Officials juggle Slam Dunk schedule; Wings Academy and Blessed Sacrament can't travel due to snow.
The end of the
holiday break doesn't mean the end of travel for some of the top teams
in New York. In fact,
Boys & Girls (Brooklyn) will be as busy as ever in the
aftermath of a second-place finish at the 30th annual Beach Ball Classic
in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The Kangaroos stopped off in Philadelphia
on Sunday on their way home and beat two-time Philadelphia Public School
champion Imhotep Charter 62-61 in the Villa Holiday Classic at the
Palestra as Leroy Fludd (17 points) made a baseline drive and layup with
one second to play and
Michael Taylor finished with 18 points.
Imhotep
Charter, featuring George Washington University recruit
Erik Copes, was
fresh off a triumph in the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic in Binghamton
against a national field.
Boys & Girls, which played five
games in six days without point guard Antione Slaughter and sixth man
Anthony Hemingway due to academic issues, has a battle this week with
Brooklyn nemesis Thomas Jefferson, followed by journeys on consecutive
weekends to Virginia, West Virginia and Massachusetts for tournaments.
For
good measure, the ‘Roos are booked into the SNY Invitational Jan. 28-29
along with Manhattan Rice, Mount Vernon and St.
Anthony's (Jersey City, N.J.).
That, folks, is why fans embrace New York City basketball.{PAGEBREAK}
MORE NEW YORK BASKETBALL*
Williamsville South senior
Joe Licata became the all-time Section VI leader in
3-point baskets by making seven in a 61-46 victory over Williamsville
North in the Jolly Boys Tournament final. Licata's seven 3-pointers
brought his career total to 288, three more than 1990 Buffalo Burgard
graduate Ritchie Campbell. Licata has made 41 3s in seven games this
season.
* Weather did a number last week on the Slam Dunk, a
20-game tournament in White Plains. But officials juggled
the schedule and squeezed the entire slate into three days.
Mt. St. Michael Academy (Bronx) and
Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains) won their respective brackets and will
hold a tournament of champions of their own this week since they're
matched against each other as part of the CHSAA regular-season schedule.
Mt. St. Michael (10-0) beat Somers JFK 73-59 behind 31 points from
Peter Aguilar and 27 by
Clarence White, who made six 3-pointers. Stepinac
scored a 61-42 victory over Horace Greeley as Conroy Baltimore put up
nine points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots.
* Others were
not as fortunate. Wings Academy and Blessed Sacrament were unable to
make it out of New York City due to the heavy snow and lightweight
plowing effort, so they never made it to the Ronald Curry Invitational
in Hampton, Va. And the Xaverian boys were unable to fly out to the
Cactus Jam Hoop Classic in Phoenix.
* The odd sight of the
week was undoubtedly halftime of the game between Vestal and
Maine-Endwell in the local bracket of the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic in
Binghamton.
Unhappy with his team's first-half work — three
baskets and 11 turnovers to fall behind 22-11 against an opponent it had
beaten in overtime two weeks earlier — Vestal coach Ryan Hayes kept
his boys on the court during the intermission and put them through a
series of wind sprints, The Press & Sun-Bulletin
reported.
"People
can say what they want about the halftime gimmick or this or that,"
Hayes told the newspaper. "... I just wanted to make sure that (the
players) understood that what we were doing out there isn't acceptable
as far as a Vestal jersey goes."
Before you file that away as an
idea to suggest to the coach of your favorite team, take note that it
didn't help.
Maine-Endwell rolled to a 47-27 victory.
* In a
likely preview of the Section V large-school final,
Rush-Henrietta beat
Rochester East 65-64 to avenge a trio of losses to the Orientals a year
ago.
Mandell Thomas scored a game-high 34 points, and
Ashton Broyld (10
points, 17 rebounds) nailed down the win with a short baseline shot with 7 seconds to go.
The teams have another non-leaguer scheduled Jan. 29 at East.
* The
Bergtraum (New York) girls lost on their home basketball court for just
the second time since 1999. The Lady Blazers (8-1) surrendered a 57-53
lead and fell to St. John's College (Washington, D.C.) 79-68 for their
second regular-season loss since the Nike Super Six vs. Christ the King
in the 2005-06 season.
John Schiano, who has written about
high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25
years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
