Early Exits From Tru-Ballaz Elite 8

BRONX, NY - It’s the playoffs at the Tru-Ballaz Pre-High School Classic and the usual suspects were in the elite eight but on Thursday evening the apple cart was upset. Two heavy favorites found themselves gone fishing early with surprising losses. One at FDA III high school and the other at Eagle Academy. NYCHoops.net was at the former.

While the Ravens won this game handedly in the end, W.H.E.E.L.S. gave the Catholic school what for, for three and a half quarters of play. Buoyed by buckets from Isaiah Washington ‘17 and long range bombs from Omar Silverio ‘18, St. Raymond forged ahead 8-2 early.

That gap was narrowed as W.H.E.E.L.S. fought back with offense from Owen Roberts ‘19 and Kevin Green ‘18. The Washington Heights public school managed to pull to within one but a steal and score by Silverio offered a three-point cushion as the second quarter began.

Washington and Silverio kept the attack going and with the additional firepower from Dallas Watson ’18 and Terrence Trice ‘19 extended its lead to 13 points at the half. It was smooth sailing for the Ravens but pent up frustration by no-calls by refs on two missed dunks by Watson caused the junior to eventually get whistled for a tech. The momentum killer resulted in a complete reversal of fortune and midway through the third quarter W.H.E.E.L.S. took a 40-39 lead.

Washington tried to right the ship as the Ravens took a 1-point advantage into the final quarter but Ryan Pye ’19 countered for W.H.E.E.L.S. The lead changed hands as both teams went after it. With 6:49 left to play, the game was knotted at 49 and that’s when the public [school] meltdown began to occur.

The Ravens began to apply defensive pressure and W.H.E.E.L.S. started to fall off. A trey by Washington stung but when Watson was finally able to deliver the dunk he had been attempting all game, St. Raymond’s lead grew to 58-51 with 3:31 remaining in regulation. A follow-up jumper by Watson put the Ravens comfortably ahead by 16 points and that was all she wrote.

St. Ray’s was led by Washington who netted a game high 33 points along with numerous assists. Watson added on 17 points with Silverio contributing 11 points. Pye was high man for W.H.E.E.L.S. with 17 points.

The addition of 5'9" point guard Mike Green ’19 and 6’3” sharpshooter Mike Krause ’18 from Pelham, NY has instantly turned the Mt. Saint Michael Mountaineers from an OK CHSAA team into a dangerous contender. The players from Wings Academy found that out the hard way.

The Wings Academy machine got going right after the opening tip off as the team’s fearless leader Jose Perez ‘17 went right at the heart of Mt. Saint Michael. Green countered quickly off a pass from Joseph Bull ‘17 and both teams were off to the raceS. Tied at 6, the Mountaineers put Wings in catch up mode starting in the latter portion of the opening quarter.

Boubacar Kamissoko ‘17 put some deuces on the board for Wings but Krause was nailing three-pointers in response. When you did the math, Mt. Saint Michael held a 5-point lead to start the second quarter. The tag team of Kamissoko and Perez relied on their combined wealth of tough game experience and willed Wings to a tie at 35 points apiece at the end of the opening half.

Wings took an early lead at the top of the half but the tandem of Green and Krause quickly shifted the momentum back in the direction of the Mountaineers. A 10-2 Mt. Saint Michaels run spearheaded in part by Elijah Buchannon ‘17 put the Bronx Catholic school back on top 49-46 with a 1:50 left in the third quarter.

Still down by six to start the final quarter, Wings Academy shifted into high pressure and physicality mode, especially toward the Mountaineers young point guard. At first the tactic seemed to be working as the sophomore was frequently picking himself up off the floor but then it became apparent that Green was one tough cookie.

Soon the Russ Smith-esque guard figured out Wings strategy and became a one-man press break at times and in every instance the PSAL squad saw a ray of hope, Kraus put the lights out, fearlessly nailing clutch shots from the perimeter. The Mountaineers also challenged Wings to score from the arc as they set up a zone defense with Jamie Rodriguez ‘17 and Bull crashed the boards.

Wings started losing feathers late in the quarter from an execution standpoint but still managed to close the gap to 3 points with 1:30 on the clock but once again Green came up clutch in transition. The game ended with Perez relegated to attempting a low percentage perimeter shot over the Mountaineers zone. That errant strategy fell short and Wings was eventually taken down and out of the tournament.

Green and Krause accounted for 50 of Mt. Saint Michael’s 71 points scoring 27 points and 23 points respectively with Buchannon adding 17 points. Perez netted 22 points for Wings.

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