Battle for the Bronx: Wings vs. Scanlan

BRONX, NY – The final game of the City Legendz Invitational (Day 2) was a battle of supremacy between two teams from the same borough but different leagues. Wings Academy repped the PSAL with opponent Monsignor Scanlan as the ambassador for the CHSAA. Sunday’s featured matchup exceeded expectation.

It would be a classic case of Guerilla warfare as both squads wanted to show and prove to the Gauchos gym audience that they were the dominant predator in the Bronx. It would be a closely contested game from start to finish that would come down to execution down the stretch. The Crusaders rallied on quite a few occasions and were on the cusp of taking charge but Wings Academy continued to pull rabbits out of their hat and eventually secured a 60-54 win.

“We wanted to prove that we’re still the Bronx powerhouse,” said Wings’ fearless leader Jose Perez ’17. “Coach [Billy Turnage] told us we had to come out here and play for four quarters. Unfortunately, they made some runs but we made some runs and won the game.”

Lethal scorer 6’3” Boubacar Kamissoko ‘17 got the fireworks going with a quick three-ball, almost before the clock started ticking. Perez and 6’1” Omar Rahman ‘17 followed up with buckets and Scanlan found themselves in an 8 – 0 ditch before 6’6’ point guard Saquan Singleton ‘17 finally scored for the Crusaders.

It would be at the 5:52 mark that Scanlan received scoring from 6’6” Gabe Bryan ‘17 and 6’6” Marc Trinidad ‘19 and soon trailed Wings by only two-points. Wings finished out the warm up quarter with an 8 – 1 run spearheaded by Kamissoko that put them back out front by nine points to start the second quarter.

As the consummate offensive threat, the silky smooth and elusive Kamissoko created opportunities for his teammates. “Boubacar was huge for me,” said Perez. He just opens up the game, not just for me but for the whole team. He makes the right plays all the time.”

With that being said, Perez opened the second quarter with a trifecta but Monsignor Scanlan countered with a full-blown surge. Singleton, who plays masterfully at the one-spot as a facilitator, became more assertive offensively leading to an emphatic dunk by Bryan that turned out to be a momentum shifter.

There was only 1:51 remaining in the opening half and suddenly Scanlan was only down by a point. Singleton drove to the hole and drew a foul and a chance for the Crusaders to take its first lead. Unfortunately, Singleton bricked both free-throws. The Crusaders still managed to tie the game when 6’3” Danny DaCosta ‘18 grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Bryan who also got fouled but manage to net one free-throw to tie the game at 26 at the midway point.

This scenario would play out time and time again as Wings forged ahead with Scanlan creeping back into the game and knocking at the door only to miss that critical go ahead free-throw. “We knew that they were not that good of a shooting team so we just played back and let them shoot the ball,” Perez said as he revealed Wing’s strategy.

Trailing by 4 point to start the fourth quarter, the Crusaders made its most successful push of the evening. With added firepower from Trinidad and 6’7” Victor Potter ‘17, Scanlan tied the game at 45 with 4:44 left in regulation and a subsequent drive by Singleton gave the Catholic school its first.

The lead changed hands throughout the quarter and with a minute left to play, the Crusaders held a 2-point advantage but that's when things went awry. After a Wings turnover, Trinidad leaked out but instead of making the easy lay-up to go up by four-points, the sophomore opted for a flashier slam dunk which he boinked much to the dismay of Scanlan head coach Dwayne Mitchell.

The unwanted consequence of the errant dunk attempt was a long rebound retrieved by Wings Academy that led to a fast break lay-up by Perez to knot the game at 54. It was not Scanlan's ball with 33.1 seconds remaining but to add insult to injury, Rahman gets a steal, draws a foul and nets both free-throws from Wings. The missed dunk turned into a 4-point turnaround which then morphed into a six-point loss for the Crusaders.

Kamissoko finished with 22 points with Perez adding 21 points. Singleton led Monsignor Scanlan with 15 points while Bryan added 14 points.