Shows & No Shows @ Beacon 158 Quarterfinals

BAYSIDE, NY – With Eagle Academy anxiously waiting in the wings, the final three quarterfinal games of the Beacon 158 Spring Fling 2K17 were decided on Thursday at Marie Curie Middle School. Here are recaps of the action.

A Beacon Team comprised of a hodgepodge of players from various high schools gave Brooklyn Law & Tech all they could handle and then some. With Steven Moncrieff (Thomas Jefferson ’18) inhaling rebounds and giving Beacon second chance opportunities, Brooklyn Law trailed 38 – 15 at the half.

So frustrated was Brooklyn Law Coach Kenny Pretlow that he sat his entire starting five during the latter portion of the first half. Spearheaded by perimeter shooting by Julio Cuero ’18, Brooklyn Law’s starters responded when reinserted during the second half.

Still down double-digits with 8:11 left to play, Brooklyn Law made a push but Moncrieff bulldozed that attempt, crashing the boards for rebounds and put backs, allowing Beacon to advance into the semifinals with a ten-point victory.

Moncrieff snatched a double-double for Beacon with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Cuero netted 15 points from Brooklyn Law with five three-pointers.

It was the tale of two strategies in this quarterfinal contest. For the Royals, it was about sharing the ball, ultimately targeting open shooters like Jaylen Davis ‘19 and Phillips Joseph ‘19. For John Bowne, the tactic seemed to be get the ball to Alejandro Vasquez ‘19 and let him free-style and try to score from the perimeter.

For the record, Vasquez is a superb offensive machine who dropped 16 of his 29 points in the opening half but cracking the Wildcat’s code became all too easy for Christ the King. Just focus on Vasquez.

While that was easier said than done, Christ the King had its own offensive Juggernauts in Davis and point guard Tyson Walker ‘18 who combined for 25 first half points. The accumulation of buckets from the duo ultimately left Bowne in a 38 – 29 sinkhole at the end of the opening quarter.

All signs pointed to a potential blow out as the final half got underway but Vasquez changed the narrative as he got hot from the arc. Three trifectas later along with buckets from Kareem Reid ‘19 and Teequan Holley ‘19 and suddenly the Wildcats were only down 54 – 52.

Although the Royals were without the services of 6’10” Kofi Cockburn ‘19, who was attending the NBPA Top 100 Camp, Christ the King still had more than enough sustained firepower down the stretch. Walker and Joseph tag teamed Bowne and helped initiate a 17 – 2 run in the final seven minutes that eventually short circuited the Wildcats.

Walker led Christ the King with 20 points with Davis adding 19 points. Other than Vasquez and Holley, who had 10 points, no other John Bowne player achieved double-digits.

In the final quarterfinal game, Wings advances to the semis after the Hawks forfeited. The semifinals (Christ the King vs Wings and Beacon vs Eagle) takes place on Friday but Wings has already forfeited. The championship takes place on Monday between Christ the King and the winner of Beacon vs Eagle semifinal.