St. Raymond celebrated in the Carnesecca Arena with a dance party. When things calmed down, senior Myron Hickman took a deep breath and uttered the word on the tip of all the Ravens’ tongues.
Finally.
The St. Raymond seniors had lost in the semifinals here at St. John’s twice in a row to Christ the King. As ninth graders, they lost in the freshmen semifinals.
That streak was finally broken Wednesday night in a wild, back-and-forth 54-53 win over rival Cardinal Hayes in overtime.
“Here’s the monkey off my back,” St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua said with a broad smile.
Denis Gostev
St. Raymond's Ray Pender (l.), Shane Rector (c.), and Lorenzo Rojas (r.) celebrate victory over Cardinal Hayes.
St. Raymond (20-9), which last made the finals in 2007, rallied back from down 48-41 with 2:50 left behind senior stars Daniel Dingle and Kerwin Okoro. And when the Okoro fouled out with 32.2 seconds left in regulation, Dingle and fellow senior Larry Graves made sure the Ravens left Jamaica, Queens with a berth in the championship game, set for 3 p.m. Sunday against Holy Cross at Fordham University.
“When you really want something,” Dingle said, “you take it.”
Dingle’s three-point play pulled St. Ray’s within 48-46 with 1:54 left and Okoro followed with a three-point play of his own to give his team the lead, 49-48, with 1:24 to go. Dingle made one of two free throws with 9.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Dingle put the Ravens up for good with a foul shot with just 21.6 remaining and the defense held from there. That came after Graves made two free throws to tie the game at 53 with 1:18 to go.
Graves, who had 19 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter against Hayes (24-5) the last time, struggled from the field. But he was confident going to the line in a clutch spot. Every time he has a chance to make a play late in the game, he looks over to his coach and they both smile to each other.
“It’s Antigua, man,” Graves said. “He always tells me I’m gonna hit a big shot.”
The Temple-bound Dingle finished with a mammoth 24 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Shane Rector had 13 points and the Iowa State-bound Okoro added 11 points. The seniors – starting with Dingle and Okoro – hung with St. Raymond amid a mass exodus of start players two years ago.
“It’s nice to see for the guys,” Antigua said. “I’m happy for them. We deserve a chance to hold a trophy.”
Added Graves: “We didn’t take the easy way out.”
There was nothing easy about the game with Hayes. The Cardinals won the first two meetings during the regular season, including a 25-point rout in the second game. Hayes coach Joe Lods commented that his team had the edge on St. Raymond heading into a CHSAA Archdiocesan semifinal game, igniting the Ravens to a dramatic win.
Nothing like that happened this time around. Antigua was complimentary of Lods afterward. After all, the Hayes head man did guide his team to the CHSAA Class AA semifinals in its first year up from the ‘A.’ Jalen Jenkins had 14 points, Fairfield-bound Amadou Sidibe had 13 points and Naasir Williams added 12 points.
“I’m trying to re-establish Cardinal Hayes as a ‘AA’ team,” Lods said. “When I first took over, the cupboard was bare. … I see Cardinal Hayes as a storied franchise and we should be good. The Cardinals will be back.”
St. Ray’s will be back in action Sunday, back in its home borough of The Bronx. The Ravens made it past the semis this time and have a chance to win their first title since 2004.
“Finally, but it’s not over,” Dingle said. “The hunger is still there. Sunday is judgment day.”
mraimondi@nypost.com
Cardinal Hayes, Cardinal Hayes, St. Raymond, St. Raymond, Daniel Dingle, the Ravens, the Ravens, Shane Rector, Shane Rector, Kerwin Okoro, Oliver Antigua, Okoro, Raymond, Larry Graves
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