Roos Cruise; Orange Crush
JAMAICA, NY - Boys & Girls had already split their games against South Shore this season.
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South Shore was one of the most talented teams in the city. They lost to Boys & Girls last season in the playoffs, and were eager to avenge that loss. Except that Boys, the #2 seed in the PSAL playoffs, weren't eager to cooperate.
Leroy "Truck" Fludd came out really aggressive, scoring 9 of the Kangaroo's 12 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Fludd was able to drive the baseline for a thundering one-handed dunk to put Boys up 19-7 in the first quarter. Boys took command of the game early and never loosened their grip around the throat of South Shore all game. The closest the Vikings got the rest of the way was six points, as Boys won comfortably 63-51.
Senior guard Bryce Jones, Fludd's best friend on the team, said that when Fludd is aggressive the way he was against South Shore, he knows Boys High will win the game. Jones said Fludd makes good basketball plays when he takes charge, and the rest of the team feeds off of that.
Fludd finished with a game high 20 points and he definitely came out and set the stage for Boys. Obviously, he didn't play alone. Jones was also a catalyst for Boys to cruise to victory. He scored 12 points, but made bunch of plays that allowed his team to keep their cushion for the duration.
Jones has been starting ever since original starter Tyliek Kimbrough was ineligible and missed a few games during the season. The 5-9 senior guard is taking advantage of his opportunity, because he is still starting even though Kimbrough is once again active.
Jones has gotten better by working hard and by working out after practice.
"Now I have the opportunity to play and start because of what happened to Tyliek, and I'm just showing what I can do," Jones said.
Boys High head coach Ruth Lovelace said that Jones started with the team when he was 5-2, but has grown about 7 or 8 inches.
"Bryce has always been a gamer. He's always been very talented, but his strength and his size didn't allow you all to really see how good he really is," Lovelace said. Boys played a tremendous game on the defensive end, holding both South Shore star players, Terrence Samuel and Shamiek Sheppard, to six points each. Wayne Martin played his last game for South Shore and finished with 14 points.
Boys High has reached the PSAL semifinals for the 7th time in the last 9 years and will make it to their 5th championship game in the last six years if they win their next game. That next game is against rival Lincoln and will be the first time in 5 years that they aren't meeting at Madison Square Garden.
Thomas Jefferson Claws Wadleigh 80-61
Things looked promising for the Wadleigh Tigers. They were playing well against the top seed in this year's playoffs, going into intermission trailing the Jefferson Orange Wave 35-34. It didn't look like a fluke and it looked like the game would go down to the wire.
Then the top seed started to play like the top seed. Thaddeus Hall got hot and that was all she wrote for Wadleigh in the second half. Hall scored 25 points for the Orange Wave and they got a big effort from senior Jalen Evans, who finished with 17 points. Jaquan Lynch chipped in with 14 points for Jefferson.
Basil Harley finished his career at Wadleigh by scoring 25 points of his own. The only other teammate in double digits was fellow senior Louis Costen.
Jefferson will play Wings next Saturday at St. John's University in the second semi-final.
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