FLUSHING, NY - The second half of the PSAL Borough Championships did not disappoint the crowd at Queens College who hosted the event. The afternoon games featured the Manhattan and Queens championships

John Bowne H.S. came out of nowhere this year. Not known for being any kind of basketball powerhouse, they have made a name for themselves recently. They finished third in the PSAL Queens AA league and came into the Queens Borough Championship as the third seed and made it all the way to the championship game.

Alejandro Vasquez ‘19 scored 36 points and helped knock off the top seeded Queens High School of Teaching to win the Queens Borough crown. The final score was 66-63.

Vasquez is known for being an outstanding shooter, but if you saw him yesterday he looked like anything but a shooter. Vasquez made a living getting into the paint and finishing lay-ups. It didn’t matter if it was left or right, he was getting buckets.

“I realized my shot wasn’t falling that much, so I decided to drive and finish” said Vasquez after the game. Still, he started off the day with a beautiful step back with a man in his face early in the first quarter to set the tone. His first triple tied the score at 9-9, but it was apparent he was locked in as he continued to attack as the game went on. There was nothing QHST could do. Vasquez owned the paint for most of the game.

Bowne trailed 28-27 at halftime, and fell behind 35-30 early in the third quarter before they could get back on track. Vasquez scored three baskets in a row, two lay-ups and a put-back. Senior guard Stephan Mcleish (9 points) made a spectacular spinning lay-up to force QHST to call a time out just to slow Bowne down. At the end of the third quarter, Bowne held the lead 48-43.

Vasquez drained his second and last triple to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, and Bowne pushed their lead to double digits. However, QHST was able to make a run late. There was 2:17 left in the game and Bowne was leading 61-54. In a span of a minute, Bowne missed three free throws, had one turnover, and lost possession on a held ball because the arrow was pointing to QHST. The score was 61-60 and there was still more than a minute left.

But Bowne didn’t crack under the pressure. Senior Christian Hinckson was the player who missed the three previous free throws. He was able to split a pair of free throws to give his team a small 62-60 lead. He then was fouled by QHST’s best player C.J. Kelly, who committed his 5th foul and had to leave the game. Hinckson, who finished with 11 points, drained the next two freebies and just like that Bowne had a 64-60 lead with 47 seconds left in the game. That was just enough to secure the win and give Bowne the chip.

Bowne head coach John Tsapelas says that his team has grown throughout the year.

“Every game we get better and better. They get more confidence, not backing down from any spotlight or situation”

How did his team deal with the pressure when the game got close?

“I don’t think these guys know what pressure is. They just come out and play”

It will be interesting to see where Bowne gets seeded for the upcoming playoffs. They didn’t come in first in their Queens AA, but they knocked off QHST for the second time this season. Kelly finished with 17 points for QHST.

And how far can they go in this year’s playoffs? They have some intriguing talent on their roster right now, and maybe as many as 3 kids might get to play ball at a D1 school. Talent wins city championships, and they have some talent.

All that’s left is to see if they can handle the pressure when they playoffs start next week. According to their coach, they don’t know what pressure is.

This is becoming a habit. Frederick Douglas Academy won the Manhattan Borough Championship for the third straight year. They have been in the title game the last 4 years, so they are accustomed to being there. Because of their experience, they were able to defeat Washington Heights (W.H.E.E.L.S.) 63-52.

Also, not to be downplayed, F.D.A. is an A league team, while W.H.E.E.L.S. is actually a AA team. Typically, and theoretically, that isn’t supposed to happen as often as it has in Manhattan. It hasn’t happened in the other boroughs in recent memory, but F.D.A. has Manhattan on lock, apparently.

The game was plodding in the first half, with neither team able to get into a flow. The result was a low scoring game that resembled pulling teeth. W.H.E.E.L.S. led 23-20 at halftime. But it was nothing that the defending borough champions couldn’t handle.

F.D.A. is team filled with seniors, and they were able to jump out on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter that gave them the momentum and allowed them to get into a rhythm. F.D.A. coach Patrick Mangan believes that early 8-0 spurt in the third quarter, plus his team’s experience, was the reason F.D.A. won the game.

“We had a couple of defensive stops at the right time, we came out much better to start the second half. I think that set the tone for the second half” Mangan said.

W.H.E.E.L.S. did get back into the game and took the lead briefly, but F.D.A. still closed out the third quarter with a spurt and led 46-40 going into the last period. They never looked back and weren’t seriously threatened as they went on to win their third straight Manhattan chip.

Lasana Camara led F.D.A. with 18 points. Travis Cox and Christoper Davis finished with 15 and 14 points respectively for the winners. All three leading scorers are seniors.

W.H.E.E.L.S. was led by junior Raheem Ragsdale who finished with 15 points. Senior Bryan Ortiz finished with 13 for the Wolves.