BROOKLYN, NY - In the opening game of the PSAL Quarterfinals at the Achievement First Brooklyn High School, Eagle Academy Bronx the number one seed took on the nine seed Brooklyn Collegiate. This was the opening game of a double header and featured some terrific prospects as well as coaching staff. Here’s the recap of the game.

The Eagles came out blazing knocking down threes left and right as they went 4-4 in the quarter. 6’5” SG Jaden Zimmerman ‘24 was hot as well as lefty 6’3” G Jonathan Jones ‘23 from beyond the arc. BC got some early points but it was just an offensive swarm from Eagle. They got out on the break and seemed to finish everything as they lead 30-16 after the first.

Brooklyn Collegiate hung tough and dug their feet in during the second. They picked up the pressure , got consecutive stops and started making things happen offensively. 6’1” PG Jayden Johnson ‘24 had a beautiful finish for the Lions then found his teammate for back to back threes. Eagle’s lead had been shrunk all the way down to just four as they now only lead 36-32 at the half.

The Lions kept pushing around the Eagles as they continued to remain ice cold from the field. Zimmerman and company managed just four points in the quarter. While the Lions got multiple big buckets from their Junior floor general. They took a 43-40 lead into the third which almost didn’t feel real, especially how hot Eagle was in the first.

When the final quarter started a few key Lions picked up their 4th fouls early on including 6’3” G Prince Oviawe ‘23. The Eagles took advantage of crashing the boards and cleaning up everything they could. Zimmerman scored, Jones knocked down a shot then Eagle got an offensive putback for a bucket. Oviawe started going to work for the Lions when the Eagles drew Johnson’s fifth foul disqualifying him plus they converted the free throw.

Now with just under four minutes left to play BC was now trailing and had to play without their key decision maker. Oviawe had to step up and did as he gave the Lions a 51-50 lead late. Eagle got Oviawe to foul out and made their free throws to get ahead. They scored two more after BC didn’t convert and finished a seven to nothing run in the last minute and half. Zimmerman threw down a big dunk in the final seconds to finish off the Lions.

The Eagles survived the scare 59-51. They were led by Zimmerman who had some terrific highlights and finished with a game high 18 points. Jones had 16 points as well for Eagle while Oviawe lead the Lions with 16 & 10 plus Johnson chipped in 13. Eagle will take on Thomas Jefferson on March 12th.