Holy Trinity boys basketball's Manny Ayeye, Tristan Thomas help team advance to CHSAA state final
Holy Trinity’s Emmanuel Ayeye goes up for a shot against St. John’s Prep during a state CHSAA boys basketball Class A semifinal at SUNY Old Westbury on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Credit: Brittney Dietz
Manny Ayeye soared and scored, throwing down the alley-oop feed from Ryan Reid for Holy Trinity in the second quarter of this state CHSAA Class A semifinal. The springy 6-4 junior wing was inspired by a few alley-oops gone wrong.
“I missed that same play twice this year,” Ayeye said, “and I knew that in a big game, in a playoff game, I had to make it.”
Ayeye didn’t just provide an electric dunk Tuesday night against New York City champ St. John’s Prep. He also sank three threes en route to 15 points, second among the Titans behind standout senior forward Tristan Thomas’ 17.
Holy Trinity emerged with a wire-to-wire 53-43 victory at SUNY Old Westbury.
Now the Titans are bound for the state championship game for the first time since the program last won the top prize in 2014.
“It means a lot,” Thomas said. “We prepared for this, and this was the whole goal for the whole season.”
These 23-4 NSCHSAA basketball champs will face Canisius of Buffalo at 3 p.m. Sunday at Erie Community College in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville.
“We’ve accepted every challenge as we go,” Titans coach Steve Gnus said. “I know they’re a very good team. That’s a tough league up there. Sometimes, our league has trouble going up there.”
Holy Trinity led by 13 at halftime and by 13 again after a Thomas layup with 1:59 left in the third. But the Red Storm (23-5), who were topped by Richard Fernandez’s 21 points, sliced it to 39-33.
On to the fourth.
“I felt like we let down and we put our guard down, and we know better than that,” Ayeye said. “I knew that if nobody was going to step up, I had to make a play.”
Ayeye made a play, canning a three 28 seconds into the fourth, launching a 7-0 run. Reid forced a turnover that resulted in a Jagger Verzosa layup. And Makhi Reeves made two free throws. It was a 13-point advantage again at 46-33. It didn’t get below seven from there.
“Great game for Manny,” Gnus said. “He works really hard on his game.”
The Titans, who had beaten St. John’s Prep in December, immediately began to take charge, shooting out to an 11-0 lead.
“This team is special because nobody has an ego here,” Thomas said, “and we all play defense and we’re all locked in every practice.”
