Beacon 158 EYAC Invitational (Day One)

BAYSIDE, NY- The Beacon 158 EYAC Invitational got underway on Monday evening with a pair of New York City vs. Long Island matchups to whet the appetite and get everyone ready for the upcoming high school season.

While on paper both looked as if they would be close and competitive contests that ultimately didn't happen as each game saw one team on this day considerably better than the other.

It was a strong start to an always solid EYAC Tournament and here is a recap of the pair of games NYCHoops.net took in from the middle school gym in Queens.

At the outset in this one it looked as if Brooklyn Law and Tech would be in control as they ran out quickly to a 16-6 lead and were more aggressive and more consistent on the offensive end against their counterparts from Mineola.

Mike Lucas '20 and Jakai White '21 each got going from long range early on, and Isiah Folk '21 was beating his man off the dribble with ease and scoring at the rim even against the bigger bodies inside of Chaminade.

Slowly but surely though the ball movement and the shooting touch of the Flyers began to take over. Joe Guterding '21 connected on three first half three balls pouring in 12 points by himself in the opening half, and when Matthew Young '20 knocked down his second triple of the first 20 minutes, Chaminade took their first lead of the game with 4:42 to go in the half at 26-24.

The tide had turned and the Flyers shooters seemed as if they couldn't miss as with Kieran Dorney '20 getting into the act late in the half it enabled Chaminade, even after a sluggish and slow start, to take a 41-29 lead at the break.

It only got worse from there for the Jets as they were settling for outside shots to begin the second half and coach Kenny Pretlow trying to get his team back into the game called three timeouts in the first 5 minutes of the half doing whatever he felt he could do to right the ship for his group.

That wouldn't happen though as Guterding and Young would again connect on back to back three's down on the Chaminade end of the floor, with Dorney and Dorian Parks '21 did a tremendous job controlling the paint and giving the Flyers second and third opportunities with their major size advantage around the rim.

Chaminade would lead by as many as 25 before they say most of their starters in the final minutes allowing Law and Tech to get a little closer but this was a great all-around performance by the Flyers as led by Dorney's 24 points and Guterding's 16 points they were able to roll past one of the PSAL's best in Class A, 64-48.

This was another game where the expectation coming in was a close game between two teams each expected to compete for titles in their respective leagues. That didn't happen though as this was all Bowne from start to finish in a dominating Wildcats effort.

Holy Trinity was playing without its star in the backcourt in Mike Sixsmith '20 who was out with a minor injury but it was unlikely the Titans would've been in this one regardless with the first half effort that Bowne junior sensation Tyshawn Trail '21 put together.

It seemed that any time Trail wanted to get to the rim he was able to as the 6'3" guard attacked and finished with ease all first half long as he had 17 early points, with Amadou Diallo '21 running the game and controlling the tempo, with Cherif Diarra '20 dominating inside.

Bowne held a 39-18 lead at the break and that lead only continued to expand as the game went on. T.J. Long '20 was a bright spot for Holy Trinity as the lefty sharpshooter was able to show off his long range game, along with some new tricks putting the ball on the floor as he would end up with 18 points but it just wasn't the Titans day in this one.

Everyone it seemed got involved for John Bowne as they had 9 of their 10 players score in this one with transfer Raesean Greer '22 putting together a strong second half to show he will play a role for the Wildcats this season as well.

Trail would finish with 23 points to lead all scorers while Diarra and Diallo each had 8 points as Bowne led by as many as 34 points in this one, cruising home late for the 63-33 victory.