A Thanksgiving Eve rivalry showdown between CHSAA Island foes Monsignor Farrell and St. Joseph-by-the-Sea with a max capacity crowd of nearly 1,000 fans on hand at the Lions' Oakwood gymnasium.

Who/what could be bigger than that?

Johnny Grube. That's who.

A few hours after laying the Farrell mega fan to rest in the very same gym, the hoops team hit the hardwood for the first time without him on the sideline and walloped the visiting Vikings, coming away with a 74-38 triumph.

"This is bigger than basketball," one fan could be heard saying.

Farrell principal Msgr. Edmund Whalen led a pregame ceremony in honor of the school's late No. 1 fan, as students belted out chants of "Thank you, Johnny" from the stands.

A seat remained empty at the end of the Lions' bench with some of Grube's personal Farrell mementos, as well as his mass card.

The entire team wore warm-up shirts with the name "J. Grube" and the number "61" (his age) on the back.

His spirit reverberated throughout the gym all night, igniting a raucous crowd with a championship-game feel.

"It's very hard to put into words what Johnny means not just to the program, but the Staten Island community as a whole," said MF coach Mike Dunn. "We often make life complicated, but Johnny Grube is the type of guy who showed us it's not that hard.

"The kids loved and adored him," added Dunn. "They'll carry his spirit on. He brought a smile to the face of everyone he came in contact with."

Lions' players wore warm-up shirts in honor of Grube on Wednesday night.

TURNING POINT

Sea won the opening tip-off...but that was about the only thing it won all night.

"Johnny Grube" chants erupted at the start of the contest and "Thank you, Johnny" chants carried on throughout the evening.

A sloppy first quarter featured some opening-night jitters en route to a modest 12-6 Lions advantage, but Farrell quickly recovered and conquered.

The second quarter was completely one-sided.

After holding Sea to just six points in the opening period, Farrell reeled off an 18-7 run in the second quarter and extended its lead to as many as 39 points before the night was over.

"We preach defense in all of our practices," explained Dunn. "The kids buy in and play tough defense, they just get after it. The practices get very intense and that's what makes them who they are."

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Anthony Clemenza's low post presence and Justin Zieris' skills as a floor general paced the offense for much of the night.

Clemenza finished with 15 points (13 in the first half) and led the Lions, who out-rebounded Sea 35-18, with six boards.

Zieris added 10 markers and guided an offense that turned the ball over just 10 times.

"They've been our leaders all preseason," noted Dunn. "It's their time to step up. They're the motor of this team."

OTHER NOTABLES

Jordan Kearney provided an offensive spark, tallying 10 points, including a four-point play that nearly brought the roof down, to go along with three assists and a pair of steals.

Matt Birnbach chipped in nine points, including a perfect seven-of-seven from the free throw line as the Lions knocked down 18 of 20 attempts from the charity stripe.

A tumultuous week for Farrell was perpetuated by a leak in the gym that caused the school to purchase a temporary hardwood floor, which was played on on Wednesday.

The hundreds of pounds of flooring arrived early Tuesday morning and were promptly assembled by faculty and students alike so that Wednesday's contest could be played.

"All the kids chipped in with the floor, everyone is behind each other at this school," said Dunn.

The Lions will look to improve to 2-0 when they square off against Curtis on Saturday at CSI.