Beacon 158 Back-to-School 2K17 (Monday)

BAYSIDE, NY- The action at the Beacon 158 Back-to-School Tournament picked back up on Monday with a headlining CHSAA vs. PSAL attraction that pitted Holy Cross against Eagle Academy from the Bronx.

It also had a pair of NYC vs. Long Island matchups as H.S. of Construction took on Half Hollow Hills East, with Thomas Edison facing off with Deer Park to close out the night.

All three games were close throughout showcasing the depth in the Beacon Tournament this season, and with NYCHoops.net on hand for the tripleheader, here is a recap of the action from Queens, NY.

The Knights were a bit of an unknown going into this one as most teams stay together and play in tournaments throughout the summer be it in Funsport, or Smartball, or Conrad McRae, but Holy Cross were one of the few Class AA teams in New York City who did nothing, meaning Monday was the first time to really see what they would look like this year.

If we are to go by initial impressions the Knights could be a surprise team in the CHSAA this year as they were stingy and tough defensively, and made just enough plays offensively from the outside to surprise one of the best in the Bronx this season in the Eagles by 4.

Both teams got off to lackluster starts as neither was getting much going from long range in the opening minutes, and with both teams settling a good amount it led to a low scoring beginning of the contest.

Eagle started to pull away in taking a 19-11 lead on the back of Mike Caldero '20, a good-looking shooter who transferred in from Truman, as he was able to connect on three triples in a 5-minute span to give the Eagles a 19-11 lead with 3:40 left in the opening half.

Holy Cross did start to come alive in the final 2 minutes of the half as Elijah Perry '19 knocked down a pair of three's, and with Sahdique Watkins '18 doing an excellent job in transition, along with finding Zayquan Warren '19 for buckets around the rim, the Knights closed the half strong to find themselves trailing by just a 23-22 score at the break.

A Watkins finish around two defenders gave Holy Cross the lead in the opening seconds of the second half, and with Perry finding his range from deep it wasn't long until the Knights began to pull away, going up by as much as 43-33 with just over 8 minutes to play.

It started to look as if Holy Cross would comfortably be able to pull away as Eagle Academy wasn't getting what they needed from the veteran core of Floyd Samuels '18 and Nelson Samuels '18. The duo along with Kendall McInnis '18did begin to apply more pressure and find more success in the closing minutes though, with Eagle getting to within 49-47 with 13 seconds left in the game.

Shemar Franklin '19 was able to get the ball over the top of the trapping Eagle Academy defense to a wide-open Warren who converted on the layup in the closing seconds to seal the deal as Holy Cross hung on to take down a game Eagle Academy and make a strong opening preseason statement, 51-47.

Both Watkins and Perry had 14 points to lead the Knights in the win, with the big man in Warren chipping in with 10 points and a handful of rebounds in the victory as well.

In defeat, it was Caldero who showed he could be a force in the Bronx PSAL this year as he had a game high 16 point to lead Eagle as the only scorer for them in double figures.

From the start, this was a run and gun fast paced up and down game, which many would think played into the hands of Hills East, but Construction played at the tempo well themselves, taking their first lead of the game with 1:15 to go to come away with the 2-point victory.

It looked as if Hills East was going to pull away early in this one as they took a double-digit lead just 6 minutes in at 22-11 over the Red Hawks, but Jasiah Wright '18 buckled down and scored 14 opening half points for Construction to keep them in the game, trailing at the half by just a 35-30 score.

Both Savion Lewis '18 and Julien Crittenden '18 had fantastic opening halves for the Thunderbirds as they combined to score 27 of the teams 35 points, but after a strong start defensively, they gave Construction life and allowed them to stay in the game instead of slamming the door.

Hills East continued to lead into the second half as Kenny Mathurin '18 became more of a force down low, scoring on putbacks of misses, while also being a rough and tough defensive presence against the Construction guards who continued to attack and get to the rim.

Construction did find success though in going inside, especially as the game went on as Ezra Burnett '19 began to instill his will on the game, and with Legacy Wallace '18 coming up big from long range, it was anyone’s game in the final 4 minutes.

The lead stayed with the Thunderbirds as Lewis was doing enough damage in transition to keep Hills East in front for a while, but off an inbounds play it was Burnett who put Construction in front with just over a minute to play off an inbounds feed from Wallace.

Back on the other end Lewis connected going coast to coast to put Hills East back in front, but the play of the game was made by young Red Hawks freshman guard Shamar Chester '21 who scored on a drive with just 6 seconds to play to have Construction go up 65-63.

Crittenden would get the inbounds pass and he tried to find a double-teamed Lewis by lobbing the ball over the top to him, but the pass was broken up by great Construction defense, and with the teams jostling for the loose ball time would run out giving the Red Hawks a solid 65-63 win.

Wright would have a strong 20 points to lead H.S. of Construction but it wasn't just him as Burnett would add 16 points, and Wallace would chip in with 12.

Lewis and Crittenden did all they could to try and lead Hills East to the win with the duo scoring 22 and 18 points respectively in the win, but it wasn't enough at the end to come out on top.

Never trailing in the game, the Falcons moved to 2-0 in their Beacon 158 season as they rolled past a very game Inventors team by 9.

While Edison never led, they also never allowed Deer Park to pull away either as a pair of juniors in Malik Bentinck '19 and Omari Brown '19 were solid both inside and outside to keep the game close.

Malik Edmead '20 was the difference maker though for the Falcons as he was sharp from long range, while also proving himself to be dangerous in the open court as he never allowed Thomas Edison to mount a serious run, leading Deer Park to a convincing 57-48 victory.

Edmead had 21 points to lead all scorers for the Falcons, with Josh Pismeny '18 adding 12 points as well in the victory for Deer Park.

For Thomas Edison it was Bentinck with 17 points, and Brown with 13 points to lead the way for an Inventors team that looks young and hungry to make some noise in Class A in the PSAL this season.