iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic Quarterfinals

SOUTH RICHMOND HILL, NY- With Northeast Basketball Club and Team Long Island having already punched their tickets for next Saturday's iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic semifinals, two more teams were in line to join them on Sunday with the second two quarterfinals taking place at the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Queens.

Both matchups looked to be interesting on paper as 2GZ squared off with the Early Risers in one semifinal, and Ben Gordon All-Stars taking on 1 Spot in the other.

It was a packed house in Queens with a standing room only crowd on hand to see how the afternoon would go, and with NYCHoops.net on hand to take in the action here is a recap of the final two quarterfinal games before next week's Championship Saturday.

Hanging tough the entire way, the Early Risers stayed in the game from start to finish but never held a lead as 2GZ was able to jump out to a quick lead and never relinquish it the rest of the way in what would be for them a 6-point victory.

After running out to an early 7-point lead on the back of fine perimeter shooting of Tyler Bourne (Notre Dame, CT '18) who was carrying over his great finish to 2GZ Round of 16 game into the start of this Quarterfinal, hitting on a pair of treys to see his team get out to a 14-7 lead.

Marcus Hammond (Benjamin Cardozo '18) stemmed the tide for the Early Risers as he connected on an elbow jumper over a closing out Moses Brown (Archbishop Molloy '18), and after Dejavaughn Utley (Benjamin Cardozo '18) hit a three from the left wing the 2GZ lead was pushed down to 2 midway through the 2nd quarter.

After a turnover by 2GZ in the backcourt, Brandon Powell (Pine Bush '18) got the Early Risers within 27-26, but a late three by the aforementioned Bourne closed out the half strong for 2GZ helping them take a 30-26 lead into halftime.

Each time the Early Risers got the game within 1, which happened on more than one occasion late in the 2nd quarter and into the 3rd, someone would come back for 2GZ to stop the momentum. If it wasn't Brown inside it was KC Ndefo (Abraham Lincoln '18) as the recent Elmont H.S. transfer scored 12 points in the 3rd quarter to help them stay in front going into the 4th.

Even as Peter Pavlidis (Benjamin Cardozo '18) connected on midrange jumpers from the baseline and elbows for the Early Risers, 2GZ was able to pressure the ball and relate enough mistakes to maintain control with Brown scoring down low time and time again in the closing minutes, eventually seeing 2GZ built up a 56-46 lead with 4:55 to go.

A three from the right side by Hammond got the game back to single digits for the Early Risers, but Joe Toussaint (Cardinal Hayes '19) stepped up with 6 points in the final 3 minutes of play as from start to finish it was all about 2GZ as they held on to make their way to the semifinals with a 67-61 hard fought victory.

Ndefo had a game high 21 points for 2GZ as Brown poured in 20 points as well to help push them to the win.

Closing out a strong Sunday where he opened more than a few eyes, Hammond led the Early Risers with 15 points, with Utley and Powell each also scoring 11 points in the defeat.

This game flipped quickly as Jason Douglas-Stanley '18 scored 11 points in the first quarter, doing just about everything needed to once again carry Mt. Vernon H.S. to a semifinal berth as the Knights would take a 36-26 lead into halftime.

Ben Gordon scored the first bucket of the 3rd quarter to take a 38-26 lead, but from that point on the depth, athleticism, and shooting of 1 Spot took over as they outscored the Knights the rest of the way 46-8 en route to a dominating 26-point victory.

It was a true first half team effort for Ben Gordon as Douglas-Stanley and Demetre Roberts '18 each were pushing the pace and getting into driving lanes, doing a great job finishing at the rim to help Mt. Vernon take the 10-point halftime lead.

Troy Hampshed '20 scored off a putback down low to open the second half and give the Knights a 12-point cushion, but that would prove to be the high-water mark for the Ben Gordon All-Stars as from that point on 1 Spot was in total control.

If it wasn't Precious Achiuwa (St. Benedict's, NJ '19) showing off a variety of offensive skills both around the rim and out on the perimeter, it was Idan Tretout (Wilbraham & Monson, MA '19) who was confidently connecting from the outside, knocking down shot after shot off the dribble.

A corner triple by Tretout gave 1 Spot their first lead of the game with 2:38 left in the 3rd quarter, and the from that point on they left little doubt of how the game would end.

Achiuwa threw down a monster dunk, driving down the right side in transition as he sent home 4 throwdowns in the second half, and it wasn't just those two did all the damage as Musa Jeng (St. Benedict's, NJ '18) inside and Ebrima Dibba (St. Benedict's, NJ '18) outside helped continue to pad the 1 Spot lead.

As strong as Douglas-Stanley was early, the 1 Spot defense limited his looks and the ball pressure being applied created a good number of Knights turnovers which in turn led to easy 1 Spot scores going down on the other end.

Trailing by 10 at the half, 1 Spot came all the back and proved themselves worthy of a semifinal spot as they cruised late in what would be a come from behind, impressive 72-46 win over a game and tough Ben Gordon All-Stars team.

Both Tretout and Achiuwa paced the way scoring 23 and 21 points respectively for 1 Spot, while Jeng added 10 points and a handful of rebounds and blocks as well.

In the loss it was Douglas-Stanley who had 15 points for Ben Gordon All-Stars as he proved to be the lone double-digit scorer for a Knights team who look primed for another deep run in Section 1 this coming high school season.

So now the semifinals at the iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic are set. The play will get underway this coming Saturday with 2GZ taking on 1 Spot in the first semifinal at 10am, with the Northeast Basketball Club facing off against Team Long Island in the second semifinal at 11:15am, with the Championship Game to follow at 2pm.

Round of 16 Action