PSAL Borough Championships preview

Sunday in Championship Day for the PSAL when the league crowns Borough Champions at CCNY. The four games will highlight the best that each borough has to offer, and it should provide a good glimpse into what to expect going into the all important City Playoffs which will begin just over a week from now.

The games start at noon on Sunday, and here is a preview of what to expect in each matchup.

Queens Borough Championship-

Cardozo vs. H.S. of Construction- 12pm

The Coach Ron Naclerio led Judges look to take back supremacy of Queens when they take on the Red Hawks. Cardozo took both regular season games from Construction this season winning 72-58 at Construction on January 7th, and then 82-56 on January 31st at Cardozo.

Cardozo dominated the glass in both games this season with Francisco Williams and Carl Balthazar being tough interior presences, while sophomore Rashond Salnave stepped his game up in each contest.

Justin Wright-Foreman, the Red Hawks junior guard, had 28 and 19 in the 2 games, and he will have to get free and have a major scoring outburst for Construction to have a chance to give Cory Semper his 2nd straight borough title after winning in last season when he was at Bayside.

Brooklyn Borough Championship-

Abraham Lincoln vs. Thomas Jefferson- 2pm

The two teams met in the final game in the regular season on February 6th at Jefferson with Lincoln storming past the Orange Wave 87-65. Isaiah Whitehead had 29, while Desi Rodriguez added 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Seton Hall bound duo dominated the action.

Lincoln went unbeaten in the ultra competitive Brooklyn AA this season, while Jefferson finished 2nd going a respectable 12-4.

Jefferson squeaked out a 3 point win over South Shore to get to the borough title game, while the Railsplitters have seemed to be on cruise control all season. If the Orange Wave want to have a shot for the shocker, Patrick Brown and Daquaise Andrews, a pair of experienced seniors, will have to step up their games and not back down to the pressure that Lincoln will surely throw at them.

Bronx Borough Championship-

Wings Academy vs. JFK- 4pm

Wings, who have dominated all season long, come into this game off a tough game against Rucker in the borough semifinals, while JFK is playing its best basketball of the year going on the road and taking down Eagle Academy to get to this point.

They have faced off twice during the season with Wings taking both, and in there last matchup the Knights lost just 74-63, though it was a 20 point lead for Wings after three.

For JFK to stay competitive and have a chance in this one they will have to do a better job of defending Jessie Govan in the paint, though they don't really have an interior presence who matches up well. Wings will try and push tempo and try and make it a track meet and try and jump out and take control early in this one.

Manhattan Borough Championship-

W.H.E.E.L.S. vs. Frederick Douglass Academy- 6pm

The day's final game pits a matchup of Manhattan "A" Northwest rivals. Both teams went on the road in the semifinals and pulled off wins against talented AA teams Wadleigh and Thurgood Marshall to get here.

Being league rivals in the A Division, they faced off twice during the year with W.H.E.E.L.S. taking both games, including the second matchup when they were without 6'8" big man Tyshawn Myles which shows just hope deep and talented this group is.

Frederick Douglass won't have much inside to compete with Myles, but they know the Wolves well, and with a pair of talented freshmen in Travis Cox and Lasana Camara who won't know to be intimated by the setting, they should have a punchers chance against what may be the best A Division team in recent years in W.H.E.E.L.S.