Shooting Stars fall; Get Orange crushed @ iS8/Nike
SOUTH JAMAICA, NY - All eyes were on the court of the iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic as the Shooting Stars took on the Orangemen (players from Thomas Jefferson Campus) during pool play on Saturday. Known for assembling a who’s who from various schools, this season’s Shooting Stars team, coached by Karriem Memminger, was no different. What was different was the outcome which was a crushing, 79-69, defeat at hands of the Orangemen.
While the Orangemen may not have had the all-star line-up of talent, their teamwork afforded them a comfortable win even without two of their featured players, Malachi Faison ‘17 and Khalid Rhodes ’17 who recently transferred from Xavarian HS.
With Tyson Walker (Christ the King HS ’19) running the point and 6’10” Kofi Cockburn (Christ the King HS ’19) in the frontcourt, the Shooting Stars, as expected pulled out in front. The Orangemen responded with offense from Shy Creighton ‘19 and Sheron Anisco ‘18. The game was soon tied at 9 as Jordan Armstrong ‘17 made a strong move to the rim.
Buckets from Dennis Gomes ‘17 and Kyle Harding ’17 put the Orangemen in front with seconds remaining in the warm-up quarter. Resting in their laurels, the Brooklyn squad relaxed on the defensive end as the clock wound down. A quick 5 points flurry by Dallas Watson (St. Raymond’s ’18) and Philips Joseph (Christ the King ’19) left the Shooting Stars up by a point to start the second quarter.
That lead was fool’s gold as the Orangemen clamped down on defense and swiftly regained the lead. Frustrated with a lack of production, Coach Memminger sat his starters Chris Coalmon (L.I. Lutheran ’17), Khalid Moore (Archbishop Molloy ’18), Cockburn and Walker as a one-point advantage turned into 5-point deficit with 5:20 left in the half.
The Shooting Stars eventually crept back into the game and briefly took a one-point lead with baskets by Gabriel Bryant but each time they found momentum, the Orangemen squeezed it out them with unrelenting defensive pressure. At the half, the Orangemen were ahead, 39-36.
Armstrong and Harding kicked it up a notch in the third quarter and with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter, increased the Orangemen lead to 7 points. Once again, the Shooting Stars pushed back as Temple bound Nate Pierre (Roselle Catholic ’17) got busy.
The Orangemen survived the Shooting Stars attack and retaliated. Harding, who transferred from Uniondale HS, was instrumental in giving his team a two-point lead to begin the final quarter. A relatively ineffective Moore showed signs of life in the fourth quarter but it would be too little too late for the Shooting Stars who never ever saw the lead again.
Pierre tried to make the final score respectable and even cut gap down to 3 points with 2 minutes left to play. Harding countered and closed the show for good.
Armstrong was the high scorer for the Orangemen with 26 points. Anisco added 17 points while Harding contributed 14 points with 10 clutch point in the second half. Pierre led all scorers with 29 points while Bryant netted 10 points. No other Shooting Stars player scored double-digits.
