Top NY Teams Battle @ SMARTBall Classic

NEW YORK, NY - Wednesday marked day three of the SMARTBall Classic Single elimination tournament at Abe Lincoln Park in Harlem. It was a chance to get a first look at four of last year's top tier teams and see how they might fair during the upcoming high school season.

St. Raymond Beaches South Shore, 74-62

The St. Ray's Ravens were without the services of one of their top players, Cahiem Brown for the remainder of the high school season, and early on it appeared that his transfer may be a factor. Rising senior forward Shaquille Ricks (22 points & 4 rebounds) did work offensively and on the board giving the South Shore Vikings a slight advantage in the first quarter

The Ravens recovered in the second quarter as Sid Wilson (18 points, 4 rebounds & 2 blocks) and Tauriel Arocho (9 points & 1 rebound) picked up the intensity. St. Raymond would continue to pump up the volume and take a 41-32 lead into the third quarter. Smooth sailing looked to be on the horizon for the CHSAA power as South Shore was still behind by 10 points after three quarters but all that would change.

After increasing its lead to 15 points with 5:53 left in regulation, the Ravens suddenly decided to sit back, admire its previous work and glide into the finish line. The ill-advised strategy backfired, resulting in the Bronx, NY squad getting its feathers abruptly plucked.

St. Ray's went into freefall due to an offensive tirade led by Christian Prince (18 points & 2 assists), and point guard Neo Ervin (8 points & 4 assists). When the dust settled, a shocking 15-2 Vikings run carved St. Ray's lead down to a mere two points with 2:16 left to play.

With St. Ray's seemingly about to sink like the Titanic, one player would take over the controls and right the ship once and for all. Isaiah Washington (26 points & 4 assists) was a one-man offensive wrecking crew in the final minutes. The rising junior combo would singlehandedly initiate an 8-0 run within a little over a minute and South Shore would remain frozen at 62.

Lincoln Blows Out W.H.E.E.L.S., 81-42

The Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters jumped out to 8-0 lead over W.H.E.E.L.S. and never looked back except to see who they were scoring or dunking on. Lincoln recently lost P.J. Persons to transfer but didn't skip a beat with addition of newest Lincoln member Caheim Brown (16 points, 2 rebounds & 1 assist). The rising senior Coney Island guard played at St. Ray's last season but transferred to the PSAL high school for the 2015-16 season.

W.H.E.E.L.S. did put up a fight in the first half with buckets from Morrisana Camara (12 points & 3 rebounds) and Emilio Cerda (7 points, 3 bocks & 2 rebounds) but the constant battering from Jahlil Tripp (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks & 3 assists) and Brown gave Lincoln a 44-20 lead at the half.

The assault didn't stop there as rising sophomore Tyler Bourne (16 points & 2 assists) began to provide an aerial attack that pushed the Railsplitters lead to an almost unbearable 32 points to start the final quarter.

It soon became clear that winning was not an option for W.H.E.E.L.S. on this night and the referees mercifully put a stop to the game.

On Tuesday in the next round, Abraham Lincoln will face off against St. Ray's at 6:30pm. A game in which Brown will play against his former team for the first time.