South Shore Tops J.F.K.
The first basket of the game of the game was a two-handed dunk from the baseline by Shamiek Sheppard, plus the foul. That was the response after JFK opened up the game with a dunk.
Advertisement
The next two possessions JFK scored, Sheppard answered with a dunk. The first was a one-handed simple dunk, if you could classify a dunk as simple. The second was a two-handed rim rocker off the feed from Terrence Samuel.
Right after that dunk, Sheppard got a technical foul, apparently for taunting. But the message had been sent by the junior wing. By scoring the first 8 points of the game, Sheppard showed that South Shore was going to play with force.
South Shore senior forward Wayne Martin was a problem for JFK. He made big baskets inside the paint, and with some timely outside shooting from Samuel, the Vikings were able to win their second round game going away against an overmatched JFK squad.
The final score was 63-50. JFK Head coach Johnny Mathis summed up the game. "[South Shore] was relentless. They consistently go to the boards, they get second and third shots. We didn't do a good job of boxing them out" Sheppard scored a team high 16 points, even after tweaking his ankle and toughing it out through the second half.
He had a lot of help, especially from Martin, who tied Sheppard for scoring honors. JFK didn't have an answer for Martin, and South Shore did a good job of making sure he got a lot of touches close to the basket.
South Shore coach Michael Beckles said that Martin really played with a lot of effort and the team followed his lead. He called him the "x-factor" for his team.
"We try to go to Wayne every time we play, but I don't think they really had the size to match up with him. And I think Wayne is a lot more focused these past couple weeks. He really wants to win his senior year" Beckles said.
Still, going into the final quarter, JFK scored the final 6 points of the third quarter to cut a 12 point lead to 40-34 after a three pointer at the buzzer. Samuel opened up the fourth with a three from the left wing, holding his hand up in the air for a second just to make sure everybody knew it was good. Another three from the right elbow put South Shore up 48-38 with 5:17 left in the game. That second three was enough to seal the deal because JFK wasn't able to make a run and get back into the game. Samuel scored all 11 of his points in the final quarter.
The first three from Samuels was the biggest shot of the game because it really eased the pressure. Beckles was encouraging Samuels to be aggressive.
"He's one of the best players in the city, and when he's aggressive and playing like that, it definitely shows" When Samuels and his teammates knock down outside shots, it opens everything up for everybody, especially Martin.
"Wayne, he can score on any big man in the city, one on one on the block, so that's big when we're hitting shots" Samuel said.
Martin has a lot of confidence in his abilities in the paint. He knows his coach wants him to play hard and Martin does it because he doesn't want to get in trouble and have to hear it from Beckles.
"Nobody can guard me on the block. I'm strong, I can shoot. I can dunk the ball, I can make the and one. I'm aggressive all the time when I play basketball. That's my mentality" Martin said.
South Shore advances to the quarterfinal round and will play Boys & Girls in a rematch of their semifinal match-up last season. Last year, South Shore held a double-digit lead late in the game and ended up losing to the eventual champions. Sunday will be an intense matchup between Brooklyn AA teams. They split their two games this season, each team winning on their home court.