Griffin, Duke Playing on ESPN Tonight

AJ Griffin and the Duke University men’s basketball team will be playing an Atlantic Coast Conference game at the University of Notre Dame at 7 tonight on ESPN.

Griffin is coming off a 22 point, four rebound and two steal performance in a 74-65 victory over Louisville, Duke’s third consecutive win. He was 5 for 5 from three-point range. The five threes and the 22 points are career highs.

In a 12-0 run late in the game, the freshman forward out of Archbishop Stepinac High School hit back-to-back three-point field goals to give Duke a 68-60 lead.

Griffin is averaging 8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Duke (17-3 overall) will play at rival North Carolina at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. His Stepinac teammate, RJ Davis, is a sophomore guard at North Carolina.

Siegrist Powers Villanova

Our Lady of Lourdes High School graduate Maddy Siegrist averaged 26.5 points in leading Villanova to a pair of Big East women’s basketball victories over the weekend.

In an 82-57 win over Xavier, the junior forward collected 30 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals. In a 59-44 victory over Butler, she contributed 23 points, five rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots and one assist.

Siegrist is averaging 24.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season and is 50 points shy of 1,500 for her college career.

Villanova (13-6 overall, 7-3 Big East) will bring a five-game winning streak into Friday’s game at St. John’s. The Wildcats will host Georgetown on Sunday before playing at UConn on Feb. 9, a game being televised by SNY.

PHOTO BY CHRIS SHERIDAN

Davis Assists North Carolina

Archbishop Stepinac High School graduate RJ Davis had 17 points, four assists and three rebounds for the University of North Carolina in a 100-80 Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball victory over North Carolina State on Saturday.

The sophomore guard is averaging 13.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

North Carolina (15-6 overall, 7-3 ACC) will bring a three-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game at Louisville. The Tar Heels will play Duke and Stepinac grad AJ Griffin at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

Citron Lifts Notre Dame

Sonia Citron, a graduate of The Ursuline School, finished with 14 points and five rebounds as Notre Dame avenged an earlier loss this season with a 74-61 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Boston College on Sunday.

Three days earlier, the freshman guard had 13 points and 12 rebounds in an 83-62 win over Syracuse.

Citron is averaging 11.4 points per game.

Notre Dame (16-4 overall, 7-2 ACC) will host North Carolina State on Tuesday and Virginia Tech on Thursday.

Suarez Leads Dominican

John F. Kennedy Catholic Preparatory School graduate Alexis Suarez finished with 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals, leading Dominican College to an 85-73 women’s basketball victory over Caldwell on Wednesday night.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Chargers (8-10 overall), who will host Goldey-Beacom College at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Suarez, a sophomore guard, is averaging 12.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.1 steals per game.

Davis Lifts UNC

Archbishop Stepinac High School graduate RJ Davis contributed 13 points and seven rebounds as North Carolina defeated Boston College, 58-47, in a Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball victory on Wednesday night.

The Tar Heels (14-6 overall, 6-3 ACC) will host North Carolina State on Saturday.

Davis is averaging 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Hayes, Stepinac is Sold Out

Friday night’s high school boys basketball game between Cardinal Hayes and host Archbishop Stepinac is sold out.

No tickets will be available at the door and walk-ins will not be accepted. Media attending the game must be approved in advance. The game will be televised by at LocalLive.TV

Cardinal Hayes and Stepinac are two of the top CHSAA teams this season. Cardinal Hayes is the state’s No. 1 Class AA team and is ranked sixth by MaxPreps and 15th by ESPN. Stepinac, which was in the national polls a few weeks back, is ranked eighth in the Class AA poll by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Ian Jackson of Cardinal Hayes is rated as the fourth best high school sophomore player in the country by ESPN and Stepinac’s Johnuel Fland is 13th on the same list of sophomores.

Davis, UNC Host BC Tonight

Archbishop Stepinac High School graduate RJ Davis and the North Carolina men’s basketball team will host Boston College in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at 7 tonight.

Click here to follow along during tonight’s game. The Tar Heels (13-6 overall, 5-3 ACC) are 10-0 at home this season.

In Monday’s 78-68 ACC victory over Virginia Tech, the sophomore guard contributed 15 points, three rebounds, two assist, one steal and one block.

Davis is third on the team averaging 13.5 points per game and is grabbing 3.8 rebounds per contest.

Hayes Still No. 1 in New State Poll

Cardinal Hayes High School remains atop the New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA boys basketball poll with Archbishop Stepinac now at No. 8.

Cardinal Hayes also is still No. 6 in the MaxPreps national poll.

In Class A, Fordham Prep is a new member of the state poll, joining at No. 10. Msgr. Farrell is 15th.

In the Class AA girls basketball poll, The Ursuline School and Msgr. Scanlan are 12th and 14th, respectively.

St. Joseph by-the-Sea remains No. 1 in the Class A girls basketball poll.

Tough Road Tests Await Top CHSAA Teams

Three of the state’s top four high school boys basketball teams will face tough tests on the road this afternoon.

Cardinal Hayes, the state’s No. 1 Class AA team in the state sportswriters association poll, will be at No. 12 Mount St. Michael Academy. St. Francis Prep from the Diocese of Brooklyn, ranked third in the state poll, will play at St. Raymond, which received an honorable mention ranking in the latest state poll. And finally, Archbishop Stepinac, ranked fourth, plays another honorable mention team from the state poll and perennial New York City power from the Diocese of Brooklyn in Archbishop Molloy.

All three games are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.