Girls: Rose Classic Live Recaps

BROOKLYN, NY - When pressed to name the top two girls high school teams in New York State for this upcoming season most would agree on Ossining and Long Island Lutheran, and the fact that both school teams were entered into the Rose Classic Live on Sunday truly made the games at Global Studies H.S. very interesting and special.

Ossining took on the NJ Demons and the CAS Panthers, while LuHi faced off against the Toronto Matrix and Beast'em Basketball, showcasing their talents in front of a strong contingent of Division 1 college coaches that were in attendance, and proving that they are both going to be forces to be reckoned with this season.

It was a great day to get to scout just how good these teams could be, and with NYCHoops.net perched at Global Studies H.S. throughout the day we were able to recap the action from both Ossining and Long Island Lutheran's day.

The first game of the day belonged to the Pride, who played under the name Hudson River Breeze, as they took on a very strong NJ Demons team that had numerous future Division 1 players suiting up for the contest, but the strong play of both Andra Espinoza-Hunter '17 and Aubrey Griffin '19 allowed Ossining to pull out to a 31-25 lead at the half.

What Ossining was doing so well in the early going was close out on the Demons shooters led by Katie Kinum (New Providence, NJ '17), and while Espinoza-Hunter was attacking the basket for her buckets for the Pride, Griffin was demonstrating a really good midrange game, while also crashing the glass and scoring on putbacks around the rim.

While the Pride's defense was strong in the opening half, they got away from defending the outside and attempting to slow down the game and make the Demons play in the halfcourt. Once it got going up and down Ossining was not as successful as wing Julia Cunningham (Watchung Hills, NJ '18) was able to pull up in the open floor for uncontested threes, while also getting out in transition and scoring layup after layup as well.

The Ossining lead was cut to as little as 3 at one point in the second half, but when you have the young and talented Griffin on your team it's going to be hard to lose as she was the catalyst for the Pride's resurgence late in the game as she was able to put the ball on the floor and go one on one at her defender for baskets, and when a big pull up jumper needed to be made, she was there as she had 20 second half points to help Ossining hold on late for a 77-72 victory.

Griffin had a team high 30 points in the win, with Espinoza-Hunter adding 21 points as well.

Cunningham had 33 points in a game high effort for the Demons, and while she shined with 23 points in the second half, she didn't get enough help offensively late to get her team in a position to win.

So Ossining was able to pull out a tight one against one of the top AAU teams in New Jersey, and next up for them was the CAS Panthers which only fielded 5 players, but they were 5 strong and talented NYC players that were ready for the challenge in front of them.

If you like defense this game was not for you though as both teams never seemed to take a breath as it was for a long stretch in the opening half layup after layup going up and down the floor on both ends which seemed to make Ossining head coach Dan Ricci agitated as he wanted more toughness from his girls on the defensive end and wasn't getting it.

Kailah Harris '19 was doing a solid job as a defensive rebounder on CAS Panther misses, but even those were few and far between as while the Pride got out to a 47-33 lead with just over 3 minutes to go in the half, CAS closed out the half strong as Infinity Hammonds (Murry Bergtraum '18) was able to hit a pair of three balls late in the half to cut the deficit down to an astonishing 57-51 at the half.

The Ossining lead kept getting chipped away early in the second half as well as even though they were a potent offensive team, the defensive miscues looked like it may cost them. Deja Francis (Murry Bergtraum '18) was able to score on an up and under drive while getting fouled, and when Hammonds hit her 5th three of the game with 11 minutes to play in the game, CAS had their first lead at 63-62.

It was short lived though as Espinoza-Hunter drained a three ball from the left side, and that was soon after followed by a steal and finish inside by Harris to allow Ossining to go up by 3.

Speaking of 3, playing with only 5 players and playing as aggressive defensively as the CAS Panthers team was soon came back to bite them as on back to back possessions with just under 8 minutes to go saw Francis and Dai'yanni Davis (Murry Bergtraum '17) each foul out of the game, limiting their team to just 3 players.

The referees and the leaders of the Rose Classic Live tournament brought both Ricci and CAS Panthers head coach Curtiz "Luck" Simpson together to address that issue and it was resolved with Ricci allowing CAS to play both players who had fouled out to continue to make it a competitive game.

A competitive game it truly proved to be as both teams went back and forth on each other. Griffin at one point scored 13 straight points down the stretch for Ossining, and while it seemed that they had pulled away in the closing minutes, a couple of steals in the backcourt by the Panthers, and missed FT's by Ossining allowed CAS to have one last chance with 3.1 seconds left and down 93-90.

Davis inbounded the ball and it seemed as if Ossining was going to foul as Ricci and his coaching staff were yelling to foul before the inbound took place. Davis though through a beautiful pass to Hammonds who avoided her defender and got off a great look to tie just before the buzzer sounded but it fell off the front rim to allow the Pride to go 2-0 on the day and take this one over the CAS Panthers, 93-90.

