The City Is Team Milbank’s Again

NEW YORK, NY – The third annual City Is Mine Preseason Tournament took place on Friday at Carmelo Anthony’s Terminal 23. The single-elimination tournament featured four teams loaded with some of the top high school players in the region.

In anticipation of witnessing some of the best high school talent in the northeast, the gym was packed to the rafters with a line outside that extended down the block. The games did not disappoint and NYCHoops.net was front and center for all the action.

New York Rens knock off Team Gersh, 73 – 68

Dunks by Kareem Reid and Alejandro Vasquez put the Rens on the map and in the lead quick, fast and in a hurry but Aidan Ighiehon and Justin Champagnie eventually turned the tide, giving Team Gersh a 6-point advantage with 8-minutes left in the opening half.

Reid put his diversity on display, scoring both inside and from the perimeter and with the help of Joe Toussaint and Cartier Bowman, the NY Rens reestablished a 38 – 36 halftime lead. That evaporated as the second half got underway.

A monstrous dunk by Igiehon along with a put back by Femi Odukale shifted the momentum and the lead back to Team Gersh. Fortunately for the Rens, they had an ample supply of self-motivation.

Back-to-back baskets by Deshawn Young (Our Savior Lutheran '19) tied the game at 58 apiece with 4:21 left in regulation. Odukale provided some push back for Team Gersh but Toussaint began to assert himself, coming up clutch down the stretch just enough to keep Team Gersh at bay until time ran out.

Vasquez led the NY Rens with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assists followed by Toussaint, Tyrese Williams and Young who added 11 points each. Igiehon was the high man for Team Gersh with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

Team Milbank Shocks Team Flight Camp, 87 – 80

This would be a typical David versus Goliath story with a Team Flight Camp, a high profile regional squad loaded with high division I players, against Team Milbank who was the local team with D-I talent along with some up n' comers that were, on paper, expected to lose. The only question was, lose by how much?

With Bryce Wills ‘19*, Louis King and Nazreon Reid scoring out the box for Team Flight Camp, the answer early on appeared to be, by a lot. It took the smallest player on the court to alter that reality. With a much taller Luther Muhammed defensively in his grill, 5’8” Ja’quaye James (Teaneck H.S.'18) became the offensive juggernaut that spearheaded an 'I think I can' mentality amongst his teammates. Justin Winston and Dallas Watson joined in and while Team Milbank never took the lead in the first half, they kept the game close.

Team Flight Camp’s arsenal was formidable, delivering frequent body blows that would have sent most teams packing but Team Milbank hung in there and only trailed 35 – 30 at the half, overcoming what was once a 13-point deficit. A lot of that ground was covered in the trenches by blue-collar worker Jose Perez '18*.

Team Gersh open the second half with guns blazing as Muhammad and Wills stepped it up. There lead was re-extended to 11 points with 11 minutes left to play until Souleymane Kouressi ended their run with a nice drive down the lane.

Showing signs of needing life support, Team Milbank was beginning to show the wear and tear that comes with an uphill battle. DeMarcus Watson (St. Raymond '20) tried to jumpstart his flailing squad when he went up strong at to the rim but he was met at the summit by Wills who not only blocked the shot but sent the rising sophomore crumbling down on the court.

The no blood no foul rule seemed to apply but the event rallied the troops. DeMarcus Watson’s older brother Dallas Watson got the comeback party started with a nice and-1 and James and Darius Lee (St. Raymond '18) joined in. An 11- 2 Team Milbank run topped off by an earth moving drive by Lee gave them their first lead at 62 – 61 with 2:13 left to play.

The lead seesawed back and forth and the game was knotted at 66 at the end of regulation. King and Wills went at Team Milbank full throttle, trying muzzle them once and for all but Lee became a one-man freight train. The game was tied again at 78 after the first OT. Lee gave Team Milbank a 2-point lead with 1 left in the second OT. Perhaps being over-assertive, Team Flight committed some offensive fouls along with some foul shooting woes that eventually sealed their fate.

James paced Team Milbank with 19 points with Lee adding 14 points and 2 rebounds. Lee scored a game high 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists with Reed contributing 19 points and 7 rebounds

Team Milbank prevails over NY Rens, 81 – 73

The reason that Team Milbank were the City Is Mine inaugural champs. They are is both tough and resilient. Beating a team that was loaded with high major talent in the semifinals only to play 15 minute later in the championship against a rested opponent is the definition of a challenge. The ultimate challenge for the team’s most valuable player Jose Perez was a bit more personal.

The former star from Wings Academy said he was already bummed at how his team finished last year but to make matters worse, Wings head coach Billy Turnage was sitting front row, right under Team Milbank’s basket. “He was talking smack to me in the beginning, saying ‘when you gonna turn it up?’,” said Perez. “So, I said I definitely have to turn it up so I did it for him.”

Playing like a man possessed, Perez almost single-handedly countered the NY Rens best efforts in the opening half from Deshawn Young and Joe Toussaint. The game was tied at 39 when the second half got underway but that would be as close as the NY Rens got.

With Perez dominating inside and additional firepower coming from Ja’quaye James, R.J. Davis and Dallas Watson, Team Milbank’s lead grew to 9 points with 12 minutes left to play. Toussaint spearheaded a NY Rens counter-offensive that closed the gap to a point with 9:45 on the clock but Souleymane Kouressi, DeMarcus Watson and James pushed Team Milbank’s lead back to 9 points with 5 minutes left in regulation.

Peres and Davis began to pad the lead as the NY Rens momentum waned. Cartier Bowman attempted a final run as the hour glass was slowly emptying but missed free-throws spoke volumes as time ran out.

Perez led all scorers with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists with James adding 16 points and 3 assists. Young was the lead scorer for the New York Rens with 25 points. This was Team Milbank's second championship in three years.

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