Manhattan still has plenty of fight in it.

Head coach Steve Masiello’s team continues to try to battle its way through a slow start and limited roster. Manhattan showed no panic as it held on for a 71-60 home victory over St. Francis College on Dec. 14 to snap a five-game losing streak.

“We stay with our process,” Masiello said. “We grind it out. We get better everyday. We’re a blue-collar program that rolls our sleeves up. We’re not afraid of adversity.”

An obstacle so far this season for the Jaspers (2-7) has been the lack of depth because of injuries. Against St. Francis (3-7) the team only had seven healthy players. Shane Richards and Thomas Capuano played 37 and 31 minutes respectively.

Manhattan built a 41-27 at halftime, but St. Francis attempted to come back on three separate occasions. It cut the deficit to eight points in the second half. However, Manhattan regained control with less than five minutes to go in regulation as Zane Waterman and RaShawn Stores both notched three-pointers to keep the Jaspers comfortably ahead.

“The first half was kind of slow,” Terriers forward Chris Hooper, who scored 15 points and had eight rebounds, said. “We went in for break and coach told us to pick it up more and trust the offense. Trust what we do on offense. Get the ball inside and play from the inside out. That’s what we did. It picked up a little bit.”

Manhattan, on the other hand, clicked on offense from the beginning. It scored the first seven points of the game, ultimately holding on to the lead the whole game. Tyler Wilson and Rich Williams had key three-pointers each before Capuano hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to close the half, giving the Jaspers the 14-point lead.

“It’s been a common trend for us,” Masiello said. “We do a lot of good things and we do a lot of bad things. I think we improved in some areas defensively. The thing that I’m struggling with is coaching with the lack of depth. You see that with the numbers. I’m happy we got the win, but I thought we made some mistakes.”

Richards led Manhattan with 19 points. He went 5 of 12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line with eight rebounds and two steals. The Jaspers shot over 55 percent overall and made 8 of 13 three-pointers. Williams added 15 points and seven boards. Waterman notched 13 points and Wilson had a game-high seven assists along with nine points.

“We have to do what it takes to win,” Richards, who played in a more defensive role for Manhattan against St. Francis, said. “If it means me getting rebounds, I have to do it. We rebounded collectively as a group, against a strong offensive rebounding team.”

Antonio Jenifer led St. Francis with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Tyreek Jewell notched 12 points and Yunus Hopkinson had nine.

“Give Manhattan all the credit,” St. Francis coach Glenn Braica said. “They got off a plane from Memphis Sunday and came out and played with great energy, great focus and we didn’t. There are no excuses. We need to learn that you have to play every night. These games happen but we can’t accept them.”

This article originally appeared in the Bronx Times. 

An emotional two weeks for Cardinal Hayes didn’t end with the joy of a title.

Teammate Delano Cowan died after the team’s quarterfinal win and the Cardinals road the emotion to their first CHSFL ‘AAA’ final. The team captains carried Cowan’s No. 90 jersey onto the field one more time and refused to quit after falling behind 17 points at the half.

Costly mistakes and missed opportunities caused the Cardinals’ comeback to fall short in a 20-12 loss to defending champion Archbishop Stepinac at Fordham University last Saturday night.

“We all felt him,” Hayes receiver Shameen Jones said of Cowan. “When we were down at halftime and came back we all felt that drive, that push, that momentum to get back, but we came up short.”

Down 17-0 at halftime, the Cardinals (8-3) received new life when cornerback Zahir Williams returned an interception for 43 yards. Quarterback Christian Anderson (15 of 29, 193 yards) ran seven yards or a touchdown to put Hayes on the board at 17-6 with 4:22 to go in the third quarter.

“We kept chopping away and made plays,” Hayes coach C.J. O’Neil said. “We had a big defensive turnover that helped and we kept working on it. Eventually it broke through.”

