L.I. Lutheran Breaks Wings
BROOKVILLE, NY - It’s not Wings Academy’s fault that the Bronx PSAL AA division is weak. They have played the hand that they’ve been dealt and rode an undefeated wave to the Borough Championship. Coach Billy Turnage said he welcomed Wednesday’s game versus L.I. Lutheran, the #1 team on Long Island. “We don’t get opportunities to play teams like this,” he said.
After a recent loss to Christ the King, Crusaders Head Coach John Buck also wanted the match-up against the #3 ranked team in NYC during a normally inactive school break as they prep for the upcoming Federation State Championships in March. “We’re very appreciative for Wings playing us during this break,” said Buck. "Just to get a great game this late in the season with a well-coached athletic team, we knew we would have to come show-up and play.”
After a slow start, LuHi eventually shaped up and shut down Wings Academy, 77-61.
5'11" Brandon Jacobs ’17 (6 points & 8 assists) appeared to set a positive tone early as the point guard sparked a 5-0 Crusaders run along with teammates Donatas Kupsas ‘18 (16 points & 12 rebounds) and 6'4" Charles Manning ‘16 (17 points & 8 rebounds) but Wings had an answer. 6'1" Kevin Saylor ’16 (8 points) became a one-man wrecking crew aided by PG 5'10" Malik Mooving ‘16 (10 points) and soon LuHi’s lead was down to a point. The Crusaders tried to pull away but 6'0" Boubacar Kamissoko ‘17 (21 points) kept the Bronx squad only down by two as the second quarter began.
Being outhustled by the smaller Wings Academy, Coach Buck was clearly not happy with his team’s body language and railed into them during a time-out as the quarter began. “Pick up your faces,” he yelled. “You look like death out there!”
It would take a few moments for that message to sink in as Kamissoko scored again to give Wings its first lead 15-14 early in the quarter. Wings attempted to increase their point spread but Lutheran finally began to push back as Kupsas started to dominate in the paint.
6'3" Jose Perez ’17 (16 points), who seemed flustered throughout the afternoon score contested baskets for Wings as LuHi began to clamp down defensively. Knotted at 22 with 4:09 left in the half, LuHi would slowly begin to separate for their opponent as Jacobs began clocking assists to 6'6" Chris Coalmon ‘17 (12 points & 4 assists) and Kupsas continued to pound in the paint.
An 11-0 run by the Crusaders left Wings Academy down by double-digits. Kamissoko and Mooving eventually ended Wings drought but they were in the hole, 33-26 at the half.
Basketball is a game of runs and leads can easily evaporate. Such was the case as the third quarter commenced. As the Crusaders rested on its laurels, Wings mounted an 11-3 comeback and only trailed by two-points with 5:10 left in the quarter.
The Crusader countered with Manning, Jacobs and Devonte Green ‘16 (13 points & 7 rebounds) scored buckets. Coalmon did a good job capping off the quarter, sending LuHi into the final stanza ahead by 16 points. The Crusaders appeared to squelch Wings final run of the game. With 2:33 left to play, a trey by Jacobs put Lutheran up by a game high 27 points. LuHi subbed out at the two-minute mark and coasted to victory.
“After Christ the King, we all had to step up both mentally and physically,” said Kupsas. “I just tried to help my team run in transition, get the rebounds and get my work down.”
Manning, who picked up a D-I offer on Wednesday said that LuHi’s strategy was to take Wings out of their game. “Basically we wanted to keep them out of transition causing them to play in half-court” Utilizing various defensive looks, Manning said they wanted to keep Wings Academy guessing. The strategy work as Wings was kept 20 point under their scoring average.
