EYAC/Beacon 158 Back-to-School Classic (Day One)

BAYSIDE, NY – The first all high school team tournament in Queens got underway on Monday with three competitive games at the Marie Curie Middle School as part of the EYAC/Beacon 158 Back-to-School Classic. Two of the three game pit catholic school teams against public school players.

After losing to St. Francis Prep in the semifinal round of the last season’s playoffs, beating the Terriers in the opening game carried even more significance. Stevenson jumped out to a 16 – 8 advantage in the first half primarily behind scoring from Kaden Norton and Rayshawn Clemente ‘20.

The players from St. Francis Prep made a run led by aggressive offense for A.J. Lopez ‘20 and Justin Hendrick ‘19, trimming Stevenson’s lead to three points midway through the half. A 7 – 0 run by the public school pushed the point spread back to double digits resulting in the Terriers left to grapple with a 38 – 23 deficit to begin the second half.

Todd Rochelle and Evan Sirackis ‘19 joined Hendrick on St. Francis Prep’s offensive front in an attempt to make yet another run at the lead. The Terriers did manage to cut into Stevenson lead with 7:30 left to play and a Lopez 3-ball finally tied the game at 51 with less than a minute left on the clock. Jaybriel Lopez ‘19 (no relation), who had been effective all game from Stevenson would settle the score drawing a foul with 24.5 seconds left to play. The senior went 1 for 2 from the charity stripe but it would be enough for the win. Lopez paced Stevenson with 18 points with Norton and Clemente chipping in 10 points and 6 points. Hendrick was the high scorer for the Terriers with a game high 25 points.

From the tip off, the Chevaliers, featuring players from Holy Cross, stepped on the accelerator and never took their foot off the gas until the refs said uncle and enacted the mercy rule. Sharpshooter Elijah Perry ‘19 along with Sean Lynn ‘19 and Shemar Franklin ‘19 provided the impetus giving the Chevaliers a 26 – 18 halftime lead.

Hillcrest tried to keep up with buckets from Bobby Thomas ‘19 and Bambou Toure ‘20 but the Chevalier countered with relentless scoring from Luke Townsend ’19. Early in the second half, Hillcrest’s woes were mounting and soon the public school found themselves in a 15-point hole without a way to get out. With less than a minute left to play, the refs called the match.

Townsend led the Chevaliers with 15 points with Franklin and Perry contributing 12 points and 9 points respectively. No Hilcrest player achieved double-digits.

Francis Lewis Tops Deer Park, 51 – 37

Even without their star point guard Malik Edmead ‘20, who was sidelined this week with a bruised shin, still Deer Park managed to stay with three points of Francis Lewis to end the first half. The second half would be another story the Tyriek Primus ‘20 and Moises Cordero ‘20 show sparked up and Francis Lewis duo overwhelmed Deer Park en route to a 14-point victory.

Cordero was the high scorer for Francis Lewis with 18 points while Primus contributed 17 points