Hard Fought Battles at the Beacons

QUEENS, NY – Two events were in full swing on Thursday. The Beacon 216 tournament took place in Fresh Meadows at the while the Bayside played host to the Beacon 158 Back-to-School Classic. We recapped the most impactful game at each venue.

A battle of the Beacon 216 tournament undefeateds embarked at George J. Ryan J.H.S. as St. Francis Terrier fought to protect a 2 – 0 record against the then 3 – 0 John Bowne Wildcats. Both team recently beat St. Mary’s so it would be interesting to see that the combatants match up against each other.

The game was evenly match at the onset as Richard Selembo ’18 penetrated the Terriers defense with St. Francis Prep countering with perimeter shots from sharpshooter Evan Sirakis ‘19 and mid-range baskets from 6’1” Brandon Tatis ’18. Bowne received additional firepower from Taquan Holley and with 9:30 left in the opening half, the score was tied at 10 apiece.

Whereas the Wildcats had only two consistent scorers, SFP began to pile on points with help from Matthew Streeter ’18 and Justin Hendrick ‘19. The Terriers surged ahead by 5 points but Selembo and Holley tag team and once again knotted the score at 21. An 8 – 2 St. Francis Prep run closed out the half leaving the Wildcats down 29 – 23 as the second half began.

The inside/out play of the Terriers with Tatis in the paint and Sirakis in the corner proved lethal to the Wildcats. That along with improving point guard play from A.J. Lopez '20 spawned an 11 – 0 run that extended its lead to 17 points with 11:19 left in regulation. Bowne got their deficit down to 10 points as Holley and Selembo tried to make a push St. Francis recoiled and eventually took the Wildcats out by 17 points.

Tatis lead all scorers with 19 points for St. Francis Prep with Hendrick and Lopez adding 12 points and 10 points respectively. Selembo was the high man for Bowne with 18 points while Holley contributed 12 points.

After losing to L.I. Lutheran, South Shore was in search of its first win at the Beacon 158 tournament when that ran up against the Half Hollow Hills East Thunderbirds in the Marie Curie Middle School gym. An unexpected 67- 66 loss sent the Vikings back to Brooklyn empty handed in that regard as the Dix Hills, NY school scratched and scraped out a one-point victory.

Undersized at almost every position, the Thunderbirds had to rely on grit, determination and clutch shooting to stay in the hunt. Early on the Vikings tried to simply overpower Hills East as Sekou Sylla '18 remained in attack mode punishing the Hills East front court.

Senior point Savion Lewis ’18 did a masterful job at running the offense by setting the table for teammates Julien Crittendon '18 and Kenny Mathurin '18 and scoring with required. At only 6’4” Mathurin did a yeoman’s job of mopping up the boards, battling amongst the trees and launching pin-point, two handed over the head outlet passes that set up transition baskets.

Early in the half, South Shore amassed a 9-point lead but Hills East whittled away at it until a Crittendon three-ball put the Thunderbirds out from 33 – 31 at the half.

The Vikings were not done. Not by a long shot. Sylla continued to score and he received help from Femi Odukale ’18 and Kadary Richmond ’18 and 17 minutes left in the game, South Shore was back on top.

Lewis and Crittedon once again came up clutch tying the game at 41 and again at 43 but a 9 – 0 Vikings run put a damper on things. A resilient Thunderbirds squad would not be deterred and managed to tie the game for a final time at 61 with two minutes left to play.

A drive by Lewis gave Half Hollow Hills east a two-point advantage. South Shore had chances to take the lead but a free-throw miss by Sylla and a missed jumper by Odukale as time ran out sealed off the one-point victory for the Long Island school.

Lewis and Crittedon notched 20 points apiece for Hills East with Mathurin pitching in 12 points in the paint. Sylla powered South Shore with a game high 29 points.