FLUSHING, NY – The holidays in NYC consists of eggnog, the opening of gifts and once again, the 15th annual Queens Jam Christmas Classic. Saturday’s event at John Bowne HS with five matchup between PSAL Teams. NYCHoops.net was on hand to check out the two final games of the evening, each which featured ranked teams in Cardozo and Johns Bowne.
Cardozo withstands James Monroe, 55 – 44
With Dozo currently being the #1 team in the PSAL Queens Class AA division and ranked #4 by NYCHoops.net, one would think that beating up an unranked team in next to last place in the PSAL Bronx Class AA was a foregone conclusion. That was not the case as the James Monroe Eagles gave the Judges all they could handle.
Cardozo jumped out front with a 13 – 0 run spearheaded by 6’2” Andrew Laing ‘21, 6’6” Aaron Miller ‘20 and 6’6” Errol White ‘20. The future looked bleak for the Eagles who finished the opening quarter still down 13. James Monroe was down but not out.
Scoring at the rim by 6’1” Yeuri Mirabal ‘20 and perimeter baskets by 5’11” Elijah Gonzalez ‘20 and 5’10” Jorge Perez ‘21 narrowed the gap to six points with 41 seconds left in the half. Last minute baskets by Laing however kept Dozo out front, 30 -21 at the midway point.
Gonzalez kept the Eagle’s momentum going in the third quarter and to the amazement of the crowd, James Monroe tied the game at 35 with 2:35 remaining in the quarter. Laing netted a trey that gave the Judges a slight 3 point cushion to end the third.
Before the quarter ended, the Eagles had a chance to pull to within a point when Gonzalez drew a foul but senior guard went 0 – 2 from the charity strip. From that point on, the Judges retained its momentum, extending their lead to ten points with 2 minute left to play. James Monroe would not recover.
Miller and Laing netted 14 points apiece for Cardozo with White contributing 10 points. The high man for James Monroe was Gonzalez with a game high 17 points.
John Bowne buries John F. Kennedy, 74 – 53
This game was over almost before it began with the #2 team in the PSAL Queens Class AA playing against the #4 ranked team in the PSAL Bronx Class AA. Even the knowledge and wisdom from legendary Kennedy coach Johnny Mathis was not enough to stave off all the talent that Bowne Wildcats were unleashing.
While the J.F.K. Knights were somewhat formidable defensively, they lacked the offensive prowess to keep up with Bowne. Up by seven points to start the second quarter, scoring by 6’2” Tyshawn Trail ‘21 and 5’8” Amadou Diallo ‘21 quickly put this game out of reach for the Knights. At the half, Bowne’s lead had ballooned to 42 -21 and the Wildcats never looked back.
In a 27 point sinkhole to begin the final quarter, Kennedy was still flailing but going nowhere fast. Once the lead reach 30 points midway through the quarter, Bowne Coach John Tsapelas subbed out his starters and coasted to victory.
Trail led all scores with 18 points for Bowne with Diallo adding 16 points. John F. Kennedy was paced by 6’3” Prince Asiamah ‘21 with 8 points
IN OTHER ACTION:
Martin Van Buren batters Forest Hills, 64 – 41
6’3” Chance Armoux ’20 (14 points)
Portledge smashes Springfield Gardens. 81 – 56
5’11” Zaire Baines ’22 (28 points)
Erasmus Hall escapes Samuel Gompers, 56 – 52
Christopher Erskine-Gidding ’22 and Wayne Longmore ’21 (14 points each)
