New Heights Obliterate Team Underrated

In accordance with Sunday's line of lopsided thrashings at the Roy Wilkins site of iS8 -mainly at the hands of Unique All-Stars- one of iS8's perennial forces (New Heights Seniors) added their stamp to the day.

Despite being clearly overmatched, Team Underrated fought tooth and nail to keep the game competitive. However, New Heights' powerful front line of Jayvaughn Pinkston and Devon Collier, coupled with immense pressure defense, proved to be too much horsepower for the Long Island TU team, as New Heights cruised to a 74-50 win.

New Heights weren't smoking offensively by any stretch of the imagination, but their full court pressure defense was successful in warping TU early. TU's senior guards Rodney Francis (Francis Lewis HS) and Nasha Smith (Copiague HS) went strong to the hoop and were able to finish, but the turnovers took them out of the game early. New Heights PG Corey Edwards spearheaded the pressure that would cause TU to cough up the ball five straight times (nine in the quarter), while Pinkston and Collier used their size advantage around the hoop. New Heights was up, 18-7, going into the second quarter, but TU stayed in respectable shape behind more tough play from Smith. Albeit undersized, the 5'11 and slight Smith ran the open floor and got to the hoop in spite of New Heights' landslide advantage in size and power. A bucket from Smith made it a 20-13 game, but the return of rampant turnovers killed their momentum. An alley oop jam from Pinkston made it a 31-19 game, and when Jefferson standout David Coley knocked down one from mid range later in the quarter, New Heights was up 36-22. Smith continued to put forth a solid defensive effort and pass the ball well, and once again, TU got the game within ten, 40-30. But from that point onward, the game spiraled out of control, again due to TU's inability to break New Heights' suffocating press. After a flurry of steals from Coley and good ball movement after them for easy lay-ups, New Heights had gone on a 23-4 run in a matter of minutes. TU's Davante Adams continued to be the offensive provider for a TU squad that never gave up, but were clearly overmatched from the outset.

Jayvaughn Pinkston's game high 18 points lead New Heights, while Devon Collier's 16 and David Coley's 11 balanced out New Heights Seniors. Davante Adams' 13 points lead Team Underrated, while Nasha Smith and Rodney Francis added 12 and 10, respectively.