SMARTBall Classic Week 2: Monday Night Recaps

New York, NY – High school level basketball was on and poppin’ at City College where four teams participated in the second week of SMARTBall Classic sudden-death matches. The evening started with Our Savior Lutheran verses Xaverian followed by South Shore against St. Francis Prep.

The game seemed almost evenly matched for the first few minutes as 5’11” Zakai Zeigler ‘22 powered the OSL offense countered by three-pointers from Xaverian’s 6’5” big man Don Lewis ‘23. The tide soon shifted in Lutheran’s direction as 7’1” Silas Sunday ‘22 dominated the boards and blocked Xaverian’s attempts to score. That and additional buckets by Zeigler yielded a 12-point advantage to OSL.

Although they were down, the Clippers were not yet out. Stepping up their defense along with balanced team scoring, the Brooklyn squad kept pace with Our Savior Lutheran throughout the second quarter and were still only down 37 – 25 at the half.

OSL had the upper hand but thought the long-distance shooting by the power forward Lewis was just an illusion and allowed to take and make shot after shot from Jupitar. With that being said, Xaverian was beginning to succumb to OSL’s athleticism rim protection began to take hold. 6’6” Ibine Ayo Sadiku ‘22 and 6’4”Armoni Zeigler ‘21 led the charge which extended Lutheran’s advantage to 27 points as the final quarter got underway.

Jaquan Sanders ‘22 cruised along for the first three quarters but took it up a notch in the fourth quarter as OSL began to flex their way to victory. While they did manage to quiet Lewis’s perimeter shooting it wasn’t until after he netted a mind numbing nine trifectas.

Sanders led Lutheran with 23 points with Saunders adding 19 points. Lewis was top scorer for Xaverian with a game high 27 points.

It would be the consummate public school versus Catholic school as the night cap game did not disappoint. Although the Terriers never had a lead during the game, they were within striking range the entire match.

6’5” Kyrone Alexander ‘23 led the charge as the Vikings jumped out front early. Down four to start the second quarter, 6’1” Chance Morrish ‘22 became a one-man wrecking crew with both points and rebounds. It would not be enough as South Shore kept out front as 6’7” Tylik Weeks ‘23 and 6’3” Dia Braithwaite ‘22 pitched in, giving the Brooklyn squad a 29 – 25 lead at the midway point in the game.

Morrish continued to apply offensive pressure for the Terriers in the third quarter with 6'6" Jaden Daughtry '22 crashing the boards but the tandem of Weeks and Alexander along with the floor generalship of 6’1” Max Ragusa ‘22 still held St. Francis Prep at bay.

The Terriers were only down by three as the final quarter got underway. 6’1” Josh Pascarelli ‘23 was on fire, and it appeared that the Terriers could possibly be poised to finally get over the hump until an offensive tirade by 6’6” Davin Francis ‘23 and Weeks launched the Vikings to a double-digit lead 6 minutes left to play. St, Francis Prep would not recover.

Weeks was the high man for South with 16 points with Alexander and Francis adding 15 points each. Morrish was the top scorer for St. Francis Prep with 20 points.