Eagles Soar In Season Opener

BROOKLYN, NY - The 10th Annual Holiday Basketball Classic aka Maje Classic took place at Paul Robeson Campus HS on Saturday. Five non-league opening season games took place with the headliner featuring the NYCHoops.net ranked Robeson Eagles.

Paul Robeson Buries Martin Van Buren, 88-41

The Van Buren Fighting Vee Bees went with an unconventional 1-3-1 zone to start the game and then switched to a man-to-man in an effort to slow down the Eagles impending onslaught. Isaac Kante '16 (14 points) and Keith Swinton '17 (9 points) bulldozed that strategy in short order, finding and exploiting seams in Van Buren's defense allowing the Eagles to score both inside and out.

As a result, Van Buren was trailing seconds after the tipoff 7-zip before Javon Coleman '16 (10 points) finally put Van Buren on the map. Unfortunately for the Vee Bees, when they opted for the man-to-man defense, poor switching off screens allowed Robeson to continue to prosper as Aquarn Butler '18 (13 points) began to heat up. Big man Israel Farrington '16 (14 points) chimed in and the Eagles lead ballooned to 30-11 at the start of the second quarter

The Vee Bees got a brief offensive lift from Jelani Earle '17 (9 points) but they were unable to withstand Robeson's pressure defense which caused turnover after turnover. In quicksand, the Queens PSAL squad was up to their necks in deficit, down 55-29 at the half.

Things only got worse for the Fighting Vee Bees as the Eagles' advantage grew to 32 points. Van Buren simply could not match Robeson physicality. In a sinkhole, the Vee Bees would ultimately drown in a 47 point loss.

Butler would earn MVP honors while Earle took home the Sportsmanship award.

In other action :

South Bronx Prep devours ENY Family Academy, 78-45

Washington Irving takes down H.S. of Environmental Studies, 58-42

H.S. of Telecommunication escapes Thomas Edison, 54-49

Erasmus Hall Campus edges John F. Kennedy Campus, 49-48