Girls: 5th PSAL Chip for South Shore Dynasty
NEW YORK, NY - Does winning five PSAL Class “AA” City championships in a row qualify the South Shore Lady Vikings team as a dynasty? “Yeah. On the court it’s a dynasty,” said head coach Anwar Gladden. In Saturday’s dogfight of a game, the Vikings exceeded a tough and determined Harry S. Truman Lady Mustangs, 42 – 37 at Madison Square Garden.
South Shore overwhelmed Truman from the tip-off with good transition play. With the Lady Mustangs only scoring one basket in the quarter and shooting a dismal 7.7%, the Lady Vikings entered the second quarter with a substantial 13-point advantage.
Led by the play of sophomore forward Ariana Sewell ‘21 and Ariana Buchanan ‘20, Truman mounted a comeback. Midway through the second quarter, Truman had pulled to within 5 but clutch buckets by Danaijah Williams ‘20 and Chloe Wilson ‘20 extended the Lady Vikings lead back to 23 – 14 at the half.
Truman may have been down but never felt like they were out according to head coach John Burke. “When you take a blow like that, one of two things are gonna happen. You’re gonna lie down cuz you’re done or you’re gonna dig deep.” The Mustangs chose the latter but it would be an uphill battle against a young but seasoned.
Winning the battle of the rebounds and buckets, at the half South Shore only enjoyed a 30 – 26 lead as the two combatants entered the final quarter. Coach Gladden believed his warriors were built for this. “We played [Truman] some tough games during the season so we were prepared for that.” Burke, however, felt the same about his squad. “There’s a reason why teams that come back here year after year, like South Shore, and beat teams by 30 or 40 but that wasn’t us. We believed we were gonna win it the whole way throughout.”
Wilson and Shcira Fowles ‘20 were dominant in the fourth quarter, especially on the defensive boards, giving South Shore a lot of second and third chance opportunities to score. Laysha Delossantos '19, the lone senior, hit clutch buckets after being cold early in the game, that gave the Lady Vikings a much needed cushion.
The Lady Mustangs trailed by about seven points throughout most of the quarter and with a ½ minute left in regulation trailed by 5 as Sewell scored a layup. Buchanan had a chance to slice into the lead even more but fell short on a three-point goal attempt and South Shore take home championship hardware for the fifth year in a row.
“The intensity gets harder and harder each year but we have to keep going on and execute,” said Wilson who led South Shore with a double-double (16 points & 11 rebounds). Sewell paced Truman with 13 points & 5 boards.
