Catholic vs Public @ Tru-Ballaz Tues.

BRONX, NY- It was PSAL vs. CHSAA day at the Tru-Ballaz Preseason High School Classic on Tuesday with Wings Academy taking on St. Raymond's in the opener followed by Boys and Girls squaring off with Cardinal Hayes in the nightcap of the strong doubleheader.

Both games proved to be solid matchups with great end to end action as each of the four teams looked to prove that they are teams to watch out for going forward as we near the start of the high school season.

NYCHoops.net was on hand for the pair of games on Tuesday and now bring you a recap of how things went down from FDA III H.S.

Even with St. Ray's missing wing Gary Grant '20 who was just cleared on Tuesday after missing the past three months with a fractured wrist, the Ravens proved that they could compete with a talented Wings team as Khari Taylor '19 got off to a strong start, putting back a Jalen Reneau '19 for a bucket while getting fouled, and then showing off a nice midrange jumper as well.

While St. Raymond's was looking to score more in the halfcourt, Wings Academy was trying to push off of missed buckets and pressure defense to get out in transition as Mahamadou Nimaga '19 was a harassing defensive weapon who created a lot of problems for the Ravens guards.

Jose Cuello '20 started to find his range late in the opening half, but Luis Kortright '19 was a mismatch on the wing for Wings as the St. Ray's guard was able to score the last 4 points of the half and push the Ravens ahead at the break 32-28.

St. Raymond's would push the lead up to 38-30 early in the third quarter after Kortright and Tahron Allen '21 each showed their ability to connect from deep, but soon the ability to hit the three went to the side of Wings as Cuello began to take off.

After going just 1-4 in the opening half from behind the arc Cuello soon started to create his own space and go off. He would hit three triples in the last 52 seconds of the third quarter to see Wings go from a 44-41 deficit, to a 50-44 lead heading into the fourth.

The momentum completely shifted just based off of Cuello's ability to hit from deep, and once Wings took the momentum and control they didn't relinquish it. Marquel Jackson '19 was solid on the glass as he was able to put back misses, and with Tommy Thomas '19 also using his strength inside the Wings Academy lead only continued to grow.

They wore down a shorthanded St. Raymond's team with great defense and strong shooting and led by Cuello's 24 points, Wings Academy pulled away late for the 70-57 victory.

Along with Cuello's 24 points it was Nimaga who added 13 points, with Jackson adding 10 all from inside the paint.

It was a balanced scoring attack for the Ravens in the defeat as Kortright had 11 points to pace the way for St. Raymond's, while Allen was the only other double-digit scorer as he chipped in with 10.

With not much known about the Kangaroos this year it was a fairly big surprise to see the PSAL Brooklyn AA school jump out to a quick double-digit lead over the CHSAA powerhouse, but led by the sharpshooting of Jaylen Murray '20, the Cardinals fought back and ultimately downed Boys and Girls by 12.

It was a bit shocking to see but Alec Jones '19 was showing the ability to break down the Hayes defense and get to the rim where he finished with ease, and the interior play of Khalif Napoleon '19 dominated the paint to help the Kangaroos with 6:50 left in the second quarter take a 21-10 lead.

Nothing was going right for Cardinal Hayes who as a team missed their first 9 three pointers of the game, though that was broken up but a Murray trey with just under 6 minutes to go in the half, stemming the tide and seemingly boosting the Cardinals confidence.

Joe Toussaint '19 would push up the court after a Kangaroos miss and finish in transition, and with Julien Soumaoro '20 getting it going from long range as well, Cardinal Hayes was back in front as 14-2 run propelled them to a 24-23 lead in the waning seconds of the first half.

The lead would go back to the Kangaroos though as Dorian Haynes '19 was able to get the final bucket of the half off a nice baseline drive as the Cardozo transfer helped put Boys and Girls back in front going into the locker room, leading Cardinal Hayes at the break 25-24.

From the start of the third quarter though it was all Cardinal Hayes as they were able to get Toussaint up and down the floor finishing with a finger roll in blowing by a pair of defenders, Soumaoro was able to down two more three balls, and with Murray having his way scoring from inside and outside the lead with 3:05 left in the quarter ballooned to a double digit lead for the Cardinals for the first time.

Credit has to go to Boys and Girls as they never quit and still got quality buckets to hang around as Samori Alexander '19 scored all 8 of his points in the second half, though the Cardinals and the deficit were just too much to overcome.

The Kangaroos got the game to just 50-46 after a Haynes finish, but the next 8 went to Hayes to put the game away for good as behind Murray's 23 points, the Cardinals were able to come away with the 60-48 win.