By Danny Wild
MaxPreps.com
NEW YORK - The third annual Queens Jam Christmas Classic crowned five new kings of the borough on Saturday, a tournament highlighted by a thrilling 68-67 overtime win by Wyandanch over Long Island City.
Devon Bumpers scored 19 points to earn game Most Valuable Player honors after he helped the Warriors (2-3) outscore the Bulldogs in overtime, 10-9, at John Bowne High School.
MaxPreps' Kevin Yen covered the game, and you can view all the photos from the win.
Malik McClinton dropped 16 points, Marquis King added 10 and Rashaud McQueen hit six free throws and finished with eight points in the win. Wyandanch led by nine heading into the fourth quarter, but L.I.C. stormed back with 24 points in the final eight minutes to send the game, the second of five on the day, to overtime. Will Dobie earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
Cathedral Prep knocked off Richmond Hill, 58-53, thanks to 18 points from MVP Declan Murray in the tournament's first game. Dan Madison was named Most Outstanding Player. MaxPreps' Lisa Yen shot all the action.
Daquann Adderly scored 16 points to help Environmental Studies past Flushing, 54-39, in the third game. Jamahl Wright was named MOP.
Canarsie's Yves Jules lit up Thomas Edison for 26 points and was named MVP of Game 4 after the Chiefs earned a blowout 64-38 win. The game remained close coming out of halftime, but Canarsie clamped down defensively in the final two quarters as Jules continued his dominance. We've got the photos.
Host John Bowne beat Massapequa in the final game, 53-47. Roya Blair Jr. delivered 14 points to win MVP, while Sean Hehir's 23-point effort garnered him Most Outstanding honors. Check out the action here.
No. 3 Holy Cross Crowned at STOP-DWI Holiday Classic
Queens power Holy Cross, ranked No. 3 in the nation by MaxPreps, crushed I.C. Norcom by nearly 30 points to claim the 16th annual STOP-DWI Holiday Classic championship Sunday in Binghamton. The Knights, currently ranked No. 12 in the state by the New York State Sports Writers Association poll, earned three victories by an average margin of 24.5 points, thanks in part to a 70-42 blowout victory in the title game.
Tournament MVP Sylven Landesberg scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Holy Cross (5-1) in the title win over the Portsmouth, Va. school. The Knights unleashed a 16-0 run to close the first quarter and open up an 11-point lead at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
It was the first time Holy Cross had reached the finals since 2004, when they lost by six to St. Raymond.
"We just came back from a tournament in Florida and we didn't get the championship, so, that really got us," Holy Cross senior guard Blaise Ffrench told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin in regards to a 3-1 tourney record in Fort Myers. "We wanted to come to this tournament and definitely get the championship. That really got us motivated."
Holy Cross took a 33-17 lead into the half after Norcom was 7-of-31 from the field. Landesberg, bound for the University of Virginia, shot 12-for-16 from the floor, while Ffrench added 15 points. Deshaune Green led Norcom with 14 points on 4-for-15 shooting.
"Our key is, when we defend and we rebound, we're very good," Knights coach Paul Gilvary told the Press & Star-Bulletin. "When one of those two things is missing, then we're not nearly as good. I thought tonight, we really defended."
No. 2 Rice Dominates . Again
Rice High School, ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, blew out Caravel Academy Sunday, 74-41, to win the National Division of the Bay Ball Classic at Cape Henlopen H.S in Lewes, Del.
Undefeated Rice (10-0) shot 50 percent from the field in both halves and took a 19-7 lead after the first quarter. Kemba Walker led the Raiders with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals, evening adding a pair of three-pointers.
Chris Fouch finished with 17 points, Durand Scott scored 12, Dorvell Carter added 11 and James Stukes added four points and five rebounds, helping Rice to an overall 28-of-56 shooting from the floor.
Caravel coach Tim Wiley knew his team was facing a big challenge in the finals.
"We started sloppy and got behind early, and we just weren't able to catch up," Wiley told The News Journal (DE). [Rice] was very athletic and very quick."
Walker, bound for UCONN, was touted as the top player in the 24-team tournament, and he showed everyone why. The classic also featured Xavier Henry (Putnam City, Okla.), Dalton Pepper (Pennsbury, Pa.) and Desmond Wade (Linden, N.J.).
The Raiders stormed past National Christian Academy on Saturday, 70-55, to advance to the finals of the National Division. Walker led the way with 24 points, while Scott finished with 19 and Fouch added 14. Dante Talylor led National Christian with 18 points in 27 minutes.
Rice steamrolled Roosevelt High (Washington D.C.) Friday, 72-27 to advance to the second round of the classic. Scott finished with a game-high 16 points, Fouch added 15 and Carter chipped in a dozen in 18 minutes. Walker attempted just four shots in 20 minutes before taking a back seat to his teammates.
MaxPreps' Steve Spiewak was at the Bay Ball Classic and
provided some daily notes on the action.
