Brooklyn Law tries, convicts & executes Q.H.S.T.
FLUSHING, NY – Sunday’s first More than a Game Back2School Invitational semifinal game at John Bowne H.S. between the players from Brooklyn Law & Tech and Queens H.S. of Teaching appeared to be a foregone conclusion on its face. After all, Brooklyn Law is merely a PSAL Class A school while Q.H.S.T. is one of Queens’ elite Class AA squads but a 73-53 trouncing quickly changed that hypothesis.
After the significant win, Brooklyn Law coach Kenny Pretlow looked at the victory through a realistic and modest lens saying, “Class means something. We’re not a [Class] AA school. We get worn down. We’re probably [just] a good [Class] A school. it’s just that my kids are playing at a good level.” Pretlow added that he’s got some exceptional players on his team that could probably compete on the Class AA level. “Class is nothing but a letter sometimes. It’s all about playing.”
Two of Brooklyn Law’s “exceptional” players were Mikko Johnson ‘17 and Larry Moreno ‘18 that helped put them out front 8-1 in the early minutes the contest. Q.H.S.T. fought back but never recovered. C.J. Kelly ‘17 and Kion Clarke ‘17 finally put points on the board for the Queens power but Brooklyn Law relentlessly battered them on offense and defense. Additional baskets by Walter Pitt ‘17 and Joseph Pena ‘19 left Queens H.S. of Teaching reeling and in unexpected 43-17 sinkhole at the half.
One would expect Brooklyn Law to show cracks in its discipline in the second half as they grew weary and careless from smashing on Q.H.S.T. up and down the court but while its perimeter percentage did slip a bit, the team's hustle remained intact. Moreno and Pitt continued in attack mode while Johnson did a good job at controlling the tempo at the one-spot.
With eleven minutes left to play, Queens H.S. of Teaching found themselves in an unbelievable 30-point deficit as Johnson drained a trey bomb for the Brooklyn public school. Q.H.S.T. managed to shave off 10 points during garbage time before the refs called the game.
Moreno scored a game high 27 points for Brooklyn Law & Tech with Pitt and Pena adding 17 points and 12 points respectively. Hill led the players from Queens H.S. of Teaching with 12 points. Brooklyn Law's strategy to limit Kelly's productivity was also successful as the star senior was held to just 8 points.
In other action:
In the second semifinal game, the players from Eagle Academy advanced over the players from H.S. of Construction, 38-34 in a potential rout that morphed into a nail biting slugfest. In the end, Eagle Academy would hold on for the win led by 12 points from both Negus Hazell '17 and Delijah Farmer '18. Jasiah Wright '18 paced H.S. for Construction with 12 points.
