Griffin, Hawks Visiting MSG

Archbishop Stepinac High School graduate AJ Griffin and the Atlanta Hawks are visiting Madison Square Garden tonight to oppose the New York Knicks.

Tipoff is 7:30.

Griffin, 19, is averaging 5.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in four games this season. The 6 foot-6 guard is shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range.

The Hawks are 4-3 and sit in first place in the Southeast Division. The Knicks are 3-3 overall and 3-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Griffin was drafted 16th overall by the Hawks in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Griffin averaged 10.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in leading the Duke Blue Devils to the NCAA Division I Final Four during his one season at Durham, N.C. He shot 49.3 percent from the floor and 44.7 percent from three-point range.

Prior to Duke, Griffin helped Stepinac capture the 2018 state high school federation championship.

CHSFL Playoff Pairings Set

St. Anthony’s, Iona Prep and Archbishop Stepinac earned the top three seeds for the Catholic High School Football League AAA Playoffs.

Check out the pairings for playoffs which begin next weekend.

Week 8 Results

St. Anthony’s 27, Archbishop Stepinac 21

St. Joseph by-the-Sea 14, Mount St. Michael 0

Xaverian 37, Cardinal Spellman 0

Kellenberg 28, Msgr. Farrell 6

Iona Prep 35, Chaminade 7

Moore Catholic 25, Cardinal Hayes 22

St. Francis Prep 25, Holy Cross 14

St. Peter’s def. Christ the King

AAA Quarterfinals

Friday, Nov. 4

No. 8 Christ the King at No. 1 St. Anthony’s, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 5

No. 7 Cardinal Hayes at No. 2 Iona Prep, 3 p.m.

No. 6 Msgr. Farrell at No. 3 Archbishop Stepinac 6 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 6

No. 5 Kellenberg at No. 4 Chaminade, 1 p.m.

AA Division 1 Quarterfinals

No. 1 Holy Trinity bye

No. 5 Fordham Prep at No. 4 St. Joseph by-the-Sea

Sunday, Nov. 6

No. 7 St. Francis Prep at No. 2 Moore Catholic, 1 p.m.

No. 6 St. Peter’s at No. 3 St. John the Baptist, 1 p.m.

AA Division II Quarterfinals

No. 1 Xavier bye

No. 2 Mount St. Michael bye

Friday, Nov. 4

No. 5 Holy Cross at No. 4 Kennedy Catholic, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 5

No. 6 Cardinal Spellman at No. 3 Xaverian, 4 p.m.

Siegrist Named Big East’s Top Player

Maddy Siegrist is returning to Poughkeepsie to compete on a court her father once called home.

The Our Lady of Lourdes High School graduate will lead the Villanova University women’s basketball team into action against Marist College at the McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie on Monday, Nov. 7.

Siegrist visits Poughkeepsie after coaches selected her as the preseason Big East Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. Villanova was picked to finish third in the conference standings.

This will be Villanova’s first trip to Poughkeepsie since participating in the first game played in the renovated McCann Arena in 2011. Formerly called the McCann Center, Siegrist’s father George played four seasons at Marist and later served as an assistant coach with the men’s basketball program.

Siegrist, a senior, is coming off her best season at Villanova that ended with her being named the Big East and Big 5 player of the year, and All-American by The Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Siegrist was second in the nation with her 25.3 points per game and grabbed 9.2 rebounds per game. The forward, who finished with 12 double-doubles, shot 50 percent from the floor and 36 percent from beyond the three-point arc. She scored 20 or more points in 20 games and 30 or more points in nine games.

In August, Siegrist was one of six college players chosen to compete for the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s 3×3 U23 Nations League team at the FIBA 3×3 Nations League tournament in the Dominican Republic.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

Davis, UNC Are No. 1

Archbishop Stepinac High School graduate RJ Davis will be a junior on this year’s University of North Carolina men’s basketball team that is ranked first in the preseason Associated Press and ESPN poll.

Davis is a second-team preseason All-ACC pick.

Davis helped the Tar Heels reach the 2022 Final Four where it lost to ACC rival Duke, which was led by Stepinac graduate AJ Griffin.

Davis became the first Tar Heel in program history to finish NCAA Tournament games with at least 10 assists and more than 30 points in the next. He finished with 12 assists against Marquette and 30 points against top seed Baylor.

In the NCAA Tournament, Davis played a team-high 37.7 minutes per game and averaged 14.7 point per contest.

As a sophomore, Davis led the Tar Heels with 142 assists, 40 steals and was second in free-throw percentage at 83 percent and three-point field goal percentage at 37 percentage. He was third on the team with 66 three-point field goals and fourth in scoring.

