EYAC Beacon 158 Finishes Up Elite 8 Play

BAYSIDE, NY – The elite eight portion playoffs concluded at the EYAC Beacon 158 tournament on Friday. Three games were played and each was interesting in its own special way. Baldwin battled Brooklyn Law followed by Cardozo versus Eagle Academy and ending with LuHi facing off against Hillcrest.

The Baldwin Bruins were clicking on all cylinders in the first half of this exciting game with the trio Nasim Claudio-Cylin ’18, Jordan Jackson ’17 and Elijah Bovell ’17 getting it done in transition. Jumping out to 29-11 lead with 5 minutes’ left in the opening half, Brooklyn Law was sinking in quicksand. The Brooklyn Class A public school committed costly turnovers to compound its dilemma.

Mikko Johnson ‘17 put a used Band-Aid on Brooklyn Law’s backpedaling until a buzzer beater by Bovell put Baldwin up 40-20 at the half and firmly in the driver’s seat. Fortunately for Brooklyn Law there were no fat ladies singing and plenty of time to get things done.

With big man Victor Ogbo ’18 crashing the boards to score inside and Johnson and Larry Moreno ‘19 slashing and burning Baldwin at every turn, a 22-8 run by Brooklyn Law pulled its Long Island opponent into the proverbial while pulling themselves out.

Only ahead six points with 9:16 still left to play, Baldwin was unable to prevent their dam from bursting. Ogbo and Johnson we unstoppable and beat down the Bruins until they finally submitted with 1:39 left in regulation. Tied at 54, an and-1 runner by Moreno follow by a missed jumper from Claudio-Cyin sealed the deal for Brooklyn Laws 24-point turnaround, comeback win.

Johnson paced Brooklyn Law with 21 points with Moreno and Ogbo contributing 14 points and 13 points respectively. Bovell led Bruins with 20 points.

Cardozo usually hedges its bets in the Beacon 158 by splitting the team into a Dozo A and Dozo B team. Eagle Academy beat both of them together with a determined effort. An up-tempo chaotic game from start to finish, the players from Eagle Academy took an early lead and never relinquished it. It was a statement win for the Bronx PSAL school

The tone was set by DeMarley Smith ‘17 who drained three 3-balls early in the contest. The offensive injection by the senior put Dozo in a 10-point hole. DejaVaughn Utley ‘18, Jayson Robinson ‘18 and Taj Anderson ‘19 tried to close the gap but Smith and Basheeru Camara ‘17 countered increasing Eagle Academy’s advantage to 33-18 at the half.

Cardozo did make a run at it in the second half but with 90% of the offense coming from Utley, the Queens squad was unable to catch up to their Bronx rival. Six minutes remained in regulation and Cardozo could not get within double-digits of Eagle Academy who kept their intensity up from start to finish.

Smith finished with 23 points for Eagle Academy. Utley led Cardozo with 19.

L.I. Lutheran’s starters were at the practice for the upcoming Alzheimer’s All-Star Game but the Crusader’s bench players had no problem spackling Hillcrest by 27 points to advance in the playoffs.