Gauchos 16s Win Bx War King of NY Crown
In the 16U championship of the first annual King of New York Classic, The NY Gauchos faced off against New Heights which seemed to be an evenly matched inter-borough battle in theory and on paper.
However, a well-oiled Gauchos machine would quickly unravel a discombobulated New Heights squad on their way to a 73-56 victory
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The Gauchos would impose their will on New Heights from the opening tip-off, pulling ahead early as they scored points in transition. The combination of fastbreak baskets by Javon Thomas (19 points) combined with perimeter shots by Brian Bernardi (19 points) proved to be a handful for New Heights. Sharpshooter Chris Campbell (17 points) would keep New Height close midway through the first half but points by Melvin Johnson (8 points) and DaShawn Suber (9 points) push the Gauchos lead to 38-24 at intermission.
The second half seemed to be a mirror image of the first half as a trey by Suber extended the Gauchos lead to 17 points early on. Good defensive blocks and offensive put backs by 6-foot-9 Mike Tobey (9 points) continued to impede New Heights' progress as they searched in vain for a solve.
Jordan Washington (6 points), who's normally a beast was saddled with early foul trouble and simply being pissed off, did display some signs of life, cutting the Gauchos advantage to 43-30 with 12:43 left in regulation.
Although Dajuan Palmer (8 points) and Clyde Smith (12 points) managed to find some offense, it only served to prevent a blow-out. New Heights simply had no answer for Thomas's MVP performance and the Gauchos pressure defense as they would go on to lose by 17 points.
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