Doyin Isaac is the straw that stirs the drink for Xaverian

January 29, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Head coach Jack Alesi called Doyin Isaac (pictured in white) the straw that stirs the drink at Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

Share this:

Call him the messenger.

Last season, the Xaverian Clippers knew they were inexperienced, so the focus was on development rather than championships. This year, they are much improved and point guard Doyin Isaac is out to send a message to the rest of the Catholic High School Athletics Association: Xaverian won’t be satisfied without a crown.

“Last year was part of the plan — it hurt losing so much, but we knew that something better would happen eventually,” Isaac said. “This season we came in a lot more confident because we knew we were better and smarter. We were disappointed, though, because we didn’t like where we were in the preseason rankings. I guess we have to show them who we are.”

Indeed, the Clippers showed Holy Cross who they are with a blowout 68-51 victory in Bay Ridge on Sunday, a win that came barely more than a week after a close loss in Queens against the same Holy Cross team.

“We took it to heart last time we lost to them at the buzzer so we wanted to come out strong and make a statement,” Isaac said. “We had to come out angry. We didn’t like the feeling we had after that game.”

Xaverian jumped out to a huge lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The closest Holy Cross got was within 14 points in the third quarter when the entire starting unit was on the bench, but even then the Clippers were never in danger of losing the game. Isaac finished with 26 points, Najee Larcher had 16 and Bard Featherston had 10.

With the victory, Xaverian improved to 14-3 overall this year and is 8-3 in the Catholic High School Athletics Association. That puts the team in second place in the Brooklyn-Queens division and just one-and-a-half games behind division leader Christ the King, which it beat once already this season.

The entire team has improved since last year. Larcher and Sayon Charles provide the Clippers with one of the strongest front courts around, and players like Featherston, Nyontay Wisseh and Khalil Rhodes give Xaverian important role players. The key, though, is Isaac, who has become one of the top point guards in all of New York City.

“Doyin didn’t make excuses when he didn’t play well; he just stuck with it and worked hard,” Xaverian head coach Jack Alesi said. “Now he’s the glue, the guy that really stirs the drink. He defends as well as anyone and he shoots the ball so well. We ask him to do a lot of things, play a lot of minutes and help some of the younger kids. He does it so well every day.”

Doyin credits Alesi’s two-year plan as the big reason for the team’s improvement. He said playing with his teammates during the summer for the AAU team New Heights really improved his basketball IQ, his court vision and his confidence.

“He’s a top point guard in the city right now,” Larcher said. “Last year he would only pass the ball. He didn’t attack the way he does now. This year he does it all. He attacks, passes the ball, gets everyone into the game and he’s the most aggressive player on our team when he needs to be.”

Alesi still wants to see improvement from his team and won’t let them get too far ahead of themselves. There are seven games left to play and he sees that as seven games left for them to get better — and they aren’t taking anybody lightly. However, the goal is still to win a city title — and watching Isaac play makes that very clear.