Conrad McRae Round of 16

Click Here for Top Performers

BROOKLYN, NY - In between the raindrops and a handful of forfeits there was some very exciting action at the Conrad McRae Youth League on Sunday as the Round of 16 took place down at Dean Street with some of the best teams in NYC looking to advance to next Saturday's quarterfinals.

While Abraham Lincoln, South Shore, and The Patrick School of New Jersey all picked up forfeit wins over Cardozo, Boys and Girls, and Seward Park respectively, there were still some intriguing matchups on tap for what proved to be a great day of games as we wind down the summer season of basketball.

Rain did end up stopping the Banneker/Brooklyn Law and Tech game, the last Round of 16 tilt of the day, at halftime with Banneker up 22-21 at the half, but before the skies opened up there was a solid day of competition, and with NYCHoops.net in attendance, here is a recap of the action from Brooklyn on Sunday.

This was one of the most anticipated matchups of the day as the host Dean Street team fielded a very solid squad this summer, and while the Lions were without lead guard Markquis Nowell '18 in this one, they still had a formidable squad that proved to be too much in the second half as they overcame a big first half deficit to run away with the victory.

Early on in this one it looked as if Dean Street was going to run and hide as they were hitting consistently from the outside lead by guard Deondre Bourne (Leman Prep '17), and with big man Samson George (First Love Christian, PA '17) dominating against the smaller Loughlin squad inside, Dean Street took a lead of as big as 14 just over halfway through the first half.

Maybe he didn't like what he was seeing from his team, or maybe something just woke him up, but from the midway point of the opening half on it just seemed like Loughlin guard Keith Williams '17 was going to do whatever it took to make sure his team didn't roll over and die. He would take on 2 and 3 defenders and fight his way to the rim, or he would pull up on a dime and knock down deep threes that had the crowd really paying attention to everything he was doing.

Offensively he was just on a different level in the opening half as he had 13 points in the last 6 minutes of the first half, and 19 overall in the opening 16 minutes as Loughlin fought all the way back from the tough start to the game to take a 37-35 lead at the break.

Even though he was hitting nearly everything he put up, Williams decided with the defense focused more and more on him as the game went on that he would be the main facilitator to get everyone else on his team involved. Adrien Nunez '17 was the main recipient as he was able to square up and get great shooting looks that he took advantage of, while Jordan Thomas '17 was a versatile inside/outside weapon for the Lions as well.

In the end though when Williams wanted he shot he was still able to find it and nail it more often than not. Bourne continued to shine from long range for Dean Street, and George went coast to coast for a big dunk that had everyone shaking the Dean Street cage, but it wasn't enough as Loughlin was able to comfortably close things out and advance to the Conrad McRae quarterfinals with the 79-63 win.

Williams finished with a game high 29 points in the victory for Bishop Loughlin while Nunez added 15 points as well, including 3 three ball, in what proved to be a very strong Lions effort.

Bourne had 19 points to pace the way for Dean Street with George adding 15 points in what a solid performance from both high level players, but not enough to knock off a powerful Bishop Loughlin squad.

Next up for Bishop Loughlin in the quarterfinals is the PSAL power from the Bronx in Wings Academy as Wings jumped out to a 19-2 lead and really never looked back for the dominating victory over their Bronx division rivals.

Right from the start Eagle had very little to stop Wings in transition as Boubacar Kamissoko '17 was able to get out and easily finish going down the lane, and with Brian Mitchell '18 as a strong and reliable guard along of him, along with Jose Perez '17 doing a strong job whenever he touched the ball early on down low and when he stepped outside, it was all Wings and nothing looked as if it would stop them.

If there was a positive for Eagle, who were playing shorthanded in this one to begin with, it was that transfer DeMarley Smith '17 was a real strong shooter from the outside and gave his team a positive to take into the half, though they were down 35-16.

Wings really seemed to get back in firm control as Kamissoko was able to slash through three defenders to begin the second half and from then on while they didn't seem to pour it on, they were able to pretty much do what they wanted with big man Ouedraogo Kassem '18 putting together a great second half in the paint and proving he could be a valuable weapon this season, and for the rest of the tournament as they easily advanced 56-37 over Eagle.

Kamissoko had 18 points, and Mitchell added 13 in what was a nice balanced effort for Wings with 9 players scoring in what ended up being a 19-point win.

Eagle Academy in the loss got 17 points from Smith who proved that he could be a valuable weapon for them during the season and make them when fully together an under the radar team to the watch in the PSAL.

It's a brand new day at Curtis as they have a new head coach this season in Dwayne Archibold and they are starting off their new era in a very strong way as they were able to rally back from a 13-point deficit to take down the defending CHSAA champions in Xaverian by 6.

For pretty much the entire opening half it was all Clippers as Khalil Rhodes '17 was able to dictate the pace from the lead guard spot, and with Zack Bruno '17 doing a solid job in attacking the defense in one on one isolation opportunities it seemed as if Xaverian was in the clear as they were controlling every aspect of the game early on.

Xaverian was doing a good job in containing Warriors wing Malik Martin '18 and stopping him from using his strength by doubling him each time he touched the ball, but Curtis was getting a good first half from both Adeleye Oyekanmi '19 and Sammy Majekodunmi '17 to keep them within striking distance, though Xaverian did take a 36-30 lead at the half.

All the solid defensive work that Xaverian put in for most of the first half, along with the strong guard play that they had seemed to be slipping away in the early moments of the second half as the size inside of Curtis made the Clippers take more off balanced shots, and when they missed it was the Warriors pushing out in transition with Oyekanmi doing much of the damage until Martin started to find his groove and take over.

It was a Martin bucket going on one on to the bucket that tied the game up at 48 with 7:12 to go, and then with 6:15 left in the game it was Majekodunmi who scored going down the right side to give Curtis the lead, a lead they never would relinquish.

Bruno played strong down the stretch for Xaverian including a dunk off the dribble down the left wing, but Martin was too strong pushing his way to the basket as he finished with 15 points to lead the way for Curtis in a come from behind 62-56 win.

Along with Martin it was Majekodunmi and Oyekanmi who each had 13 points apiece to help push Curtis into the quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of the Brooklyn Law and Tech vs. Banneker game that will be finished up next Saturday.

In the loss it was Bruno who had 17 points to lead Xaverian, while Rhodes had a solid game from the point guard spot and added 15 points as well.

So with Sunday's action in the books the quarterfinals are nearly set. Brooklyn Law and Tech and Banneker will finish their game on Saturday at 9am and then it will be complete. Both the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Conrad McRae Youth League will take place on Saturday, with the Championship Game set for Sunday. Here is Saturday's schedule for the games at Dean Street.

Quarterfinals:

12:30pm- Thomas Jefferson vs. The Patrick School (NJ)

1:30pm- Abraham Lincoln vs. South Shore

2:30pm- Bishop Loughlin vs. Wings Academy

3:30pm- Curtis vs. (Banneker/Brooklyn Law and Tech winner)

Semifinals:

4:30pm- 12:30pm Winner vs. 1:30pm Winner

5:30pm- 2:30pm Winner vs. 3:30pm Winner