For the most part once again it was offensively the Griffin and Espinoza-Hunter show as Griffin led the way with 31 points, while Espinoza-Hunter added 30. It was a very solid game as well for Harris who had 15 points and put up big numbers of the glass on an important performance to help her team get the win.

CAS Panthers in defeat came away looking extremely impressive as the team comprised primarily of girls from Murry Bergtraum were led by Hammonds who had 24 points, with Francis adding 22 as well in the very strong effort.

Ossining did come away from the day 2-0 and while you could say they had their moments of stress throughout the day, for a team that hasn't worked together since the summer time they looked like a strong unit and once they really figure out the defensive issues they should easily be the top NYSPHSAA team in New York State.

If Ossining was very impressive in taking down 2 very solid AAU teams in their pair of games, you also had to leave the court in Brooklyn feeling that LuHi will definitely be a team that could, and possibly even should compete with them for New York's best this season.

The Crusaders didn't take on the level of opponents on Sunday that Ossining did, but they came out in their pair of games and did what they were supposed to do, get out early and roll showing great teamwork, grit, and defensive understanding.

They first took on the Toronto Matrix, a staple of the Rose Classic tournaments throughout the Fall and the Spring, the Matrix are a very solid AAU squad from north of the border, but on this day they really didn't have enough firepower to counter what LuHi was able to throw at them early and often as the Crusaders rolled to a convincing 47-29 victory.

As most LuHi teams coached by Rich Slater do, the Crusaders set the tone early with stifling full court pressure that really took its toll on the Matrix as they struggled with passes over the top with Celeste Taylor '19 doing an excellent job of being in passing lanes and stealing passes which led to easy baskets for herself and both Amani Free '18 and Aislinn Flynn '17 around the rim.

Free, a transfer from Cicero-North Syracuse, showed excellent range as well with an early step back three ball off the dribble, while another transfer in Jaida Patrick '19, who came from North Rockland, was able to put the ball on the floor and go one on one at her defender to lead a balanced attack that took LuHi into the half with a 35-15 lead.

Long Island Lutheran did just about everything right in the opening half from good offensive possessions in both transition and halfcourt opportunities, while creating a good number of turnovers, truly playing the LuHi style of basketball everyone has become accustomed to.

The second half wasn't as crisp offensively for LuHi though as they didn't take advantage of their opportunities nearly as much though Taylor was able to hit on a straightaway three off a nice pass from Free in the post, and Grace Stone '18 was able to get involved more later in the game as she was able to push the ball up the floor more and finish getting herself to the rim.

A strong point for the Matrix in this one was the play inside of Julan McDonald (Cardinal Newman, ON '17) as she was able to get in spots down low and finish with a soft touch around the rim. Even though Toronto played better in the second half, the LuHi defense was still close too superb as they limited the Matrix guards all game long and dominating the play from start to finish to take the 18-point win.

Eight players got on the scoreboard in the win for Long Island Lutheran with Taylor leading the way with 12 points, while Free and Patrick each added 7 points apiece in the nice Crusaders win.

In the loss for the Toronto Matrix it was McDonald who had a game high 13 points while fighting hard and doing a solid job in the paint all game long.

The second game of the day for LuHi was against Beast'em Basketball, a team from Massachusetts that was severely overmatched in terms of size and overall talent. Seemingly knowing that Slater started a different lineup in this one, sitting both Taylor and Stone at the start, but even with the strong backcourt duo on the sidelines that just meant others would step up to help the Crusaders take control.

First it was Emma Cuccurullo '18 who was able to finish on baseline drives avoiding defenders and finishing nearly untouched going to the rim. Destiny Samuels '18 also got in the act early on as she was able to pull up and knock down the short to midrange jumpers as they each had 10 opening half points to see LuHi go up at the break 28-8.

It was much of the same in the second half as well as young floor general Cassidy Roberts '19 was able to use her speed to dribble drive her way to the rim for a pair of buckets, and Flynn at 6'2" used her size inside to putback misses with just ease.

Beast'em Basketball didn't present much of a challenge with the team only scoring 7 points in the second half, though all 7 did come from crafty off guard Jamad Flin (Boston Latin, MA '17), including one very deep three that showed impressive range.

It was just too much of everything though as LuHi proved to be deeper, more physical, quicker, and just overall better as 9 Crusaders scored in this one in what proved to be a 50-15 blowout win for Long Island Lutheran.

Samuels had 12 points to lead LuHi in the win, with Cuccurullo finishing with 10 in the victorious performance as well for the Crusaders.

Flin had 11 of her teams 15 points in this one as she was the only real offensive option for Beast'em in what proved to be a very tough game for the Massachusetts based squad.

So with LuHi going 2-0 much like Ossining, both teams surely proved to be the elite of the elite in New York Girls H.S. Basketball this season. Both have things they need to work on with Ossining needing to clean up some defensive issues, and LuHi still looking for that go to scorer when they absolutely need a bucket, but both proved they are dangerous and talented, and taking down AAU teams throughout the day just showed that these two will be two to watch all high school season long.

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