EYAC/Beacon 158 Back-to-School Classic (9/21)

BAYSIDE, NY – As high school players and teams continue to work out the rough edges during the preseason, Friday’s EYAC/Beacon Back-to-School 2K18 Classic showed that some teams edges are still jagged while others just need a light to medium sanding.

The opening game of the evening featured players from the Eagle Academy Eagles versus Brooklyn Law & Tech Jets in a classic Class AA versus Class A contest. The Lions struck first as DaMarco Watson ‘20 and Mike Cordero ‘20 scored quickly but lead guard Davonte Cook ‘19 along with Shahid Burke ‘19 tied the game at 6 early in the half.

The Eagle Academy players consistently held the Brooklyn Law players at bay throughout the first half sparked by offense from Joel Simpson ‘19 and Edwin Santiago ‘21. The Jets were always in striking range and briefly took a 4-point advantage as lefty sharpshooter Jose Pena ‘19 attacked from the perimeter with Cooke going hard to the hole.

The Eagles recovered as the half ended and led 29 – 27 as the second half began and increased its lead to 9 points with 11:30 left in regulation. Cook went into hyper-drive and a 9 – 2 run by the Brooklyn Law players knotted the game at 45 as Isaiah Folk ‘22 powered his way to the rim. As regulation ended, the game was still tied at 55 but clutch play by Watson and Cordero sealed the deal, shutting down the Brooklyn Class A school players in overtime.

Watson led the Eagle Academy players with 12 points with Cordero adding 11 points. Cook scored a game high 22 points for the Jets.

The second game of the evening got ugly quick, fast and in a hurry. The players from the Benjamin Cardozo Judges drew first blood as Jaylen Davis ‘19 and Donte Howell scored but once the players from Wings Academy got warmed up, Dozo found themselves in a 28 – 18 hole by halftime thanks to the offensive prowess of Jose Cuello ‘20 and Tommy Thomas ‘19.

Dozo seemed to find its sea legs in the second half with some scoring from Envel White along with inside play from big man Alex Cileolla ‘19 but a porous defense by the Judges only resulted in an exchange of baskets. With 10-minute left in the game Wings still maintained a 10-point lead which increased to 17 points at the five-minute mark. The point spread remained the same as time ran out.

Thomas was high man for Wings with 17 points with Cuello knocking down 16 points. Davis led the Cardozo players with 8 points.

In the finale, players from the PSAL Brooklyn Class AA Banneker Academy Warriors were clearly over their heads against a well-oiled Chaminade squad from Mineola, NY. At no point did the Warriors lead and the trifecta of solid ball movement, strategically placed and unexpected full-court presses plus scoring from the tandem of T.J. Long ‘20, Liam Drennan ‘19 and Kieran Dorney ‘20 proved to be insurmountable.

Out front 32- 18 at the half, the Flyers of Chaminade, led by 20 points with 4-minutes left to play and ultimately laid waste to the Warriors by 23 points.

Long scored a game high 24 points with Dorney and Drennan pitching in 15 points and 9 points respectively. Tajuan Simpkins ‘21 scored 10 points for the Warriors.