Kings of Queens Visit Bay Ball
Queens' Christ the King, ranked No. 5 by MaxPreps in the CHSAA, narrowly defeated Roosevelt in the fifth place game, 68-65. No one could stop Ryan Pearson, who was 15-of-22 from the floor and finished with a game-high 33 points in 31 minutes. Pearson led the Royals with 10 rebounds and three steals in the three-point win.
Christ the King trailed by two points entering the fourth quarter but managed to out-scored Roosevelt 24-23 in the final eight minutes to seal the win in a game that saw 15 lead changes. Sean Johnson scored 18 points while Anthony Martin added eight. Tyler Marquis led Roosevelt with 17.
The Royals, ranked fifth in New York by the NYSSWA poll, fell by one to Caravel in the tournament's second day of action. Pearson scored a game-high 27 points and Johnson added 21 in the loss.
Rank `Em
Coney Island's Lincoln High (7-0) remains No. 1 in the state in the NYSSWA poll, followed by No. 2 St. Raymond of the Bronx and No. 3 Rice, of Harlem. The rest of the poll shapes up like this:
4. Kennedy (Bronx, PSAL)
5. Christ the King (CHSAA)
6. Campus Magnet (PSAL)
7. Henninger (9-0, Section 1/Syracuse)
8. Bishop Maginn (7-1, Section 2/Albany)
9. Thurgood Marshall (PSAL)
10. Mount Vernon (5-2, Section 1)
PSAL Leaders
Jane Addams sophomore Kevin White continues to hold onto the top scoring spot in the PSAL with 287 points through nine games. Tyrell Davis (Henry Street) is No. 2 with 222 points, and Travis Nichols (Food & Finance) is third with 203 points in eight games.
Tilden senior Willis Hayslett leads the PSAL with 111 assists, while Lafayette Educational senior Brendon Henry leads the city's public schools with 140 total rebounds in nine games.
Invited to Queens?
The Louis Armstrong Rec Center will host the Queensboro Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 5 with three games scheduled to begin at noon. Long Island City will face Lawrence-Woodmere Academy in Game 1, Monsignor McClancy will clash with Jamaica in Game 2, and Bayside will face Samuel Gompers in the third game with a scheduled 3:30 p.m. tip-off.
Around the Apple
Poly Prep traveled to New England over the weekend and knocked off Beaver County Day (Newton, Mass.) 85-50, Buckingham, Brown and Nichols of Cambridge, 48-46, and St. Andrews of Rhode Island, 74-54.
Adelphi Academy beat St. Mary's, 73-59, in the semi-final game of in the Aviator Christmas Tournament in Brooklyn on Saturday. Gavin Scott led Adelphi with 22 points, Lamont Samuell scored 19 points and Kervin Rameau added 14 in the win. Jerrell Lawrence led St. Mary's with a dozen points in the loss.
Cardinal Hayes (6-4) split a pair of games in White Plains in the annual Slam Dunk Challenge at the Westchester County Center. The Cardinals fell to Section 1 power Peekskill and Syracuse-bound Mookie Jones in a thrilling 59-55 contest on Thursday before knocking off Briarcliff on Friday in a consolation match, 50-47. MaxPrep's Danny Wild covered the action on Thursday and photo galleries have been posted from three games.
St. Joesph-by-the-Sea fell to St. Agnes on Saturday, 59-53 in the closest of seven catholic league games on the afternoon. St. Dominic topped Villa Park, 55-44, and St. Peter's edged Cardinals Hayes, 68-64. Fordham Prep squeaked by Xavier on Friday, 46-44.
Lincoln (7-0) is still ranked No. 1 in the PSAL and will face Brooklyn rivals Canarsie on Jan. 8 at 5 p.m.
Game of the Week
Christ the King will have its hands full Friday, Jan. 4 when the undefeated Rice Raiders visit for huge NYC showdown with national implications. Remember last season? Rice, en route to a 24-4 overall record, lost its 17-game winning streak March 3 when it fell to Christ the King, 67-64. Even on the road, the match up will be a homecoming of sorts for the Raiders, who haven't played many NYC teams this season outside of Staten Island's Monsignor Farrell on Dec. 11.
An even bigger game is scheduled for Jan. 29 when Rice visits Holy Cross. Let's see if both teams are still No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the national rankings a month from now. Expect a war.
Nike Super 6 at the Garden: Rice vs. St. Benedict's
It's coming, and it's setting up to be the biggest national match up of the entire season. St. Benedict's of Newark, NJ, undefeated at 10-0 and currently ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation by MaxPreps, will face Rice, also 10-0 and the No. 2 team in America in the final game of the Nike Super 6 Invitiational. You do not want to miss this one. Finally, some decent basketball will be seen at the Garden.
Hit up MSG for ticket info, the action is set for Sunday. Jan. 13 with the Rice game at 2:30 p.m. The Bronx's St. Raymond's will play St. Patrick's at 12:30 p.m. after Paterson Catholic and Mr. Vernon duel at 11 a.m.
Happy New Year!
Danny Wild is a writer and photographer for MaxPreps and can be reached at danny@danny-wild.com
