The Smartball Classic featured some of the best squads in the metropolitan area.

NYCHoops.net caught the semifinals on Wednesday during the Youth Education through Sports (YES) sponsored do-or-die tournament at Abraham Lincoln Park in Manhattan.

In the first game, the L.I. Lightning played against the Brooklyn Ballers. Although very very shorthanded, the Ballers surged ahead early led by PG Devante Cutler (32pts), who recently verballed to Newbury College in SC. Good inside play by Kehrel Silcott (20pts) from Brooklyn Tech also kept the Brooklyn team ahead throughout most of the first half. The Lightning did stay within striking range as St. Raymond's Kerwin Okoro (28pts) showed his versatility scoring inside and out.

Up 31-29 to start the second half, the 5 man Ballers squad didn't seem bothered by the pace as they pushed the lead to 10 points early. The Lightning applied a fullcourt press and with 1:32 left in the third quarter, a lay-up by Khafre Tuckett (2pts), gave them their first albeit brief lead.

Tyler Young (10pts), who recently graduated from Boys & Girls HS, stepped up for the Ballers as they regained the lead early in the final quarter. With a sixth man arriving late, Coach Gary Sheares was now able to sub in and out. That coupled with costly Lightning turnovers allowed the Ballers to maintain the edge and pull out the "W".

In the second game, Staten Island based Above & Beyond faced off against Kimani Young's loaded New Heights team.

Even though they were only playing five deep, A&B struck first as sharpshooting Pucky Manley (22pts) nailed a three-ball to start a 7-0 run. New Heights quickly balanced the scale as Jayvaughn Pinkston (9pts) started what would end as an 8-0 run.

Clearly, the New Heights plan of attack was to run the undermanned A&B squad into the ground with an uptempo pace. Corey Edwards (17pts) pushed the ball and was excellent as both a facilitator and a scorer for New Heights as they held a 5 point lead at the top of the half.

Rising seniors, Atigi Moore (19pts) and Manley, both from McKee HS, tried to keep A&B in the hunt. New Heights, however, maintained their lead with traps, good ball movement and second chance opportunities provided by Thomas Jefferson rising junior Edson Avila's (6pts) offensive rebounds.

Devon Collier (18pts) weighed in offensively in the paint for New Heights but Manley tied the game at 35 apiece, nailing 4 of his 5 three-pointers in the first half. The Bronx team managed to regain both their composure and the lead with points in transition.

Down 41-37 to start the second half, Above & Beyond sorely needed other players to step up. To compound matters, Brandon Frazier (12pts), who was cold from the perimeter, began to score in the paint and after another 8-0 run, Above & Beyond was now down by 12 points early as the pace began to wear on the Staten Islanders. A&B's bigman, Sterling Smoak (7pts), fought hard in the paint and getting fouled but rarely converted from the freethrow line. A problem he unfortunately shared with his teammates. As a consequence, the New Heights lead began to swell even more. Jermaine Sanders (13pts) soon joined in on the scoring spectacle. Now down by 21 points to start the fourth quarter, an exhausted Above & Beyond team would never recover.

The championship game will take place on August 20th between the Brooklyn Ballers and New Heights at Lincoln Park which is located at 135th Street between 5th and Lenox Ave in Manhattan, NY. The rain site is the Kennedy Community Center at 34 W. 134th Street.

Youth Education Through Sports, Inc. ("YES Inc.") is a New York City based 501 ©(3) non-profit organization that provides educational services to student-athletes attending New York City public and parochial high schools. Founded in 1980, the mission of YES Inc. is to motivate and assist college-interested interscholastic high school student-athletes to graduate from high school, qualify for college admission and athletic and academic scholarships. The CEO of YES, Inc. is Russel Shuler and the Director of Sports is Rudy King.

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