iS8/Nike Thursday Recaps

SOUTH JAMAICA, NY - Thursday's iS8/Nike Spring HS Classic featured two good competitive games.

In the first match-up the B.C. Eagles battled Team Underrated and in the second match-up featured NYC Finest against the Brooklyn Ballers.

Team Underrated Flies Over B.C. Eagles, 60-49

The B.C. Eagles, a solid club that isn't very flashy but very solid fundamentally got off to a quick 9-0 lead. Early on Chaz Watler helped Team Underrated get out on the break but they had trouble finishing their lay-ups when getting to the basket and were overly anxious. They soon started playing better behind the solid play of Shaq Mosley as well as an array fast break lay-up by Walter that he missed early on. After a buzzer beater by BC Eagle Jack Dwyer, his team trailed 29-23 at half.

To start the 2nd half the BC Eagles put together a quick 4-0 run off a couple of consecutive layups in transition by Kyle Menard. However, Team Underrated didn't falter and continued to respond and held on to a narrow lead. Halfway through the third, Team Underrated big man Kyle Williams started playing very physical in the paint with the opposing big men which resulted in him catching an accidental elbow to the gut which knocked him to the floor dramatically and caused him to sit for a few minutes.

At the end of the third quarter, Team Underrated led 44-42. The fourth quarter was controlled by Team Underrated whose suffocating defense took a toll on the Eagles and they would cruise to victory.

Mosley led Team Underrated with 17 points while Jesse Longmire led the B.C. Eagle with 13 points.

Brooklyn Ballers Inch Past NYC Finest, 59-57

The second game started off with both teams struggling to score; missing jump shots from different places on the court. The Brooklyn Ballers led NYC Finest early on, 19-10 to end the opening quarter.

In the next quarter, NYC Finest came out in a tough 2-2-1 press but both teams again struggled to put points on the boards. Point guard, Sam Annorh, began showing off some impressive speed and skills for NYC Finest and dazzled with crossovers and nice buckets to give his team their first lead 22-21with three minutes remaining.

Jayson Cethoute responded with one of his few threes and gave the Ballers a small lead 25-23 at half. In the third, Annorh made more big plays for his squad. He scored on a nice reverse lay-up, made nice passes, and went coast to coast for a basket but each time it appeared NYC Finest would charge ahead, the Ballers always responded.

Behind good three point shooting by Cethoute and the scoring of Mike Watson, the Ballers continued to maintain a narrow lead, 49-43.

To end the game, NYC Finest continued to try to recapture the lead but to no avail and the Brooklyn Ballers escaped. Cethoute led the Brooklyn Ballers with 18 points while Annorh led NYC Finest with 17 points.

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