Conrad McRae Championship Day

BROOKLYN, NY -This upcoming season for the South Shore H.S. Lady Vikings is all about making sure they close the deal. The 2 time defending PSAL City Champions, the Lady Vikings have their eyes on a bigger prize this season, the NYS Federation Championship.

They want to make sure they are the best in New York State this time around and a dominating 59-31 victory over St. Anthony's in the Conrad McRae Youth League Championship Game on Sunday seems to have them well on their way to making that happen.

The matchup between South Shore and St. Anthony's was a bit of a dream matchup for the title tilt of the Conrad McRae Youth League as it pitted the defending PSAL Champions against the defending CHSAA State Champions, but very early on you could see that this one was going to be dominated by the Lady Vikings.

Returning near everyone from last year's team, South Shore came out of the gate strong as Tsahai Corbie '17 was able to knock down a rainbow three from the right side, and that was followed by 4 more quick points from Corbie as the Lady Vikings began to asset their control on the game quickly.

Selena Philoxy '17 then started to impose her will on the game in the paint as she would finish on a putback inside while getting fouled for a 3-point play, and soon after that she was able to finish off a nice feed from her sister Destiny Philoxy '18 to put South Shore up 24-10 with 6:10 to go in the opening half.

St. Anthony's, who graduated their entire starting five from last season, were without one of their returning stars in Jasmine White '17 who was away on an official visit to LaSalle this weekend and without her, and the fact that Rhode Island commit Maia Moffitt '17 picked up her 3rd foul with 5:55 to go in the half really set the Lady Friars back.

One positive note for St. Anthony's in the early going was the play of guard Kayla Robinson '18 as she was able to get out in the open floor and finish on a pair of occasions as she did all she could to keep the Lady Friars close.

It was getting tougher and tougher to stay within striking distance though as Diamond Shavis '18 was able to sneak her way inside off the dribble and score just before the half to put South Shore up 29-14 at the half.

The lead continued to grow for South Shore as the second half began as Corbie connected on a floater in the lane, and with Valena Hickerson '17 doing a fantastic job of getting everyone involved in the game, she eventually started to look for her own shots hitting on a long jumper from the left side to see the Lady Vikings take a big 42-18 lead with 9:36 left in the game.

Both Philoxy's continued to thrive with Selena getting great entry feeds from Destiny, and with Keyanna Glover '18getting involved more and more as the game went on with a good feel of things from long range it truly seemed as if there was no stopping this deep and talented South Shore squad.

Lauren Hackett '18 was strong on the ball in making plays to get her St. Anthony's teammates the ball in scoring opportunities but with South Shore so long and aggressive inside it made scoring down low for the Lady Friars near impossible as Philoxy took control and never let up from start to finish.

South Shore emptied their bench with about 6 minutes to play but even the talented youth of the Lady Vikings more than held their own, and as the minutes and seconds wound down the South Shore bench became more and more excited with the knowing that they were going to be crowned champs.

Moffitt, who was hindered with foul issues throughout, did come on strong late in the game to give St. Anthony's a bit of a jolt but this was truly all about South Shore proving their dominance as they were in charge throughout, rolling to a 59-31 Conrad McRae championship game victory.

The win for South Shore demonstrated how deep and talented they are as 10 players scored for the Lady Vikings led by Philoxy's 12 points, with Corbie and Shavis each adding 9 points apiece as well in the title game win.

Robinson was the high scorer for St. Anthony's in the defeat with 11 points, while Moffitt was limited to just 7 points in the loss for the Lady Friars.

In a season where proving they aren't just the best in the PSAL or New York City, but in New York State overall is big to this group of Lady Vikings, this win is just a starting point for them. They have bigger fish to fry this season, but a championship at the Conrad McRae Youth League is a pretty good place to start according to Philoxy, the MVP of the Tournament this year.

"This is step one," Philoxy said after the win. "We want to win the Federation this year and this was the start of that goal."

In the Conrad McRae Youth League Boys Championship Game, the Celtics of The Patrick School raced out to a 15-2 lead and never looked back from there en route to a strong 15-point title game victory.

Early on it was the sharpshooting of Jamir Harris '17 that helped TPS build their early lead, but after that it was the play of Marcus McClary '17 attacking the rim and scoring at will that continued to see the Celtics maintain control.

After falling behind so quickly out of the gate, Brooklyn Law and Tech never got down on themselves and continued to fight as Prince Spivey '17 came off the bench to knock down a pair of clutch threes as the Jets rallied back and were within 8 at the half with The Patrick School leading at the break 31-23.

The size of the Celtics was a huge factor as 7-footer Buoy Koka '17 was a major factor defensively and on the glass, and while they were missing both Nick Richards '17 and Valdir Manuel '18 for the championship game, the play of Koka in the second half really helped TPS stay in control.

McClary continued to finish attacking the Law and Tech defense, and while Victor Ogbo '18 was once again putting together a strong effort for the Jets, the PSAL Class "A" Division power just didn't have enough to counteract the weapons all over the floor that The Patrick School had.

Mikko Johnson '17 and Larry Moreno '18 each had beautiful crossover moves to finish for Brooklyn Law and Tech late, but three balls by Brandt Roundtree '17 sealed the deal for The Patrick School as they put the game away for good in the closing minutes and finished out a strong Conrad McRae Youth League run, winning the title over the Jets 64-49.

It was an MVP type of performance for the Tournament MVP as McClary led The Patrick School with 18 points in the championship game with Harris adding 13 points as well in the victory for the New Jersey power.

Brooklyn Law and Tech were not expected to even get to this title game but showed that they can compete with not just anyone in the PSAL "A" Division this year, but anyone in New York City overall. The got 14 points from a rough and rugged Ogbo inside to help them lead the way while Spivey added 9 as well in the loss.

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