Take Flight NYC Next vs. Next Quarterfinals
NEW YORK, NY - On Tuesday, at the exclusive Terminal 23 Gym, the Take Flight NYC Next vs. Next Tournament Quarterfinals took place and featured some of the top up and coming players in the area. With the Long Island and New Jersey Teams receiving a BYE, Bronx faced off against Queens followed by Manhattan versus Brooklyn.
The event began weekend before last when Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx plus L.I. and N.J. had three teams each. Through a round robin process of elimination, the field was reduced to six who play sudden death.
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Queens Knocks Off Bronx, 62-59
Queens jumped ahead 29-20 with 2:30 left in the first half Desure Buie got to the line and cut the lead down to 6. Bronx got the lead down to four before Rawle Alkins drew a foul at the buzzer which help give queens a 31-25 lead at the half
In the second half, Alkins took flight and with 16:11, Queens led 40-31 but the Bronx Team was not done.
With 5 minutes left to play a Akintoye Ojo dunk closed the gap to 55-53. 55.8 seconds remained and and Bronx still trailed by two until a dunk and foul shots by Alkins sealed the deal for the Queens squad who would advance.
Alkins was the high man for Queens with 21 points followed by Christ the King freshman PG Jose Alvarado who unloaded 14 points. Buie paced Bronx with 18 points
Brooklyn Bounces Manhattan, 81-67
Brooklyn pulled ahead 8-2 due primarily to Manhattan turnovers. Manhattan would close the deficit to a point but with 12:45 left in the first half, Brooklyn would increase their lead to 16-10. Dom Bosco's Lonnie Rivera soon pushed that lead to 10.
Again with 8 minutes Manhattan cut the lead in half due to nice assists from Wings Academy PG Randy Corporan but Travis Atson kicked Brooklyn's advantage back to 29-19 in a minute.
Dontel Henry from Brooklyn Collegiate became a microwave for Manhattan from the perimeter and with 2:39 the score was 33-30 and the lead continued to seesaw.
Down 39-33 to begin the second half, Manhattan got their deficit down to a deuce early but turnovers allowed Brooklyn to reestablish a 57-47 lead with 13:27. Atson became a one man wrecking crew on the offensive boards as well as offensively and soon put the game out of reach for Manhattan.
Atson led the evening with a game high 34 points for Brooklyn with Archbishop Molloy's Aaron Walker Jr. contributing 22 points. Henry scored 20 points for Manhattan with Jordan Tucker adding 18 points.
The semifinals take place on Wednesday with Long Island taking on Queens and Brooklyn battling New Jersey. The Championship will take place on Sunday at a Top Secret location.