Catholic Schools Win B.A.B. Challenge

NEW YORK, NY -The 9th annual Big Apple Basketball Challenge reconvened at Baruch College on Sunday, after a two year hiatus. The packed to the rafter event featured four CHSAA teams versus four PSAL teams. In four highly contested games, the Catholic schools would best the Public schools in three of the four game.

Archbishop Molloy Holds Off Boys & Girls, 63-57

The Molloy Stanners made it into the #10 spot of the NYCHoops.net Preseason rankings and played their opening season game against a very competitive Boys & Girls Kangaroos. The Roos came out and immediately had Molloy playing catch-up as Gianni Ford '16 netted three 3-pointers in the opening quarter. A drive by 5'11" guard Nehemiah Boone '16 would put Boys & Girls ahead by 7 points.

The Stanners came back strong paced by 6'5" PF Isaac Grant '16 and went into the second quarter only trailing by 2. 6'4" forward John Herring '17 tied the game midway through the second quarter. 6'11" center Moses Brown '18 gave Molloy its first lead with 3:53 left in the first half and his defensive presence helped to keep Boys & Girls down 28-26 to begin the third quarter.

6'0" point guard Cole Anthony '19 and 6'6" G/F Khalid Moore '18 extend Molloy's lead to five points as Ford became ice cold from the perimeter. Boone and Jamir Cheeks would close the deficit to 2 points but a steal by Cole and midrange bucket by Brown would push the Stanners advantage points with 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Kangaroos managed close the gap to 5 points as the final quarter began but a power game inside by Grant along with an inside/outside game by Anthony and Brown respectively would hold off the charging Boys & Girls team.

Grant earned MVP honors netting 22 points to go with 8 rebounds. Anthony finished with 14 points and 5 assists with Brown adding a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Ford was Boys & Girls high scorer with 21 points. Boone contributed 12 points.

Monsignor Scanlon Beats Back Thurgood Marshall Academy, 78-63

The second game feature two unranked but always dangerous teams. Unfortunately for TMA, Scanlon had 5'8" senior George Pena '16 at the helm. The gifted point guard recently topped the 1000 point scoring mark and added to his total by dropping 23 point on the Panthers.

When he wasn't scoring, Pena sliced and diced Thurgood Marshall with deft passing while keeping the up-tempo. The Crusader jutted out in from 25-6 in the warm-up quarter and led by 17 at the half. To TMA's credit, they didn't go away quietly.

Guards 6'4" Malik Jackson '17 and 6'3" Reggie Quezada '16 would help pull the Panthers to within 9 points of Scanlon to start the fourth. Jalen Suber would then make further inroads drove to the hole, drew a foul.

With 7 minute left in regulation Thurgood Marshall was only down 55-48 but freshman guard 6'4" guard Jordan McCallister '18 would come through clutch at the most opportune moments which kept the momentum in Scanlon's court.

3:05 remained and the Crusaders lead was back up to 13 and Thurgood Marshall was all out of runs.

Pena was voted MVP. McCallister was the second leading scorer with 17 points. Quezada was high man for TMA with 15 points.

Jefferson Overpowers Cardinal Hayes, 75-74

After losing last year to Jefferson in its season open by what seemed to be a million points, in a game that NYCHoops.net dubbed "Total Annihilation," the Cardinals were not only looking to avenge that loss but ideally in the same fashion.

While it was clear early on that the incredibly young Cardinal Hayes squad wasn't going to beat the Orange Wave by 42 points, it did look like Hayes was going to pull off the victory. Paced by seniors Clive Allen '16 and 5'10" Baron Goodridge '16, Cardinal Hayes matched Jefferson, who was led by Curtis Smith, blow for blow in the first quarter and took a 36-31 lead at the half.

Running on all cylinders, the Cardinals kicked off a 15-0 run spearheaded by Allen, Goodridge as well as a balanced input from role players, 6'6" guard Ishmael Massoud '18, 5'10" guard Joe Toussaint '19 and 6'3" SF Quran Brickhouse '16. Hayes seemed to be cruising to a victory but Shamorie Ponds '16 and Rasheem Dunn '16 were having none of it.

Down 14 points to begin the fourth quarter, the Orange Wave turned into a Tsunami that came crashing down on the Cardinals. Jefferson began crashing the boards and getting second and third shot attempts. With 4:27 left to play, Ponds drained a 3-ball off a turnover that spelled the beginning of the end in hindsight.

Outscoring the Cardinals 25 to 11 in the first half of the fourth quarter, Dunn tied the game at 70 and Ponds tied again at 74 with 7.5 seconds left to play. Drawing a foul on the play, the St. John's commit had a chance to make the three point play and take the lead. With ice water in his veins, Pond hit the free-throw. Toussaint tried to go coast to coast to regain the lead but came up short.

While Ponds didn't score 44 points as he did during last year win against Hayes, he scored a game high 26 points to go with 8 rebounds to earn MVP honors. Dunn was impressive as well adding 17 points to go with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Allen led Cardinal Hayes with 23 points and 3 assists. Goodridge contributed 15 points and 3 assists.

Iona Prep Handles Wings Academy, 78-66

After taking down one ranked NYC team, Iona Prep, the #1 Westchester/Upstate team set its sight on yet another top ten NYC team. This time it was Wings Academy. The Gaels led the game from start to finish with Wings Academy doing more scrambling than controlling the tempo.

With Virginia bound Ty Jerome '16 running the show, 6'4" guard Pat Flemming '16 and 6'4" guard Nick Brennan '17 countered all of Wings Academy's offensive advances. Running like a well-oiled machine, Iona Prep moved the ball well and hit the open man to perfection. When plays occasion fell apart, Jerome made things right, breaking down defenders to score of facilitate a score.

Wings head Coach Billy Turnage urged his players to do a better job stopping the ball in transition. 6'2" guard Boubacar Kamissoko '17 and 6'2" Kevin Saylor '16 rose to the occasion but the duo was no match for the total team effort by the Gaels. Iona Prep was comfortably ahead 38-22 at the half.

The game flat lined in the third quarter as Wings was only able to exchange basket with Iona Prep. Wings briefly made some headway but a Jerome buzzer beater sent the Bronx, NY team into the final quarter down by twelve points.

6'6" SF Jose Perez '17 and 6'1" Dashawn Davis '18 spearheaded a final push to close the gap and yielded fruit as Wings Academy was only down seven points. Jerome upped his game again hitting clutch shots. A three-ball by Brennan with 4:01 left to play, extended Iona Prep's lead back to 11. It would be a deficit that Wings would not overcome.

Ty Jerome earned MVP honors with 14 points, 8 assists and 10 rebounds with 6'2" guard Gio Gabbidon '16 and Nick Brennan dropping 17 points and 16 points respectively. Kamissoko and Saylor scored 22 points and 20 points respectively.