Cardozo Edges Mt. Vernon @ SNY

NEW YORK, NY - Sometimes easy things are hard to do. Free throws are not terribly difficult. Nobody is defending the shooter, and he gets a clear, unobstructed view of the rim. Easy shot, or so we thought.

Neither Mt. Vernon nor Cardozo shot well from the charity stripe. Both teams shot under 50% for the game and struggled to make consecutive free throws. As many times as the referees blew their whistles, both teams should have taken advantage. Instead, it was a brutal display of one of the most important aspects of the game. In this instance, Cardozo was less brutal.

The Judges were able to outlast Mt. Vernon and come away with a nail-biting one point victory. They made 21 free throws out of 43 attempts. That almost was their undoing, but they made enough plays to be the team that got the positive number in the win column.

Aaron Walker was the one who took it upon himself to push his team towards the victory. He scored 8 points in the final period including a huge three pointer on his way to a team high 25 points. Walker was a beast, finishing reverse lay-ups, knocking down perimeter shots at key moments of the game to help give his team energy. He played for most of the 4th quarter with 4 fouls, still aggressive but still smart. He grabbed 9 boards and was tremendous at getting to the line, but he was only 10 for 16. But the theme is, he knocked down just enough to help get the victory.

Tareq Coburn didn’t score as well as Walker, but he was effective as well and did a lot of other things. He finished with 12 points, but was an absolute bandit by picking up 5 steals. He also had 2 blocks and tied Walker for the team lead in assists with 3.

The game was tough to watch because the referees really gave their whistle a workout. They called 53 fouls which is excessive for a 32 minute game. So it was extremely hard for either team to really build up momentum. Mt. Vernon was able to go on a mini run by pushing the ball and finishing lay-ups on the other end. However, that was only for a short while during the game. Most of the time was used standing at the free throw line and missing free throws.

Marco Morency was tough all night, finishing with 22 points leading his team in scoring. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and was all over the floor for the Knights. Gregory Calixte was a big boy inside the paint. Dominating the paint for small stretches in the game almost led the team to a more positive outcome for him and his teammates. Calixte finished with 15 points and 9 boards and caused a major headache inside until he fouled out.

Cardozo will play Christ the King in a rematch of a game they recently had. Cardozo was the team that came out on top, so naturally CTK wants revenge. It should be interesting especially since the sting of losing probably is still faintly there.

Christ the King Takes Out Brentwood, 78-62

Brentwood came ready to play against Christ the King. They jumped out to a 9-3 lead early in the first quarter. However, CTK was able to regain their composure and behind the sniper shooting of Jared Rivers, they stormed past Brentwood to take a 15-9 lead. They increased their lead to double digits and basically CTK kept a healthy cushion between them and Brentwood.

Rivers had a game high 20 points for the Royals. Tyrone Cohen had 18 points for the winners. Junior point guard Jose Alvarado added 16 points and gave out 10 assists.

Brentwood’s Jamel Allen also had a double-double. He finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead his team. Ryan Beckles finished with 16 points.

Christ the King will play Cardozo at 4pm Saturday afternoon.