High School Teams Gel @ P.A.L. Tournament

NEW YORK, NY – The Police Athletic League is sponsoring a high school tournament at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The event features eight Public and Catholic School teams. With the exodus of senior talent, the P.A.L. event gives young teams a chance to develop chemistry for next season. A season which promises to have similar parody as was the case this season. On Wednesday, NYCHoops.net was on hand for the two Class AA games.

The St. Raymond Ravens lose Minnesota-bound talent Isaiah Washington ’17 and are transitioning in new leadership. Their game against the players from Wings Academy who’s similarly lost seniors Jose Perez ‘17 and Boubacar Kamissoko ‘17, gave both teams the opportunity to get the kinks out.

After Omar Silverio ‘17 nailed a three-ball, St. Ray’s embarked on a 13 – 0 run supported by buckets from Nick Rivera ‘18 and Darius Lee ‘18. Jose Cuelo and Brian Mitchell ‘18 finally put points on the board for Wings but the Public school still trailed 28 -22 at the half.

Throughout much of the second half, the two team exchanged baskets but with 5 minutes left to play, Wings closed the gap to 2 points. The deficit narrowed even further but multiple turnovers allowed the Ravens to reassert a wider point spread and hold on for a 6-point win.

Lee led the Ravens with 18 points with Rivera and Silverio contributing 12 points and 7 points respectively.

Monsignor Scanlan Crusaders is yet another squad that loses talent such as Saquan Singleton ‘17 and Jalen Lecque ’18 and it showed. Throughout the opening half, Scanlan and Wolves, which consists of players from W.H.E.E.L.S. Wolves, were neck and neck and knotted more frequently than not.

At the half, the two teams were once again tied at 17 apiece.

Evenly matched and tied at 31 with 1:47 left to play, Danny DaCosta ’18 scored with 16 seconds which put Scanlan ahead by a point. The Wolves had opportunities to score but came up short as time expired.

DaCosta was high man for the Crusaders with 11 points.