At Stepinac Davis set the Westchster County scoring record with 2,446 career points. As a senior, he was named the 2020 Gatorade High School Player of the Year in New York, New York’s Mr. Basketball by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York and was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH CAROLINA

Iona Prep, Stepinac Still in Top 5

Iona Prep and Archbishop remain third and fifth, respectively, for another week in the New York State Sportswriters Association’s Class AA football poll.

St. Anthony’s is still No. 1. Stepinac and St. Anthony’s will meet in White Plains on Friday night.

In Class A, Our Lady of Lourdes is 10^th, and Moore Catholic is 25^th.

In Class B, Xavier is 23^rd, and in Class C, John S. Burke Catholic is 25^th.

Young Named PGA’s Top Rookie

Cameron Young fell just short of winning some PGA Tour events, but the Fordham Prep graduate did more than enough to capture the 2021-2022 PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year honor.

“I just think it’s a very special one historically, given Arnold Palmer’s contributions to our game and the list of names that have been able to take this home is very cool, and I’m very thankful to be a part of it,” said Young of winning the Arnold Palmer Award as the tour’s top rookie in an interview with the Golf Channel.

Young completed the 2021-2022 season with five second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in 25 events.

In September, Young helped Team USA defeat the International team at the Presidents Cup.

PGA golfers will be competing in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, starting Thursday at Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PGA TOUR

CYO Runners Compete at Seminary

CYO New York cross-country runners had the opportunity to compete in meets at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie.

Click here to read the Catholic New York story.

PHOTO BY CHRIS SHERIDAN

CHSFL Regular Season Closing Next Weekend, Playoffs Approaching

The Catholic High School Football League will conclude its regular season next weekend with a matchup featuring St. Anthony’s and Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains at 7 p.m. Friday.

Both teams are 7-1 overall. St. Anthony’s is 6-0, and Stepinac is 5-1 in AAA League play. Iona Prep, which hosts Chaminade on Saturday, also is 5-1 in AAA League.

The playoffs are scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 5.

Week 7 Results

St. Anthony’s 44, Christ the King 12

Fordham Prep 27, St. Peter’s 24

Iona Prep 41, Msgr. Farrell 13

Holy Cross 25, Campus Magnet 6

Archbishop Stepinac 34, Kellenberg 30

Chaminade 10, Holy Trinity 7

St. John the Baptist 55, Mount St. Michael 26

Xavier 42, Cardinal Spellman 6

Cardinal Hayes 50, St. Joseph by-the-Sea 12

Moore Catholic 32, St. Francis Prep 10

Xaverian 28, Kennedy Catholic 21

Week 8 Schedule

Friday, Oct. 28

St. Anthony’s at Archbishop Stepinac, 7 p.m.

Mount St. Michael at St. Joseph by-the-Sea, 7 p.m.

Cardinal Spellman at Xaverian, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29

St. Peter’s at Christ the King, TBA

Msgr. Farrell at Kellenberg, 1 p.m.

Chaminade at Iona Prep, 1:30 p.m.

Cardinal Hayes at Moore Catholic, 1:30 p.m.

St. Francis Prep at Holy Cross, 1:30 p.m.

Xavier at St. Dominic’s, 1:30 p.m.

Iona Prep 3rd in State Poll

The New York State Sportswriters Association released its latest high school football polls and Iona Prep and Archbishop Stepinac are third and fifth in the Class AA poll.

St. Anthony’s is ranked first. Stepinac will host St. Anthony’s on Oct. 28.

In Class A, Our Lady of Lourdes is 13^th, and Moore Catholic is 25^th.

In Class B, Xavier is 25^th.

In Class C, John S. Burke Catholic is 15^th.

Manhertz, Jaguars Playing Giants

NFL fans in the archdiocese can check out Cardinal Spellman High School graduate Chris Manhertz when he and the Jacksonville Jaguars host the New York Giants at 1 p.m. Sunday.

FOX will televise the game.

The Jaguars are 2-4 in third place of the AFC South. The Giants are 5-1 and are second to the unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.

Manhertz, 30, is in his second season with the Jaguars and has three receptions for 15 yards through the first six games this season.

The tight end has 20 receptions for 217 yards in his seven NFL seasons.

Manhertz played basketball at Canisius College in Buffalo and was offered a tryout by the Buffalo Bills following his collegiate career.

After the Bills released him, he was on the practice squad for the New Orleans Saints in 2015 and was in uniform for three games in 2016 before being released.

The Carolina Panthers claimed him off waivers from the Saints and he played five seasons with the Panthers.