Cardozo: On the road to being re-Judged
BAYSIDE, NY -The Benjamin Cardozo Judges finished this past season in 5th place in the PSAL Queens Class AA division with an unimpressive record of 9-7/13 – 13. Not a good look for Ron Naclerio, the winningest coach in Public school history, nor for the players on his team.
Fortunately, in a high school basketball league that goes by the mantra of ‘what have you done for me lately’, the senior players at Dozo have decided it’s time to stop licking their wounds and start preparing to regain their stature as one of elite programs in the PSAL. That journey began on Monday evening as the Judges won their first game, 55-43, at the Beacon M.S. 158 Spring Fling 2K17 in a hard fought game against players from Wings Academy in the Bronx.
Anchored in the first half by Dejavaughn Utley ‘18, Taj Anderson ‘19 and interior play by Javan Soto ’18, the players from Cardozo still found themselves tied at 23 apiece against the players from Wings and in a fight for very early bragging rights. The intensity of the game soon rivaled that of any Public-School playoff game as each team tried to set the tone, not only for the tournament but for upcoming regular season.
Both teams went at it tooth and nail but early in the second half, Dozo gained a 13-point advantage buoyed by clutch perimeter buckets from Utley and Marcus Hammond ‘18. Continuing to remain down by double-digits as the clock wound down, the Bronx squad starting to lose momentum. Anderson decided to attack the heart of Wings defense which was met by harsh resistance.
The fierceness reached a fever pitch and eventually, a tech was assessed to a Wings player after he over zealously blocked an Anderson lay-up attempt much to the dismay of the Wings coaching staff. Tempers flared and Wings eventually decided to forfeit the contest with about 7 minutes left to play.
While it wasn’t a pretty win, Utley said he and his teammates have a new attitude going forward. “We’re trying to come out here and beat everybody. We’re trying to let everybody know that we’re not out.”
Utley blames the past season's debacle on youth. “We were a young team. We didn’t know a lot.” This season, Utley said that he and Hammond must take more of a leadership role.
In addition, Utley said he’s looking for Soto to step up next season. “He brings a lot to the table,” said Utley. “He’s strong. When he’s plays down low, he rebounds [well] for us. We need a bigger year from him than he had last year.”
As a leader for the Judges, Utley said he’s not going to pull any punches when it comes to criticism of himself and others. When asked about Anderson, Utley respond by saying that the sophomore is very talented offensively and is an important piece to Cardozo's puzzle but added that he’s young and needs to shed his bad habits. “He cries a lot. He’s a crybaby. He has to just play defense and play hard.”
Utley vowed that the Cardozo Judges will not go out the way they did this past season and looks to follow in the footsteps the Judges that won a City Championship. “After playing with Ray [Rashond Salnave], Aaron [Walker] and Tareq [Coburn] and seeing how they play, it’s just a different mindset to the game.”
As for himself, Utley promises to be more of a leader. “I’m going to get it done, offensively, defensively, everything.”
