually the way I play,” Charles said. “I’m a tough player. I come out hard whether we are down or up.”
He’s had to play a much bigger role this season, and he has flourished in it. Charles is the Clippers’ leading scorer and has tallied 20 points or more eight times this season. He did even more against the Mountaineers (6–20) in Sunday’s game. Charles rebounded, blocked shots, set up open teammates for baskets, and even took a key fourth-quarter charge.
“Confidence has always been there,” senior forward Rob Rossiter said of Charles. “He’s always taken his shots. It’s just this year he has had more opportunities to make his shots, more opportunities to take his shots.”
Xaverian (11–14) advanced to play St. Raymond on Jan 26 at Christ the King in the first round, but just getting a playoff victory was big step for a team filled with underclassman, according to Alesi. Xaverian has just three seniors on the roster and only Rossiter starts. Coming from behind to gain a victory is something they can build off of next season no matter what happens the rest of the way.
“You want them to experience close games in the fourth quarter,” Alesi said. “You want them to experience having to play the game the right way to get back in.”
His team tried to exploit its size advantage inside with Charles, junior forward Najee Larcher and sophomore guard Yonty Wisseh. They just weren’t finishing layups and saw Mount get hot in the second quarter. The Mountaineers closed the first half on a 16–3 run thanks to the hot shooting from junior guard James Brady that put his team up 23–19 at the break.
Charles started the third off by quickly scoring the first six Xaverian points. A late jumper by Rossiter (11 points) sent his team into the fourth tied at 32–32 and in position to earn the win.
“It was frustrating,” Rossiter said. “But I knew we could pick it up.”