New Stars Come Out @ City Legendz Invitational

BRONX, NY - The Final day of the City Legendz Invitational at the Gauchos Gym featured two main events. With NY Knicks Carmelo Anthony in attendance, a plethora of College coaches came on Sunday primarily to see two stars shine but when the evening was over, other players ended up stealing the spotlight.

St. Francis Academy (MD) Tops Archbishop Stepinac, 64-61

The Stepinac Crusaders are usually powered by Rivals.com 4-star Jordan Tucker '17 but early on it was evident that the St. Francis Panthers had its own star power. The tandem of 5'11" guards Daquan Bracey '16 (16 points) and Kurk Lee, Jr. '16 (17 points) kept the Crusaders on its heels for most of the game.

Stepinac owned most of the opening quarter with Tucker (15 points) and 6'6" Aundre Hyatt '18 (16 points) attacking from the perimeter. Bracey and 6'7" Tairik Johnson '17 (4 points) countered late but Crusaders still managed to take a five point lead into the second quarter.

Hyatt ignited in the second quarter draining three-pointers and midway through the quarter, Stepinac was ahead by 13 points. Bracey ended the half with a bucket in transition but the Panthers trailed 37-29 to begin the third quarter.

Still on fire from the perimeter, Hyatt put Stepinac back up by double-digits but a putback by 6'8" Karon Moore '18 (10 points) sparked a 9-0 run that tied the game at 40 with 3:59 left in the quarter. A surge by 6'3" Jordan Mean '17 (11 points) and Payton Hudson helped to combat St. Francis Academy's offensive

Archbishop Stepinac took a 3 point lead into the final quarter but the tag team of Bracey and Lee quickly evaporated it. A dish from Bracey to 6'2" Elijah Epps '18 (11 points) tied the game at 50 and the Louisiana Tech bound point guard soon gave the Panthers its first lead.

Lee joined in, extending the St. Francis lead to six points with 2:16 left in regulation. Stepinac got it down to three points after 5'8" Makai Johnson (6 points) nailed a 3-ball with 18.7 seconds left but that's as close as they'd get.

Loughlin Lions Roar Past L.I. Lutheran, 67-52

In the final game of the evening, all eyes were on undefeated Long Island Lutheran and its star guard Devonte Green '16 and from the opening tip-off, the play was going according to script. After Loughlin took an 8-2 lead off what could be dismissed as a momentary adrenaline rush, Green (16 points) came out firing on all cylinders from the perimeters, quickly turning a 6 point deficit into a 3 point lead for LuHi to begin the second quarter.

With 6'4" Charles Manning '16 (9 points) back in the line-up from an injury, LuHi appear poised to blowout the Lions with the Brooklyn, NY team only to be used as a foil to highlight the #1 team on Long Island. At the half, due to Green's offensive explosion plus inside work from Rojaye Campbell (6 points), LuHi took a 31-20 lead into the locker room at the half.

The second half however was another story entirely. Bishop Loughlin head Coach Ed Gonzalez opened the floor and unleashed 5'10" Markquis Nowell '18 on Lutheran. The diminutive point guard quite simply ate the Crusaders for dinner.

Whether was it was his game high 27 point offensive onslaught or his multiple assists inside to 6'9" Jeremy Betjol '16 (14 points), who dominated in the paint, or that he was the primary reason Green was held to five second half points, Nowell put on a show. The sophomore also received back-up from Keith Williams (13 points) or 6'3" Tyrese Gafney '17 (10 points) and pounced on LuHi with a 16-zip run. Suddenly, the Lions were ahead by 5 points and increased that advantage to 48-39 to start the fourth quarter.

The beating continued mercilessly into the 4th quarter as Nowell made short work of all Crusaders defenders and defensive strategies. With 1:50 left to play, Loughlin's lead ballooned to 18 points and L.I. Lutheran ultimately inhaled its first loss of the season.