By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — After losing two straight games against top-ranked opponents and with their best player watching in street clothes, Manhattan high school basketball powerhouse Rice anticipated a difficult battle against rival Archbishop Molloy.
Turns out, though, they didn't need forward Kadeem Jack — out with a knee injury — to crush Molloy, 80-61, on Tuesday night.
“It’s a game we needed for our momentum to get us back on track,” Coach Mo Hicks said.
In the past two weeks, the Raiders (18-5) lost tough games to Christ the King and New Jersey's St. Patrick's Academy, dropping them from first place to third in the local Catholic high school standings.
Rice used a swarming full court press to jump out to a 18-5 lead, forcing Archbishop Molloy (5-5) to call an early timeout. But the rout was on. Molloy would cut the lead to 10 points in the third quarter, but got no closer as the Raiders answered with a timely 3-pointer to stem the Stanners momentum.
Without the 6-foot-8 Jack in the line up, Rice got huge games out of guards Jermaine Sanders and Shane Southwell. Sanders led the Raiders with 30 points and Southwell, who has committed to play for Kansas State in the fall, added 15.
“Shane was very active today, he played with some energy," Hicks said. "More energy than he’s played in the last few games, so I’m very happy with them right now.”
Southwell, Sanders and the rest of the team put on a dazzling offensive show for the crowd throughout the contest, with picture-perfect outlet passes, easy lay ups and speedy drives to the hoop through multiple Molloy defenders.
Next up for Rice are the Catholic high school playoffs. They'll find out their opponent Wednesday night.