After a 26-yard field goal from Liam Butler made it 20-6, Anderson connected with Jones on a 64-yard reception for a first and goal. Running back Justin Covington, who was held to just 20 yards rushing, finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown to make it 20-12 with 8:47 left in the game. Jones caught five passes for 97 yards.

Momentum was on the Cardinals’ side until a holding penalty eliminated Covington’s 34-yard pass reception into Stepinac territory in the final minutes. Two more flags caused a promising drive to stall and resulted in Hayes punting with 2:30 remaining in the contest. Stepinac (11-0) did not give Hayes another chance.

“As a team, we had a lot of ups and downs,” Jones said. “We lost one of our teammates but we stepped up together as a family. We came out on a five game streak and made it to the championship. It was all for him.”

Stepinac’s offense fed off quarterback Tyquell Fields, who found the end zone from 4 yards out on the opening drive. Running back Antonio Giannico scored on a 4-yard run with three minutes to go in the first quarter to give Stepinac a 14-0 lead.

Anderson was intercepted twice by T.J. Morrison before halftime. The first came at the Crusaders’ 25-yard line and the second at their 11. A 25-yard field goal by Liam Butler in the final seconds of the second quarter made it 17-0 in favor of Stepinac before the Cardinals held them to just three points over the final two frames.

While Hayes was unable to dig out of the hole, it went a long way in its second season up in the top division. It still can end on a winning note against Mount St. Michael in their annual Thanksgiving Day clash.

“We moved from being the eighth seed last year to the second seed this year in the AAA,” Anderson said. “We got here to the championship with an 8-2 record. Getting to the championship in general was a pretty good accomplishment this year.”

This article originally appeared in the Bronx Times. 

Maya Greenfield saw her high school career ticking to a close and refused to go down without a fight.

The Bronx Science senior was able distance herself from the Francis Lewis defense in the games final minutes. A wide open Greenfield scored from left field to send the game to overtime before quickly tallying the winner in No. 3-seeded Bronx Science’s improbable 4-3 victory over No. 7 Francis Lewis in the PSAL Class A girls’ soccer semifinals on Randall’s Island Tuesday.

“I was biting my tongue,” Greenfield said as she looked back at scoring her goal. “I was really emotional before because I’m a senior; it would have been my last few minutes. I honestly wanted to take my team there. I looked at my girls and I really wanted to do it for them.”

Greenfield had two goals and two assists and four shots on goal in the game. She has scored six times his post season, but none were bigger than her two against Lewis.

“She came through when we needed her,” Annie Eckstein, Bronx Science head coach, said. “She’s been doing that for us all season. She’s great when she beats people around the corner. She feeds balls in and finishes when we need her to.”

Lewis (14-2-0) opened the scoring on a goal by sophomore Jacklyn Lada. Bronx Science answered when Meleni Rahaman scored off of an assist from Greenfield. Play went back and forth for most of the first half until Rahaman found the back of the net once again to give the Wolverines (14-3-0) a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Samantha Margolis scored in the 58th minute to draw Lewis even at 2-2. Her second goal of the game with a assist from Lada and Melanie Feliz gave the Patriots 3-2 lead in the 68th minute.

“I think we had a little bit of a let down,” Eckstein said. “When they scored to go ahead, it was a great test for us. It wasn’t really one I wanted to have at this point but it was good to see that they stayed with each other.”

It is the second straight year the Wolverines beat Lewis in the semifinals

Bronx Science, which last won the crown in 2012, advances to its four straight championship games to face rival and two-time defending champions Beacon on 3 p.m. Sunday at St. John’s University.

In preparation for the final, the Wolverines are going to look at its last few meeting with the Blue Demons, including two regular season defeats. Greenfield noted how they struggled with finishing. Eckstein said that the team is going to also talk about their last four post season games and focus on key aspects from those.

“I know that we give it our all every practice so we are just going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Greenfield said.

This article originally appeared in the Bronx Times.