Golden Eagles Dig Deeper Hole for Dozo
SPRINGFIELD GARDENS, NY - Coach Ron Naclerio may be the winningest coach in Public School history but his Cardozo Judges are definitely not the winningest team this season. With an 85 – 72 loss on Tuesday against the Springfield Garden Golden Eagles, the Judges fall to 10 – 9 overall and 9 – 5 in league play. An anomaly for the heretofore PSAL power.
In the Anthony Mason Gym, Springfield Gardens immediately jumped out to an 8 -2 lead on Dozo and never looked back. Even with the added offense of Taj Anderson ‘19, who’s been ineligible most of the season, the Judges had no answer for the dynamic duo of 6’3” Hegel Augustin ‘17 and point guard Khayri Harris ‘17.
"This was a big win,” said Augustin. “We had to secure second place and that’s what we did tonight.” The night was special in other ways for Augustin as he notched his 1000th point at Springfield Gardens. What made the feat that much more impressive is that he did it in a little over a year and a half.
Harris carried the Golden Eagles in the first quarter, netting two three-pointers. Offensive input from Augustin and Jamal Tracey ‘17 countered scoring from Judges Dejavaughn Utley ‘18, Anderson and Collins Onyeike ‘18. The Golden Eagles maintained a 4-point lead at the end of the opening quarter.
That lead grew as Augustin began to heat up with teammates Nicolas Felo ‘18 and Tyrease Smith ‘17 joining in. Cardozo’s deficit increased throughout the quarter as they not only missed field goals but free-throws as well. At the half, Springfield Gardens had amassed a 40 -26 lead.
“Our strategy was to go out there, play hard defense and limit their looks,” said Augustin and that’s what the Golden Eagles tried to continue doing in the third quarter but the Judges began to push back.
The trio of Marcus Hammond ‘18, Utley and Anderson stirred the pot early in the second half. Strong drives by Hammond and Utley along with perimeter shots by Anderson pulled Dozo to within 7 points with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
Down by nine to start the fourth quarter, the Judges attempted to make a run but the Golden Eagles rose up and smashed that movement as Harris, Tyrese Gutherie ‘18 and Augustin came up big. Dozo went into desperation mode as the hour glass was slowly emptying.
To their credit, Cardozo fought to the very end but could never crack the threshold of being 11 points down. Harris led Springfield Gardens with 25 points with Augustin scoring 19 of his 1000 points. Anderson was high man for Cardozo with 20 points with Utley contributing 19 points.
With tough final two regular season league games against Queens H.S. of Teaching and H.S. for Construction and a fortified Queens PSAL Class AA League overall, it will be uphill battle for Naclerio and the unranked Cardozo Judges to secure a borough title or its third PSAL City Championship in his 39 years of coaching.
