iS8/Nike Action Sunday

CORONA, NY - Sunday at the iS8/Nike Fall Classic at Elmcor, the games were a bit lopsided, with blowouts seemingly the order of the day.

It was a good day to see standout individual performances though, as quite a few players rose up and had big time games on the iS8 stage. Here is a recap of the day's action.

The Rens (Artie) decimate NJ Trailblazers 77-56

This game, like many of the games on Sunday, was over by the end of the 1st quarter. Ryan Murphy (Fairfield Prep, CT '16) set the pace in the early going, as the new point guard for The Rens was in control making effective passes in transition, while also burying a pair of threes. Travis Atson (Christ the King '15) was the main beneficiary in the opening quarter of Murphy's passes, breaking out and getting the ball down the floor, finishing with 2 big throwdowns. The duo combined for 23 first quarter points as The Rens jumped out to a 15 point lead.

It only got worse in the 2nd quarter as Adonis Delarosa (Christ the King '14) and Rawle Alkins (Christ the King '16) joined the offensive barrage, with Alkins showing a nice ability to step out and consistently connect on the long range jumper, and Delarosa as well adding versatility into his game, putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim, which with his 6'10" frame, makes him even more dangerous if he can effectively do that in big game situations.

One of the lone bright spots for the Trailblazers was Hassan Burke (St. Benedict's Prep, NJ '14). The 6'3"' guard was the one player for the Jersey squad who seemed to not be rattled by the defense of The Rens, as he was able to get out and finish in the open floor, plus he was an effective shooter from the outside. His game though was not able to match the intensity and effectiveness that The Rens played with as they went up 49-25 at the half, and never looked back. Pulling their key players for much of the 4th quarter as they eased home for the win.

Atson led The Rens once again with 25 points, adding another solid effort to his statement making tournament thus far. Murphy, who was playing his first event with The Rens added 15 points, and a handful of assists, while Alkins had 13 points, 9 of which came in the 2nd quarter.

Burke led the Trailblazers with a game high 28 points in the loss.

King Street Kings 72- Team Price 54

King Street Kings 68- NJ Crusaders 37

King Street, which came into the day 1-1 in the tournament, needed a pair of wins to advance to the playoffs at iS8, and that's what they got in convincing fashion.

The first game against a well coached Team Price team was especially impressive, as King Street got off to a quick start with Michael Runcie (St. Benedict's Prep, NJ '16) knocked down a runner in the lane, which was shortly followed by a line drive three to go up 9-0 early. Tarik Allicock (Grand Street Campus '14) broke up the early run with a short hook in the lane, and Price seemed to calm down and let the game come to them more at that point. Jerry Mejia (Washington Irving '15) was able to slash down the wings and effectively finish, but he was also smart enough to kick the ball out when he attracted double teams, finding Albert Veras (George Washington '15) in the corner early in the 2nd to give Team Price their first lead of the game at 17-16.

David Runcie (Columbia, NJ '14) started to find his rhythm late in the half though as he and Chima Ekekeugbor (CBA '14) were able to attack the lanes and knock down short pull up jumpers, finding open spots in the defense to punish. Team Price thought they would go into the half close, but King Street ended the half on a backbreaking running three with 2 seconds left while getting fouled. It was a 4 point play that helped them finish on a 10-0 rub to go up 39-28 at the break.

The New Jersey based team never really looked back from there with Ekekeugbor showing good strength in posting up and hitting a nice turnaround jumper, and the a Runcie brothers, who were so good here on Saturday, once again proved that they were extremely capable of stepping up with big time performances in important games.

It was a 17 point lead for KSK after three, and Team Price got it down to 14 at one point, but that was as close as they got, as King Street knocked down 9 threes in this one to comfortably knock off a good Team Price team by 18.

The older Runcie brother, David, led all scorers with 22 in this one, while Ekekeugbor had 17, and Michael, the younger Runcie had 12. Mejia, the lightning quick floor general led Team Price in defeat with 16 points.

The 2nd game of the day for King Street started out sloppy, but as soon as they found their feet, they coasted to an easy 31 point win over an NJ Crusaders team which just didn't have the firepower to compete in this one.

David Runcie once again led with a game high 24 for the winners, with Ekekeugbor adding 17 once again, and 6'4" athlete Alex Wightman (Summit, NJ '14) had a nice game putting in 12. J.C. Beaubron (Columbia, NJ '15) paced the Crusaders in the loss with 12 points.

Lightning Express 63 run over NJ Crusaders 63-51

In what was the most competitive game of the day, the Lightning Express, which primarily consists of players from Holy Trinity, was able to pull out there first win of the tournament behind the 16 points of Jimmy Golaszewski, while forward Bradley Eugene put in big time work in the paint, especially in the 4th quarter where he came up with 8 of his 14 points as they were able to overcome a rough start and pull away late for the victory. Beaubron led the Crusaders again with 17 points in defeat, while Billy Sixsmith added 4 threes for Lightning Express in the win, once again showing off his impressive range to finish with 12 points.

Real Scout Bedford wallops Team Underrated 69-47

Team Underrated came with a much different lineup than what they had on Saturday. They relied on a lot of youth in this once, and against a veteran, and talented Real Scout squad, they fell behind 17-0 in the first 4 minutes of the game, and which they didn't led the deficit balloon up much more than that, they never got any closer either as they fell in this one by 22.

Lenny Kadisha (Wadleigh '15) had a big start in this one pouring in 10 of the first 17 points for Real Scout, which saw them take control. Chuba Ohams (Wadleigh '16) did a nice job on the glass, and on putbacks underneath.

Chris Kelly (St. Anthony's '17) was the one who ended the Real Scout run as he finished on a nice move driving inside, as the young freshman showed himself to be a player with a bright future in this one. Real Scout though played solid defense, and never really let Underrated get any momentum to mount a 2nd half charge as they comfortably took this one against the short handed team from Long Island.

Kadisha led the way for Real Scout with 15 points, with Ohams adding 12. Kelly paced all players in the loss for Team Underrated, leading the way with 16 points.