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iS8/Nike Quarterfinals Recaps

Cahiem Brown
Cahiem Brown
Ravi Rozier

SOUTH RICHMOND HILL, NY - The quarterfinal round of the IS8/Nike High School Spring Classic 2016 was played at the Boys & Girls Club on Atlantic Avenue and 111th in Queens. Here are brief recaps of the action on Sunday.


Montibello Handles Juice (Black), 69-58

Aaron Walker and Devonte Green are two of the top guards in New York, Walker in NYC and Green on Long Island. Both players have earned a free ride at the next level and their respective teams faced each other in the quarterfinal round of the IS8/Nike playoffs. In this particular matchup Walker played a little better than Green as Montibello was able to pull away from Juice (Black) and advance to the semifinals with a 69-58 victory.

Walker and guard Tracy Cleckley '16 took the bull by the horns and helped their team overcome an early deficit to gain a slight advantage midway through the second quarter. Juice led the game 16-7 after the first quarter and the score reached 22-9. Walker hadn’t scored up until that point and the coaches for Juice were yelling at the team to back up and make him shoot. Walker calmly drained a wide open three and repeated the feat on the next possession. Montibello was on its way to a comeback.

Walker broke a 38-38 tie with a pullup jumper, and then found Cleckley for a basket a couple of possessions later. Cleckley made a couple of free throws and scored again on another assist from Walker. Montibello was up 46-42 after the score from Cleckley, but Juice was never able to really get back into the game.

Cleckley scored a game high 21 points for Montibello, while Walker, who got into the paint anytime he wanted to, scored 18. Osbel Caraballo led Juice with 18 points, while Green finished with 15.


New Heights Outlasts Northeast Basketball Club, 78-62

New Heights held a six point lead at halftime over Northeast Basketball Club. Idan Tretout paced New Heights in the first half with 4 three pointers. Tretout (12 points) didn’t score any more points the rest of the game, but his shooting was impressive. New Heights really controlled the game despite never really building a huge lead. They didn’t reach a double digit lead until the fourth quarter.

NEBC played at a slow pace, with their point guard Brandon Anderson running the show. Anderson never looked to push the ball, instead opting to walk it up the floor almost every time. New Heights looked like they had more athletes on the floor, but it wasn’t by much. Still, the only player who was consistent from the outside was Anderson, who drained a pair of three-pointers late in the third quarter that cut New Heights lead to three. Going into the final quarter the score was 52-46 in favor of New Heights.

Sid Wilson scored on an old fashioned three point play to put New Heights up by 9. Wilson (14 points) scored a few minutes later on a spinning fade-away to put his team up 61-48. New Heights was well on their way to a win.

6 foot 11 inch center Moses Brown made a few nice big man moves on his way to leading the team in scoring with 18 points. He has recently shown some ability and appears to have some upside in his development. Right now some smaller schools have offered him, but they are trying to get in early, because if some bigger schools see any potential they will be calling soon.

Brandon Anderson led NEBC with 17 points, while Marlon Taylor added 14.


2GZ’s (Will) Dunks On Team Price 88-59

The first quarter of the playoff game between 2GZ’s (Will) and Team Price was a feeling out quarter, just like the first round of most boxing matches. 2GZ’s led 19-13 after the first quarter. Now in some boxing matches, the 2nd round is when one of the fighters comes out swinging and starts to land some punches. 2GZ’s came out and landed a few punches in the 2nd quarter, scoring the first 12 points of the period. By the time the first half ended, 2GZ’s was ahead 45-26.

Still in the third quarter, the score was 57-42, and there was a lot of time left. 15 points isn’t insurmountable in a basketball game with more than 10 minutes left. That was when 2GZ’s went for the knockout.

Shamorie Ponds went between the legs and then stepped back for a top of the key three-pointer, then Ponds found Mustapha Heron in the corner for another triple. That was the beginning of a 26-2 run to annihilate Team Price.

Included in the run was a slam dunk show by Ponds and high flyer Unique McLean. Ponds led a fast break and knew that McLean was trailing behind him, so he threw it off the backboard for a nasty dunk. Ponds found him on another break when he tossed it up with his right hand as McLean ran the baseline for a pretty alley-oop dunk. They weren’t finished. They completed an alley-oop trifecta when Ponds, dribbling down the left side of the court, decided to throw another alley-oop to McLean with his left hand across his body for another crowd pleasing dunk.

The score after the third quarter was 71-44. Game over.

Ponds drained 4 threes on his way to a game high 24 points. Heron, another lefty shooter, was right there with 23 points of his own. McLean finished with 18 points and a lot of dunks.

Stephen Takyi scored 20 points for Team Price, while Anyeuri Castillo finished with 16.


Juice Squeezes Overtime Win Over 2GZ’s (Orlando)

Juice held a 33-20 lead over 2GZ’s (Orlando) in the second quarter and looked in like they were in charge. However, 2GZ’s started to fight back behind the play of Isaiah Deas, who made a couple of field goals to get his team back into the game. Eventually, Juice’s double digit lead was cut to two points at halftime, 36-34.

Juice was able to expand their lead to 70-62 halfway through the fourth quarter, but 2GZ’s wasn’t going anywhere. 2GZ’s guard Randy Bell started a 12-3 run that ended with Bell going coast to coast for a pull-up jumper. The score was 73-72 when Bell was fouled with 0:53 seconds left and he split the pair free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Bell started the scoring in the extra period which helped 2GZ’s out to a 79-73 lead which extended the run to 18-3. It wasn’t looking good for Juice at that moment, but they answered with an impressive run of their own by scoring the next 8 points.

Jahlil Tripp started the run with a lay-up, which was followed by Caheim Brown driving straight down the lane for a lay-up followed by a pull-up jumper on the next possession. Brown’s shot tied the game at 79.

Juice held a slim 81-80 lead late when Nate Pierre had his shot attempt blocked in the paint, but Pierre was able to get the rebound and finish to give Juice the final margin of victory.

Pierre led all scorers with 22 points, while Brown finished with 21 points. Tripp finished with 17 points for Juice. Bell scored 17 points for 2GZ’s, all of them in the second half. Deas finished with 16 points.

Next Saturday the semifinals and championship game will be played at IS8. 2GZ’s (Will) will play Montibello in the first semifinal game at 10 am. Juice will play New Heights in the second game at 11:15 am. The championship game will tip-off at 2pm.


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