L.I. Lutheran ties Wings down

BAYSIDE, NY - In what has to be considered the marquee matchup of the regular season at the EYAC Beacon 158 Back to School Tournament in Queens, Long Island Lutheran met up with Wings Academy on Friday evening, and it had all the intensity and intrigue that one would expect for a matchup, even in the preseason, between these two powerhouse programs.

It was a great start for LuHi as they pressured the ball a lot and harassed the Wings guards into mistakes early on, while also using their size to dominate the paint building up a quick double digit lead.

Wings Academy fought back with a much better second half but they dug themselves too big a hole as their comeback fell short. It was a balanced Crusaders effort that allowed them to win the battle over a strong Wings squad, 54-44.

Out of the gate Long Island Lutheran put their stamp on the game as Harrison Warnock '18 got off to a quick start from the outside with back to back long jumpers from the outside off nice ball moment from the Crusaders, and then Donatas Kupsas '18 and Chris Coalmon '17 were both able to push out in transition and allow LuHi to build up a 15-3 lead with 9:22 to go in the opening half.

The biggest lead in the opening half for LuHi came after a Brandon Jacobs '17 three ball making it 24-7. Even though Wings was struggling to maintain their defensive principles, and we're getting hurt on the glass on both sides of the floor against a bigger Crusaders team, Boubacar Kamissoko '17 gave Wings a spark late in the half with a couple of runners in the lane making it a 31-16 lead for Long Island Lutheran at the break.

It couldn't have been a fun halftime for the Wings players as they were outhustled, and flat out outplayed for the entire opening half, but they knew they could do better and came out with a purpose in the second half to make this a competitive game, and one they could win.

Instead of laying back in a 2-3 zone like Wings did for much of the opening half, allowing LuHi to push the ball up the court at the pace they wanted, they pressured more in the backcourt to begin the second half, and Kamissoko was able to take advantage with easy buckets as he along with Brian Mitchell '18 were making a different with their able to create LuHi mistakes.

Jose Perez '17 also rose to the challenge of wanting to get Wings back into the game as he used his brute force on the outside to will and fight his way to the rim for baskets as with 8 minutes to play the deficit for Wings was now just 10.

A beautiful entry feed from Warnock to a cutting Esam Mostafa '19 broke up what looked to be a strong Wings run the Long Island Lutheran was able to get over the top of the trap and get easy looks down low again which enabled them to push the lead back up to a comfortable point.

Perez and Kamissoko really began to carry Wings though as the offense was being run through the 2 of them as they both were able to slice through the defense, and with missed beginning to pile up for LuHi, along with a much more physical Wings effort in the paint defensively, the Bronx PSAL power had the LuHi lead down to 8 with under 2 minutes to play.

That was as close as Wings got though as the Crusaders were able to maintain ball control and hit big FT's late as Coalmon and Jacobs were rock solid from the charity stripe down the stretch, and missed threes by Kamissoko and Mohamed Fofana '18 didn't let Wings Academy get any closer as Long Island Lutheran was able to hold off a strong Wings charge and take the 54-44 victory.

It was a strong and balanced scoring effort from Long Island Lutheran as Coalmon led the way with 15 points, but Kupsas had 13 points, and Warnock added 12 points in what proved to be another very strong Beacon 158 effort for the Crusaders.

Wings fell to defeat but got strong offensive outings from Perez who had 15 points, and Kamissoko who had 14 points in a game that showed that they will clearly be among the PSAL's best this coming season.

The future certainly looks bright for the Gaels of St. Mary's as a team chock full of freshmen were able to hold off a late charge from the defending Nassau Class "AA" Champions in Baldwin to hang on for a 2-point win.

Baldwin were missing a number of key players in this one including one of Long Island's top guards in Jabeon Bivins '17, but still were able to stay close in this one because St. Mary's is just so incredibly young.

Playing at times with 5 freshmen on the floor, St. Mary's made mistakes, but got great play inside from Jevayne Walters '20 who was able to use his strength and size to pound his way for buckets around the rim, while Jordaine Dawkins '20was another bright spot with length on the perimeter to rise and connect from the midrange.

The Gaels had a lead for most of the game, but late it was Nasim Claudio-Cylin '18 whose athleticism and ability to take the ball on his own in transition and finish allowed the Bruins to fight back from being down by as much as 9 to take a lead with under 2 minutes to play.

St. Mary's was able to tie the game back up and then off a steal they held for 1 shot. The ball was pushed inside to Walters who was fouled with 4 seconds left with the game squared up at 42. The young and talented big man would connect on both to take a 44-42 lead, and there was just time for 1 more Baldwin shot, and a chance for the win.

The ball was put in Claudio-Cylin's hands and he was able to get himself to the left wing where he had two defenders in his face but he got off a look that fell off the left side of the rim as St. Mary's was able to come away from this one with the hard fought 44-42 win.

Walters had a team high 17 points in the win for St. Mary's, while it was Claudio-Cylin who had 19 points in the loss to pace Baldwin.