Rivalry Saturday @ Conrad McRae

BROOKLYN, NY- After a July that saw the focus shift to traveling around the country to play in front of college coaches during the all-important Live Period, the Conrad McRae Youth League got back to action here on the first weekend of August in what was dubbed Rivalry Saturday.

The two marquee matchups that took place at the famed Dean Street Playground saw Christ the King face off against Bishop Loughlin, and Abraham Lincoln taking on Thomas Jefferson in a pair of contests where there was more than just a win on the line, but August bragging rights as well.

It started out as an overcast day, but as the big games hit the court the sun came out to shine a bright light on the great action hitting the blacktop. NYCHoops.net was in attendance for the games and now brings you a recap of how Rivalry Day went down.

This one looked as if it was going to be all Royals at the start as they got out to a quick 10-2 lead on the back of great defense in backcourt, which in turn led to easy baskets up the court by both Jaylen Davis '19 and Jared Harrison-Hunte '19.

Even playing without stars such as Tyson Walker '18 and Kofi Cockburn '18, Christ the King continued to play aggressive defensively and control the pace of the game against a Bishop Loughlin team that struggled to put the ball in the basket, even on the easiest opportunities around the rim.

The offensive woes of the Lions, combined with the excellent play from Davis who threaded the needle on a pair of occasions to Chris Brizan '18 inside allowed the Royals to go up 23-7 with just over 5 minutes to go in the opening half.

That though is when Loughlin began to wake up and attempt to make a game of this one as they turned the pressure up, showing they weren't going to be comfortable sitting back and allowing Christ the King to take the game to them.

Jaheim Young '20 threw down a dunk down the lane which really seemed to get the Loughlin team going, and as he and Idrissa Bivens '19 started to get going from the outside, it allows the team to come together and finish the half on a 15-5 run to get within 28-22 at the break.

A more confident Bishop Loughlin team came out of the gate in the second half and made their attempt to assert control on the game, getting it to within 37-36 after a baseline finish by Justin Champagnie '19, but each time the Lions were within a basket of going in front Christ the King was there on the other end to make a play.

Nate Curry '19 would finish going down the right side off a nice dish from a driving Davis. A second chance put back off his own miss allowed Brizan to do nice work inside, and when Phillps Joseph '19 was able to connect after cutting to the rim and getting a pass from Davis, the Christ the King lead was back up to a manageable 51-45.

Every time Loughlin made a run Christ the King had an answer, and with Tavin Pierre- Phillipe '19 making every big defensive play necessary, and Davis coming up big with the ball in his hands getting to the rim and finishing, the young and underrated Royals backcourt more than held their own as they once again pulled away late to come away with the 63-52 victory.

Davis would finish with a game high 22 points for Christ the King in the win, while Curry added 10 points and Brizan and Joseph each chipped in with 9 points apiece.

A future star for the Lions, Young had 14 points to pace the way for Bishop Loughlin in the defeat, while Champagnie had 10 points of his own in the loss.

A game that saw a lot of swings of momentum, the initial burst out of the starting block was all Lincoln as Junior Sutherland '19 got the Railsplitters off to the perfect start as he scored 7 of the team's first 10 points, with a long three ball by Jasiah Lewis '18 being the other points scored as Lincoln rolled out to a 10-4 lead.

The lead, and momentum, proved to be short lived though as Jefferson after a slow start began to find their footing in the game as the big frontline of the Orange Wave took advantage of their size inside as Keron Bailey '18 and Kevin Tabb '20 especially got on the glass hard and instilled their will on the Lincoln interior.

A tip in by Bailey gave Jefferson their first lead of the game at 14-12 with 5:50 to go in the first half, and that lead would be maintained throughout the remained of the opening 16 minutes.

Marcus Burnett '20 did a good job using his size and length on the perimeter to score over the Lincoln guards, while his handle attacking the rim also proved to be a strong weapon. Combine that with the play of Bailey who had a big half finding his way in the paint and Jefferson would push out to grab a 34-23 lead at the break.

With the momentum all on the side of the Orange Wave, and with Lincoln struggling to find much offensive consistency after a great first few minutes of the game, it looked as if this was going to be a blowout in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.

Jefferson continued to take it to Lincoln and build the lead all the way up to 50-32 with under 8 minutes to play and it was about as bleak as bleak could be for the Railsplitters, but never ones to give up, the Coney Island squad had one last fight left in them.

The game started to become the Lovell Ambrister '18 show as the athletic wing was able to pull up and knock down midrange jumpers, he was able to get himself to the rim and finish with either hand, plus his was a valuable defensive weapon as well who began creating a lot of problems for the Thomas Jefferson backcourt which allows Lincoln in turn to capitalize and score off Orange Wave mistakes.

Once an 18-point lead for Jefferson, Lincoln was slowly but surely trimming the deficit down. Ambrister had reeled off 10 in a row at one point by himself, and with 38 seconds left, Lincoln was only trailing 52-49, and they had the ball.

Maybe in that situation Lincoln could've gotten to the basket and looked to keep attacking on defense after a made bucket, but instead Ambrister and Lewis each had looks from behind the arc that could've tied the game, but both fell off the side of the iron, allowing Burnett and Malachi Sylvan '18 to get rebounds and make FT's at the other end to allow Thomas Jefferson to fend off a hard charging Lincoln team late and come away with a 56-49 win.

As the high man for Jefferson, Burnett had a team high 17 points in the victory, while the interior players of Bailey, Tabb, and Shaquell Cooper '19 combined for 25 points showing that the Orange Wave will have a strong interior presence in the PSAL this season.

Ambrister had 17 of his 19 points in the second half as he nearly led Lincoln back from what looked as if it would be a blowout defeat. Sutherland added a solid 14 points for the Railsplitters as well.

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