Brantley Beats the Clock; Boys & Girls Beats Brooklyn Collegiate
BROOKLYN, NY - This was a battle for first place in Brooklyn AA. Brooklyn Collegiate and Boys & Girls both came into the last game of the season with a 10-3 league record. Brooklyn Collegiate won the first game these teams played at Boys & Girls High School by 2 points, so this one had the potential to be another tight contest.
It was. The game came down to the last 12.9 seconds with the score knotted at 63. It had been a game of huge runs for both teams, but it was tied with 12.6 seconds left. Boys & Girls had possession of the ball and not surprisingly found its way into the hands of Khalil Brantley ‘21. The guard took his time dribbling the ball in the middle of the court before deciding to dribble all the way to the left sideline, close to his team’s bench.
A lot of seconds ticked off the clock, but Brantley continued to take his time dribbling the ball. It wasn’t until there was 4 seconds left before he even tried to make a move. Ideally, he wasn’t in a good spot, near the sideline with two Lion defenders running at him. Brantley raised up and let the ball fly. It was a no-doubter, the ball dropping through the net clean. Just like that, Boys & Girls clinched first place in Brooklyn AA, winning 66-63.
Brantley was ecstatic after the game and was asked about hitting the game winning shot.
“Getting that victory was really my teammates keeping my head up...I got an opportunity to get an open, great shot and knock it down” Brantley said.
He was asked if he wanted to take the shot and if he thought he was going to make the shot. Brantley answered both with a simple, confident answer.
“Yes sir!”
Boys started the game off with a lead in the first quarter. Andre Crosby ‘22 (10 points) started things off with vicious tomahawk, posterizing dunk over the defender. The dunk put a charge into the crowd, but Brooklyn Collegiate ignored it and fought back. They didn’t allow Boys to score anymore points in the quarter and the score was 17-16 with Boys holding the slim lead at the end of the period.
The second period Boys took control of the game behind Brantley relentlessly attacking the basket. He repeatedly drove into the paint and scored lay-ups. Some of his misses were rebounded and put back by his teammates. The half-finished with Boys building a double-digit lead, going into intermission ahead 42-30.
The lead grew to 47-32 in the beginning of the 3rd quarter and it looked like Boys were going to cruise to a victory on Brooklyn Collegiate’s home floor. However, that wasn’t the case. Boys offense started to struggle, not getting good looks at the basket because of the Lions defense. Jaylin Anderson ‘20 was part of the comeback on the scoreboard. With 2:34 left in the 3rd quarter, Anderson converted an old-fashioned three play to make the score 47-41. Then Brooklyn Collegiate got a steal at halfcourt, and Anderson finished with a dunk forcing a timeout by Boys.
The timeout didn’t stop the bleeding, and Brooklyn Collegiate continued to score points and stop Boys from getting any. Boys didn’t score for over 6 minutes between the 3rd and 4th quarters as Brooklyn Collegiate scored 21 straight points to take a 53-47 4th quarter lead.
Boys & Girls never panicked, they finally got it together and started to settle down in the final quarter. Their defense started to get stops after the massive run by Brooklyn Collegiate. That was also when the switch got flipped back on and Brantley went back into scoring mode. He made 4 three pointers in the final period. including the ridiculous game winner from the sideline.
Boys head coach Ruth Lovelace was asked about Brantley hitting the shot and getting the win for the team.
“He’s a special kid, a special player. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to coach him” Lovelace said after the game. “He wants to win in the worst way. He’s a leader and it’s just great for the program. They’ve been working hard all year long and they deserve this win”
Lovelace said it was a testament to the team that they finished in first place in Brooklyn AA, arguably the toughest division in the PSAL. It was a total team effort by Boys and Girls, and they were able to survive the huge run by Brooklyn Collegiate. Lovelace also revealed that they never thought they were going to lose the game, and they didn’t.
Anderson was the leading scorer for the Lions, finishing with 19 points. Tahron Allen ‘21 added 18 points. It’s possible that these two teams will meet up again in the postseason. Both games played this season were decided by one possession, so another game between these two teams would not be a disappointment.
