NYCHoops.net - NJ Playaz Fall In Pairs @ iS8

October 26, 2009

Jay Mumford
NYCHoops.net Staff Writer

New Jersey Playaz Club teams have garnered a reputation at iS8 for being post-season stalwarts. Year after year, Playaz teams of all grade levels have routinely trudged into the semi-finals (and finals) not only on talent, but chemistry as well. The Fall 2009 tourney, however, would see both the junior and senior squads bow out in the quarterfinals, as they were topped by St. Benedicts HS and the Panthers, respectively, on Sunday morning.

The scripts for both games were eerily similar, as both Playaz Club teams squandered early leads and fell too deep into quicksand to bounce back in time.

St. Benedict Sinks Playaz Juniors, 84-79

Fresh off of negating the brazen and cocky predictions of the Unique All-Stars -or more specifically, Unique's Head Coach Torrel Harris- a day prior, the Playaz Juniors got the better of the cold starts for both teams. The back court tandem of Myles Mack and Myles Davis led the initial charge that got them off to a 7-0 start, while fellow New Jerseyites, St. Benedict, struggled to get going. A 2-6 showing from the free throw line in the quarter was indicative of their frost early on, and although their towering front line of Gil Biruta and JP Kambola waxed the offensive glass, missed lay-ups negated the effort. It didn't help that Biruta had racked up his second personal four minutes into the game. Shooting guard Xavier Munford would eventually get St. Benedict on the board, but PG Kyle "Slow Motion" Anderson found center Derrick Randall with a slick pass and the Playaz took an 11-4 lead. Combo guard Aaron Brown would soon pitch in to help Munford, and it wasn't long before St. Benedicts was within striking range. A defensive lapse from the Playaz allowed Munford to waltz right into the paint, and St. Benedict was in the mix, 13-10. The Playaz extended their lead back to seven, but a long ball each from Munford and Brown closed the gap, and the Playaz were clinging to a 17-16 lead to start the second period.

Randall opened up the second period with a bucket, but that would be the last time the Playaz would hold a lead for the entire game. Their 2-3 zone left PG Myck Kabongo ample room to let it fly, and when he tied the game at 19, St. Benedicts were off and running. Brooks would begin to pour it on from inside and out, while Kambola and 6'9 center Blaise Mbargorba blocked and altered the Playaz shots on the interior - or in the words of iS8 commissioner Pete Edwards, they "saw that big hand coming". When the smoke cleared with a Biruta bucket, St. Benedict had gone on a 21-2 run since the end of the first quarter and were now the holders of a twelve point lead, 31-19. St. Benedict's defense also pushed the Playaz into turnover land, but the three point shooting of Davis and some hustle plays from Vaughn Gray gave the Playaz enough momentum to mount a 13-5 run to close the half.

The Playaz were only down four to start the third quarter, 36-32, but Munford would again be the catalyst behind a 5-0 St. Benedict run. Once the 6'6 Biruta hammered down a gruesome dunk and forward Andris Misters came up with a steal and dunk moments later, St. Benedict's lead had reached double digits again, 50-40. But Randall and Jerrod Davis would keep pushing for the Playaz -who settled for jump shots in much of the third quarter- with the latter getting a reverse lay-up at the buzzer to go and close the gap to five, 54-49.

Brown and Kabongo led the charge that gave St. Benedicts back a 13 point advantage, 70-57, but what would a playoff game be without a "Mack Attack"? The 5'8 combo guard put the Playaz on his back down the stretch with a flurry of buckets from inside and out to accommodate the Playaz pressure defense. Mack accounted for 16 of the final 22 Playaz points in the game, with a pair of threes -one with 1:21 left and another with 0:13 left- closing the gap to four and three points respectively. His pair of free throws with 1:07 left cut it as close as it would get down the stretch, 78-76. But every time the Playaz were knocking on St. Benedict's door, Brown or Munford responded with another bag of quicksand to throw beneath the Playaz until time ran out.

"We knew coming in that the Playaz were a good team that played well together and worked hard", said Munford. "They have that chemistry, so we tried to play together as well, (and) get those hustle points." With one NJ team taking out another, St. Benedicts will be the lone Garden State representative in the semi- finals when they face New Heights next Saturday (October 31st) at 11:45AM. "We had to come in here and represent, Jersey has ballers too!", Munford said.

Aaron Brown and Xavier Munford led St. Benedicts with 26 and 24 points, respectively. Myles Mack's 27 points (19 in the fourth quarter) was the game high, while Derrick Randall and Myles Davis added 16 and 14, respectively, for Playaz Club.

Panthers Claw Playaz Seniors, 95-87

Both teams came out firing early, and remained relatively even throughout the first quarter. Fuquan Edwin, Ronald Roberts and Daevon Boardingham pounded the ball inside for the Playaz, while 6'6 wing J.J. Moore equalized with smooth shooting for the Panthers. Neither team led by more than six points early on, but when Russ Smith got a wild half court shot to go at the first quarter buzzer, he brought the Panthers within a point, 24-23.

The Panthers would unravel shortly after though, and despite an early bucket from Moore, they hit an offensive lull. They also began to play out of control and slack in the rebounding department. The Playaz would capitalize on this fog, and mid-quarter Edwin began to tame the Panthers all by himself. The 6'5 swingman doggedly attacked the hoop and stepped out to show his range, and when teammate Shondell Steward stole the ball near the sideline and zeroed in for a lay-up, the Playaz had gone up ten points, 45-35. However, the fate of the Playaz Juniors would prove contagious and spread to the Seniors, as they squandered their lead late in the second quarter. The Panthers tightened up their screws and ended the half with a 13-2 run. That would be the last the Playaz would see of a lead. Smith capped the run -and the half- with a coast to coast lay in to give the Panthers a 48-47 advantage and would never look back.

Smith would come fresh out of the halftime huddle with an effortless and confident three, and when he drained two more later in the half, it was obvious that the firepower of the Panthers was too much for the Playaz. Whether it was the inside hustle play of forwards Jordan Allen and Ryan Rhoomes, the inside-out combination of Moore or the guard play of Sterling Gibbs and the aforementioned Smith, the Playaz ran in quicksand for much of the half. The Panthers' lead expanded to as many as 12 points and shrunk to as little as four (91-87 with 18 seconds left), but their 2-3 zone kept the Playaz settling for jump shots. The Panthers were also sent to the line down the stretch, and they made just enough to ward off the Playaz when they managed to get within striking distance.

JJ Moore's 30 points and Russ Smith's 27 paced the Panthers. Jordan Allen (8 points) and Ryan Rhoomes (9 points) were also instrumental in the win with their blue collar work in the paint late in the game. Sterling Gibbs added 13 points. Fuquan Edwin was the high man for Playaz Club Seniors with 25 points, while Shondell Steward added 17 and Ronald Roberts, 13.

The Panthers will face Boys & Girls HS on Saturday (October 31st) at 10:30 AM.

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