BROOKLYN, NY – While the boy’s championship received all the hype, it would be the girls chip that was Sunday’s Conrad McRae Youth League showstopper. It had all the sizzle. NYC vs. NJ.,the defending champs versus up n’ comers and Brooklyn against the world. With its plots and subplots, Newark Tech had to take the South Shore Lady Vikings into deep water to beat the defending champs in double-overtime, 41 – 44.
MVP Abbey Lawrence ‘18 was the eventual star of the show for Newark Tech but it didn’t start off that way. South Shore was an aggressive offensive juggernaut from the onset with Earlette Scott ‘18 and Destiny Philoxy ‘18 plowing through Newark Tech’s defense. The dynamic duo netted 22 of the Lady Vikings 26 first half points.
Trailing for the entire half, Newark Tech’s bigs Bianca Glover ‘19 and Mariah Perez ‘19 began to make defensive inroads on the glass while Lawrence started to score from the perimeter. For the most part, the New Jersey squad was merely exchange baskets with Lady Vikings which would not be enough to win.
South Shore had a 26 – 19 lead going into the second half. The task at hand for Newark Tech was simple mathematics. They had to score points while negating South Shore on the other end. Getting into the Lady Vikings grill came with some blowback as the intensity ramped up and reached a boiling point when double-techs were handed out.
Scott and Philoxy got off a couple of shots and it appeared as if South Shore weathered the storm and was back on track, leading by 7 with 5:13 left in regulation but Newark Tech seemed to draw in the sand at 35. Clamping down on defense eventually paid dividends for Newark Tech. Down the stretch, Zianna Goda ‘19 and Jaylah Bennett ‘18 scored back-to-back and a free-throw by Lawrence sent the game into its first OT.
Newark Tech held Scott and Philoxy to a total of 9 points in the second half. The overtimes were a game of inches with each team scoring two points in the first. Tied at 37, the game went into its second OT. Ahead by 3 points due to poor free-throw shooting by the Lady Vikings, Lawrence came up clutch especially in the final OT as she nailed most of her free-throw and committed a timely theft on Scott as time ran out.
Lawrence led the way for Newark Tech with 13 points followed by Perez who contributed 10 points. Scott paced South Shore with a game high 18 points with Philoxy adding 13 points.
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