Boogie Fland, Stepinac–The head of the snake on a team defined by its ability to devour formidable foes with layered depth, Fland has been the catalyst.
The Kentucky-commit has a 27-point during the Hoophall two months ago–shredding defenders with the full onslaught of transition 3-pointers, step-back 3-pointers. He knifed into the rim with crafty, ambidextrous finishes and broke out for transition leak-out buckets.
Sporting his patented head band, Fland has fired in 3-pointers from NBA territory and even a few steps back.
This should have special resonance to Kentucky fans, as head coach John Calipari has indicated multiple times he wants to give the Bronx-bred guard a green light.
Fland first opened up his 3-point proficiency playing for the PSA Cardinals at EYBL Session II in Indiana two summers ago (turning in one game in which he shot 5-for-6 from beyond the arc), with Calipari on hand to see it all unfold.
Shifty, changing directions in rapid fashion, anchoring a well-rounded clamp down operation, delivering timely reads with either hand and crashing at a frantic pace, Fland doesn’t need to routinely put up 30-point performances. On most other teams in the area, it’s fair to say he could go off for 30-40 every other night. He’s not required to be as ball dominant in the leadership reins he’s seized.
With winning the primary focus and individual stats meaningless to Fland, the newly minted McDonald’s All America exemplifies all around skill by impacting every connotation of the stat sheet.
Last week’s performance is indicative of this.
During a recent 79-61 over a youth-laden but promising Cardinal Hayes team, Fland scored 12 points, tore down 14 rebounds, and whizzed six assists.
While he won’t send the gym into a frenzy with a pulsating dunk, he will make everyone around him better and stick those tightly-contested, dramatic shots.
Fland’s proven flair for the crunch time was evident during last year’s city championship. He lit up Hayes to the tune of 30 points and connected on seven of his first seven field attempts.
He would follow this up with a 24-point performance in a NY Federation semifinals win over Eagle-BK.
The bigger the stage, the bigger he plays.
Remember, Stepinac survived a playoff upset bid scare against a very good Molloy team, which then contained Sincere Folk and high-rising 6-foot-8 forward Jahmire Brewer (both of whom have since transferred to South Shore) last February.
It was Fland who stuck a turn around jumper which allowed Stepinac to retake the lead and fend off the late rally.
Danny Carbuccia–The 6-foot-1 Class of 2025 point guard has been an integral piece in Stepinac’s 15-3 start and 10-0 league record, thriving within the confines of running an offense. The shifty, quick guard plays with his eyes perpetually up.
He has a traditional point guard’s skill set and in his rapid evolution as the taming influence with the ball in his hands, Carbuccia dished out 102 assists to 28 turnovers during his first 17 games this season.
Quarterbacking a souped-up attack with a wealth of options at his disposal, Carbuccia recently turned in a double double of 11 pints and 11 assists during the aforementioned Hayes win.
Against St. Ray’s, following a lackluster start, Carbuccia got Stepinac kick-started.
Carbuccia stuck a 3-pointer, converted a live ball turnover into a transition leak out bucket, and dished three assists in a period of 3:17 during a wild second quarter power surge, setting a loud tone for an 80-76 victory over the Ravens.
While coming of age with several game-winners and go-ahead fourth quarter buckets this season, Carbuccia scored 11 of his 20 points during that quarter.
Fearless in his surges to the rim and developing a quicker release on his shot, Carbuccia has become a daunting chore to stay in front of.
With his transition passes and shovel passes around the paint, his IQ as factor which really differentiates him at this level.
All of Pat Massaroni’s starters and the augmented bench depth he’s cultivated have been defenders and outside shooters first.
Carbuccia has has been a vital cog in the harassing, wall to wall defensive pressure Massaroni doesn’t just emphasize but preaches with an iron first.
Playing a high level schedule with PSA Cardinals on the AAU circuit, and subscribing to a consistent workload at the hothouse proving ground that is Dyckman Park, Carbuccia has grown with his decision making and applying suffocating pressure across all 94 feet.
He was recently offered by Dayton.
Hassan Kouriessi–If there is one defining aspect of Kouriessi’s game, the word is so jarringly obvious it nearly falls off the page: coach-ability. Taking to new concepts, never complaining, and adapting to the themes of versatility, interchangeability, multi-positional defense, Kouriessi has surfaced as an intriguing and high upside, high major caliber recruit in the Class of 2026.
Kouriessi upgraded his recruiting profile, significantly, during a 16-point performance during the aforementioned Hayes victory last Friday. He catalyzed the Crusaders with a pair of long 3-pointers in the first half, permeated the teeth of Hayes’ defense for a twisting layup, got free for timely point-blank buckets, and even baptized a Hayes defender with an extravagant one-handed dunk which upped the electricity bill in the gym.
At 6-foot-5, Kouriessi brings unique positional size as a floor stretching shooter capable of sticking timely, opportunistic shots. With his length and vertically explosive game, which continues to come along, Kouriessi has been a consistent ball tracker on the offensive and defensive glass.
Braylan Ritvo–One year after graduated 6-foot-5, 225-pound bulldozer Ben Lyttle (currently at Wesleyan) emerged as a supplemental scoring catalyst, titanic presence on the glass, and veritable walking double double threat for the Crusaders, Class of 2024 Braylan Ritvo has inherited partial ownership of this still relatively young team.
Twelve minutes prior to tip off during a December matchup against Cardinal Hayes, one of several mid major coaches in attendance asked “can (Ritvo) do anything else besides shoot?’
What followed was an absolute detonation by Ritvo, which swallowed Hayes’ thinned out frontline and buried them under a 3-point barrage.
Ritvo scored 39 points, grabbed a game-best 12 boards, during an 89-84 league win in a hostile road environment in the Bronx. It wasn’t just Ritvo’s back to the rim game, face up game, and ability to exploit the frontline with thorough finishes.
He passed his way out of double teams and found a jarringly wide open Aamyr Sullivan for a monumental corner 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Ritvo is a mismatch threat, but his concepts of the game and engine for the big stages have spurred a breakout year.
During the Hoophall Classic at Massachusetts, Ritvo morphed into the mad gunslinger with a 27-point eruption, on the strength of seven 3-pointers during a 74-67 victory over Don Bosco Prep (NJ), At the very beginning phase of the season, Ritvo announced his presence with a 30-point outburst during a victory over nationally reputable Corona Centennial. The deft, floor spreading touch was again an explosive element in this one, as Ritvo shot it at a scintillating 8-for-10 from beyond the arc,
Jasiah Jervis–The 6-foot-5 2026 guard showed flashes last season, gaining some experience on significant stages in the post-season.
With his improved body strength, length, multi-positional defense, and a consistent set shot, Jervis has improved incrementally in all facets on his game this season. He’s able to carve his way to the rim and finish with either hand, sidestepping defenders with his vastly improved handle. He has developed considerable play-creation acumen and brings unique positional versatility. Jervis was one of the top players in the annual Pangos All American camp for underclassmen, prior to the season.
He displayed cerebral passing in the half court set, a vertically explosive game as glided his way to the rim and finished in controlled fashion. He wound up being one of the top performers in a talent-heavy event which also incuded Cardinal Hayes’ Jermel Thomas, OSL’s Jordan Skyers, and Molloy’s high scoring 6-foot-5 guard, Josh Powell.
