Rise of the Unranked @ Apparel Challenge

MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY – The sixth annual Apparel Challenge held at Christ the King Regional HS turned out to be a shocker for two of the three boys’ games. It would be the rise of the unranked and NYCHoops.net was there to witness it all. Here’s what went down on Saturday.

When the unranked Cardinal Hayes Cardinals took on NYCHoops.net #9 ranked and now fully loaded Brooklyn Collegiate, it was expected that Hayes would feel the Lions wrath. After freefalling down the rankings, the last few weeks due to the absence of the senior point guard and quarterback Majesty Johnson ‘20, his return to Lions starting lineup should have marked the beginning of an uptick. That however was not the case.

Sparked by offense from Shemani Fuller ‘20, PG Julian Soumaoro ‘20 and Jaylen Simmons ‘22, the Cardinals jumped ahead of a stunned Brooklyn Collegiate 12 – 2 in the first quarter and remained in front for the entire game. Other than sparse points from Johnson, the Lions were toothless in the first half.

Down by 16 as the third quarter began, Brooklyn Collegiate was overpowered by big man Tobe Awaka ‘22 in the paint. Seemingly uninspired throughout, other than rays of sunshine from Amahrie Simpkins ‘20 and Tahron Allen ‘21, the Lions continued its downward spiral

Awaka led Hayes netting 17 points with Fuller and Soumaoro who added 16 points and 13 points. Brooklyn Collegiate’s high man was Simpkins with 16 points.

Make no mistake. #3 ranked South Shore is a big team, so if the scores were based on height, the Royals were the clear losers. Games are fortunately based on buckets and when the dust settled it was unranked Christ the King who were the winners.

They say that speed kills and the Royals made the game a track meet from the tip-off. Both squads engaged in up-tempo play which is usually in the Public school’s wheelhouse but Christ the King hung tough and were up by a point after the warm-up quarter.

It was also a very physical game and with the Vikings length and masterful scoring from point guard Donate Prescott ‘21, South Shore took its first lead with 3:40 left in the half off a trey by Zaire Wells ‘21. Unrelenting, the Royals regained their advantage by the half with scoring from Ryan Myers '20 and playmaking from Sterling Jones ‘21.

Ahead 29 – 27 at the midway point, the Royals lead improved to 5-points early in the third quarter due to perimeter shots from Nicholas Molina ‘20 and Jones along with Lovewell Smith ‘20 challenging the Vikings frontcourt. South Shore struck back, receiving a boost from a relatively quiet Marcus Burnett ‘20 along with scoring from Naquan Pounder ‘20 and Wells. They took a 5-point lead but gave it up as Jones and Lovell did work.

Christ the King was once again ahead by a point as the final quarter got underway but a three by Myers, a steal by Smith and foul shots by Jahlil Bethea ‘23 pushed the Royals lead to 8 points with 6:12 left to play. Gassed and frustrated, Prescott eventually fouled out and the Vikings would never recover.

Jones was Christ the King leading scorer with 19 points with Smith adding 18 points. Prescott led South Shore with 19 points.

For a hot minute, it looked as if the afternoon was going to be a trifecta of upsets but in the first boys’ game of the day, all went as predicted with the #1 ranked Ravens pulling off an easy win against Chaminade.

Don’t get it twisted, the Flyers, who are currently ranked #10 on Long Island, are no slouches and will beat you if you overlook them but St. Raymond had their number. It was a tight first quarter as with both squads feeling each other out. Malachi Smith and Gary Grant ‘20 carried the offense for the Ravens while Joe Guterding ‘20 and Brandon Pizzingrillo ‘20 powered Chaminade.

Like a vice grip, St. Ray’s began to tighten around the Flyers with what eventually become suffocating defensive stranglehold. Kieran Dorney ‘20 and Francis Cooper ‘21 tried to provide some offensive relief but the Mineola, NY team found themselves down 40 – 30 at the half.

The Ravens began focusing on and pressuring Chaminade’s point guard in the second half with great success and their lead ballooned to a game high 22 points before the Flyers got up off the proverbial mat to continue the fight.

Chaminade’s deficit was 14 points to start the third quarter and even with auxiliary scoring from Matt Coletti ‘20, things still went from bad to worse by game’s end.

Grant was the high scorer for St. Raymond with 24 points with Smith contributing 20 points. Dorney paced Chaminade with 10 points.