Not even Long Island Lutheran coach John Buck could believe what he just witnessed.
NEW YORK — Not even Long Island Lutheran coach John Buck could believe what he just witnessed.
“Wow,” Buck said after learning his Crusaders shot 72 percent in their 96-60 destruction of Cardozo on Saturday. “Wow. The shots were going down.”
Paced by Indiana commit Devonte Green’s 25-point effort, LuHi suffocated the Judges defensively and buried the Bayside program with precision passing and effortless transition buckets. Green (18) and unheralded senior wing Charles Manning (15) combined for 33 points and seven threes in the first half alone, with the Crusaders’ 52-24 halftime lead appearing insurmountable.
LuHi lead by as many as 42 late in the fourth quarter, well after Green and Manning had already been removed from the game.
The score may have turned the heads of everyone in attendance at Christ the King, but not Green.
“They’re a good team and I’m not taking credit away from them, we just had a lot of confidence coming into the game ourselves,” Green said. “We’re really good, but we’re not great yet. It’s never good enough, work has to be put in.”
Buck said his squad had Saturday’s game circled on their calendar all season, as they knew playing the SNY Invitational champions would not only be a litmus test for them, but also a chance to prove they can hang with any team in the area.
“We keyed on this one. We were prepared,” he said. “This team that we have right now is special because they really don’t care who scores. They don’t care who gets the ball. There’s no agendas. And in today’s high school basketball, that’s pretty rare.
“I’m soaking every day in with this team because it’s a beautiful thing.”
Buck also isn’t taking the ability to coach Green for granted, as he said the senior guard’s elite ability to shoot from deep paired with his top-notch athleticism should make him a household name in the Midwest once he arrives at Indiana in the fall.
“There’s always an adjustment to the college game but this year, he’s laser focused. He wants to be great,” Buck said. “He’s got as much athleticism as you need at the guard spot. He can really shoot it well. He’s going to have a great coach out there. I see no reason why he can’t be extremely successful out there.”
But Buck and Green were adamant in saying that college coaches need to recruit Manning, who has an offer from Iona, or watch another school sign the diamond in the rough.
“People are totally, absolutely missing the boat if they don’t think he’s a mid- to high-major player,” Buck said. “He’s got a 38-inch vertical, he knows how to play, he makes great passes, he can really guard. Hopefully people take notice of him today.”
“He’s an unknown guy because he comes from out east, so no one really heard of him until he came to LuHi,” Green added. “I’m teaching him as we go along but he’s going to be really good.”
Manning, who spoke with Manhattan coach Steve Masiello on the sidelines prior to the game, said he’s hoping his strong showing and a productive rest of the season will draw some high major offers his way.
“Iona, they’re a good school,” Manning said. “But I’m shooting for something bigger.”
Monmouth commit Ray Salnave scored just 11 points in the contest before fouling out, while upstart guard and SNY Invitational MVP Aaron Walker contributed just nine points.
