Lincoln Skewers St. Rays @ SMARTBall

NEW YORK, NY - If Tuesday evening's game between Abraham Lincoln and St. Raymond at Abe Lincoln Park in Harlem was any indication of who to fear in NYC high school basketball, the Railsplitters definitely have the fear factor.

Lincoln made short work of the Ravens in a pre-season matchup to advance to the semifinal round of the SMARTBall Classic single elimination tournament.

82-68 would be the final score in a game that was really only competitive in the opening quarter. The elusive and unbelievably quick PG Tyler Bourne (11 points & 4 assists) kept St. Ray's back-peddling for most of the game while guard Donald Flores (23 points & 1 assist), Jahlil Tripp (19 points & 9 rebounds) and former Raven Cahiem Brown (22 points, 4 rebounds & 2 assists) provided a steady diet of buckets for the Coney public school.

St. Ray's received offensive firepower from combo guard Isaiah Washington (27 points & 2 assists) but early foul trouble on teammate Sid Wilson (12 points & 6 rebounds) stifled the Catholic School's progress. A three point deficit would balloon to a 49-25 crevice by halftime.

The Ravens came out in the third quarter looking to make up ground as Wilson, who was scoreless in the second quarter, came to life while Washington continued to take the ball into the teeth of the Railsplitters defense.

St. Ray's offense stepped up considerably but its defense was porous overall. Flores made the Bronx squad pay for those transgressions, torching them from the perimeter as well as driving to the rack. While the Ravens gained some ground, they still trailed by 18 points to begin the final quarter.

The Ravens did manage to get the deficit down to 15 points with 2:56 left to play as the Railsplitters eased up on the pressure. With Washington as the only Raven putting up a fight, the refs finally unhooked the life support and ended the contest.

Bishop Louglin eliminates Bedford Academy, 53-39

In an earlier game, the Loughlin Lions battled against Bedford Academy. Keith Williams (17 points & 6 rebounds) and Udon Tretout (11 points & 2 rebounds) proved to be formidable as Loughlin amassed a 23-13 half time lead.

Bedford Academy made a run at it in the second half as Anthony Munson (25 points & 2 rebounds) ignited as did Justin Knight (4 points & 9 rebounds) on the boards but the Loughlin lead only dwindled slightly. Ahead by eight points to start the fourth quarter, the Lions roared to the finish line with a strong effort by Williams and Marquise Nowelle (9 points & 2 assists).

Bishop Loughlin will play Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday in the semifinal round at 8pm with Monsignor Scalon going up against Boys & Girls HS at 6:30pm in the other semifinal matchup. Location: 135th Street & 5th Ave. in Manhattan, NY