Cardozo Heads to City Championship Game

BRONX, NY - This is where they expected to be. Cardozo won the city title last season, so some of the players on this year's team have already traveled down this road. The road to the championship game is familiar, but there still are obstacles you have to navigate around.

Cardozo had to get past Boys & Girls in the PSAL semifinals if they wanted to get to the championship game. Led by junior guards Rashond Salnave and Tareq Coburn, Cardozo did just that. They defeated Boys 59-48 at Lehman College to advance to the title game at Madison Square Garden.

Boys High held a slim one point lead after the first, and Jamie Killings made the first field goal in the second quarter, a three pointer to give Boys a 17-13 lead. That's when Cardozo fought their way back into the game with an 11-3 run. The run was started when Coburn hit a pull-up jumper and followed that by knocking in a trey from the right wing. Then Salnave found senior guard Elijah McNeely on a break for a lay-up. Salnave followed that with a lay-up of his own and a mid-range jumper that made it 24-20 in favor of Cardozo. Now the Judges had a lead they would never give back.

Cardozo went up as much as 10 points midway through the third quarter and held a 42-38 lead going into the fourth. A rebound and put-back made it a two point game. That was when Coburn, who scored a game high 20 points, probably made the biggest shot of the game when he drained a three-pointer from the left wing. On the next possession Salnave found junior guard Aaron Walker for bucket. Then after a Boys timeout, Salnave found Coburn who coolly drained another huge three, this time from the right elbow.

Gianni Ford answered with a triple for Boys, but Salnave found a wide open Walker (9 points) for another three-pointer. Walker posed as he watched the long shot drop through the net and put Cardozo up 53-43. Salnave, who scored 19 points and had 8 assists, began skipping down the court waving his arms in the air, because at that moment you could feel the collective air come out of the Boys team and their crowd.

There was still more than four minutes left in the game, but Boys could never make another dent. They missed multiple free throws and turnovers sabotaged any chances of coming back. Plus Cardozo was just the tougher team in the game and they made the shots when it counted most. They didn't bother to celebrate the victory.

Coach Ron Naclerio said he never had a team before this one not celebrate getting to the championship. This was a first for him and it's a sign that they have their eyes set on a bigger prize. They expected to be in the championship, and now they are there.

Ford led Boys & Girls with 18 points, while Killings added 13 points.