BRONX, NY – Always contentious, the first leg of the Philly vs New York All-City Classic got underway on Saturday at St. Raymond HS and lived up to the hype. Top tier 2023 and 2024 student-athletes representing their respective states put up or shut up in two exciting games. In the end, over the course of two games, both states had to shut up since the split the wins.

NY came at Philly from the opening bell with balanced scoring that featured 6’5” Alex Barber (The Masters School), 6’1” Jakai Sanders (Eagle Academy II)and 6’0” Elliot Cadeau (The Patrick School (NJ)). Jermiah Whie and Khaafig Myers tried to save face for Philly but they trailed going into the second quarter.

Things only got worse for the out-of-state sqaud as 6”3 Ian Jackson (Our Savior Lutheran) and 5’6” Tahaad Pettiford (The Patrick School NJ)) piled on points for the locals. By the half, a five point advantage ballooned to a 45 – 20 lead.

5’11” Nick Coval (Parkland) provided all the scoring for Philly in the third quarter while New York continued spreading the wealth. Led by 6’8” Tarik Watson (West Brook Middle School), NY kept on getting buckets as the game descended into a save-face free for Philly who only managing to exchange baskets with New York in the final quarter. In the end, Philly got trounced.

Pettiford and Jackson pace New York with 15 points and 12 points respectively with Barber contributing 11 points.

Coval held it down for Philly with a team high 13 points with White adding 12 points.

After trouncing Philly in the previous game, New York looked to follow in their footstep jumping to a quick 4 point lead, That lead quickly evaporated due to more aggression by Philly on defense and a poor shot selection NY.

With 6’4” Justin Edwards (Imhotep), 6’4” Shaun Simmons (Friends Central) and 6’0” Rahmir Barno (Imhotep) providing a steady stream of offence with uplifted Philly to a 33 – 25 halftime lead.

New York opened the second putting down its most spirited quarter but Newsome pushed back for Philly against a turnover prone over-but unproductive perimeter NY squad.. At the end of the third quarter, New York trailed 54 -45.

It was a low scoring quarter for Philly with teammates were only providing sprinkles of offense. A great opportunity for New York to make some head way.6’4” Diovion Middleton (Eagle Academy II) got the memo but overall it missed as Philly coasted to a win.

Lead scorer for Philly is Newsome with 20 point with Edwards and Simmons knocking down 14 points and 12 points respectively. 6’1” Jarred Dingle (The Academy Charter School) was the high man for NY with18 points with 6’2” Christian Jones (St. Thomas More (CT)) adding a quiet 11.

The second leg of the Philly vs New York All-City Classic takes place next week on Philadelphia (See below)