PSAL Borough Championships (Part I)

FLUSHING, NY- The first chance for PSAL teams to win titles came on Saturday at Queens College with the PSAL Borough Championships. It's the best of the best from each borough squaring off for hometown supremacy.

Opening up the day was the Bronx Borough Championship pitting Wings Academy against Eagle Academy, and then the second contest saw Abraham Lincoln square off with South Shore in the Brooklyn Borough Championship.

Both were intriguing hard fought contests with one game going down to the wire. It was a great start of the day though, and with NYCHoops.net there from the beginning, here is a recap of the first two games from Queens.

Playing Eagle Academy for the third time this season, Wings Academy head coach Billy Turnage knew that if they wanted to take home the Bronx Borough Championship it was going to be about their mental strength, and not necessarily about their physical play.

From the start thought it looked as if Wings weren't going to be able to pull it out as Eagle were hot from long distance for much of the first half, taking a lead of as big as 14 points in the second quarter, but with Turnage calling it their best mental performance of the season, Wings was able to buckle down, step up defensively on the perimeter, take a lead late in the fourth quarter to rally, and ultimately take down Eagle for the title, 56-54.

Even before the game the talk amongst the players of Wings Academy was that this was going to be one of their toughest games of the season. With both teams knowing each other so well, it was going to boil down to who wanted it more late, a talking point of forward Jose Perez '17.

"When you play a team for the third time it's going to be all mental," Perez stated. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy absolutely."

That proved to be the case as from the start Eagle was able to knock down perimeter jumpers nearly every time they went up. Tyrese Crosdale '17 and Kendall McInnis '18 were able to combine for 5 treys in the opening quarter, giving Eagle a quick 10-point lead.

After hitting 5 triples in the first, Eagle would go on to hit 3 more in the second to opening up a lead of 28-14 in the closing seconds of the opening half before a Jaylen Murray '20 runner in the final seconds for Wings was at least able to close the deficit to 28-16 going into halftime.

It was far from the first half that Turnage had been looking for from his group as they were more focused on themselves as an individual he felt than the actual team, something he felt needed to be squared away if they were to come back and get the win.

"Guys wanted to win the game on one shot but there is no 10-point shot in basketball," Turnage explained. "Once we stopped arguing with each other and played Wings basketball we would be fine."

The comeback for Wings did start to begin at the start of the third as Boubacar Kamissoko '17 was able to drive to the basket on a pair of occasions and finish, and the defensive intensity was stepping up as well as they were limiting the good looks that Eagle were able to go.

Still up by 7 going into the fourth quarter though, Eagle did have the advantage, and Turnage pressed his team to come on strong, saying that he couldn't repeat what he talked about in the huddle between quarters, but whatever was said clearly worked.

Perez was more assertive in demanding the ball, and it became another shooting show for Elijah Chapman '17 as the senior guard who stepped up so big in the semifinal on Thursday against Walton came up with big shots again as he connected on back to back threes to give Wings the lead for the first time in the game with 2:42 to go.

A long three ball on the other end by DeMarley Smith '17 was able to tie the game back up at 53 with just over a minute to play, but it was yet another triple from Chapman that put Wings up for good.

Having gone scoreless for the first three quarters, Chapman rose to the challenge for the second straight game noting that when the big shot is needed, he always feels as if he is ready to go.

"When it's a tight game I feel like I got to put it on my shoulders and do my thing," Chapman said.

Eagle Academy did have a chance though down by 2 with just 1.9 seconds to go in the game, but Wings doubled Smith who got the ball and had to force up a contested long three that fell short, enabling Wings Academy to win their 5th straight Bronx Borough Championship by coming back to defeat Eagle, 56-54.

In the Championship Game victory, it was Perez who came up with a game high 22 points, while Kamissoko added 14 points, and Chapman had 10, all of which came in the second half.

The win was extra special for Perez who when the going got tough, he just got tougher, saying after the win that getting his personal third borough title means an awful lot to him.

"This is three in a row for me and I really like it, it feels so good," Perez said with a smile.

Coming so close, Eagle Academy led for nearly the entire game before falling just short. Crosdale had 19 points in the loss, while McInnis and Smith each added 10 points in the defeat.

Yet again though it's Wings Academy who reign supreme in the Bronx. It's always a good feeling for Turnage to win any championship, and with this being 5 in a row for him and the school, it's just a reminder in his eyes of all the hard work the entire staff has put in to make this run so special.

"It shows the hard work and dedication that we put in, and the pride that we take in defending our backyard so anytime you win a championship you got to appreciate it."

He will soak this one in over the days ahead, happy to once again be on top as Wings hopes to make yet another deep run now in the upcoming PSAL City Playoffs.

A well-oiled machine all season long, the Railsplitters looked to stay unbeaten against New York competition this season when they took on the Vikings for the Brooklyn Borough Championship, and from the start Lincoln was able to get off quick and jump out to a double-digit lead, never looking back in eventually taking the title, 74-46.

Knowing that this was a self-motivated team, Lincoln head coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton wasn't worried about how his team would play leading up to Saturday's game with South Shore. He knew they were a seasoned group of veterans, all who wanted to remain atop the mountaintop of Brooklyn and once again close out as champions.

They put their stamp on the game pretty much from the start as Michael Reid '17 and Jasiah Lewis '18 were both able to find a rhythm from long range, and with John Wilson '20 coming in off the bench and attacking driving lanes, the Railsplitters went up by double digits just over 4 minutes into the game.

There was never a time that Lincoln seemed as if they were challenged taking an 18-point lead into halftime, with Reid stressing that they were going all out every time on every play from opening tip to final buzzer.

"We played as if every possession was our last, like it was our last game," Reid stated.

That mindset carried them throughout as Donald Flores '17 had a stretch where he couldn't miss in the third to get himself going, and even with Sekou Sylla '18 showing a good ability to finish around the rim, and Femi Odukale '19 proving to be an elite level athlete in the open floor, South Shore couldn't make a dent in the Lincoln lead that they had a stronghold on.

Late in the game big man Othello Smith '17 punctuated things for the Railsplitters with a two-handed dunk that got the Queens College crowd on their feet, cementing the game for Lincoln as they dominated the game on both ends of the floor and cruised down the stretch to take the 28-point victory.

For the champion Abraham Lincoln team, Reid had a game high 20 points, with Lewis adding 10 points, and Wilson and Flores each chipping in with 9 points.

In the loss for South Shore, they were paced by Odukale who had 13 points for the Vikings, and while it wasn't the outcome they surely wanted, head coach Shawn Mark and his team should still be a major threat come the City Playoffs.

It's yet another Brooklyn Borough Championship though for Morton who once again is on top, and they also project to be the top seed in the citywide playoffs which begins in 2 weeks.

They may not have been thinking of that but the #1 seed and the possibility of a PSAL title is now on the minds of the Railsplitters with Reid believe that if they keep playing the way they are now, they will definitely be tough to beat.

"100%. If we remain humble and play together I think it's possible."

PSAL Borough Championships (Part II)