Tru-Ballaz Semifinal Rounds

BRONX, NY - The semifinal rounds of the Tru-Ballaz Pre-High School Classic commenced on Monday evening at FDA III High School.

Wings took on Deer Park followed by the St. Raymond Ravens versus FDA III.

Wings Swarms Deer Park, 74-63

With newest Wings Academy Wing 6'10" Rivals.com 4-star Jessie Govan watching from the stands, Deer Park overwhelmed Wings throughout the first quarter and went into second quarter down 22-9 as PG Aaren Edmead lit them up. Wings was down by 8 with 2:42 left in the half but they clamped down with pressure defense Deer Park, especially on their guards.

Deer Park began to fall apart and with 51 seconds, Randy Corporan drained a trey from the left side to eventually put them ahead. Wings led by 7 with 20 secs but a 3-ball by Angelo Riley cut that lead to 37-33 at the half.

A 6-0 Deer Park run at the top of the quarter put them back up by 2 but Wings quickly tied from the charity stripe and PG Desure Buie put the Bronx, NY squad ahead off a putback off an errant foul shot.

4:45 remained in the third and 2 threes by Corey Pierce came up at a critical juncture, giving Wings a 48-41 lead. Deer park was in disarray as Pierce knocked down yet another trey. Edmead finally settled things down for Deer Park, scoring off a fade away but Wings Academy had the last bite of the apple and Buie drew a foul and knocked down two from the line.

With all the chaos, Deer Park was only down 55-49 to begin the final quarter. Midway through the quarter, a floater off the glass by Edmead and full court pressure defense pulled Deer Park to within 3. Wings returned the favor and Deer Park. coughed up the rock.

Foday Sankaray put Wings up 7 but a delay of game threatened to squash their momentum. With 1:08 Wings led 70-60 as Buie hit free throws and would advance to the championship round.

Buie scored a game high 24 points with Pierce and Sankaray and adding 19 and 18 points respectively. Edmead led Deer Park with 19 points. Karon Blackwell contributing14 points

St. Rays mows down FDA III, 65-42

From the onset, while FDA III seemed more focused on delighting their home crowd with one-on-one and1 crossover moves, St. Raymond executed a 12-2 run spearheaded by Brandon Adams and PG Tory Ferguson. After snapping back into reality, a late scoring spree by FDA III settled the host team down but the Ravens were unfazed and led 26-9 after one quarter of play.

The Ravens big man Luis Santos played limited minutes in the first quarter but FDA III was unable to capitalize. In the second half, blocked and altered shots by Santos and Buckets by sharpshooter Shawn Jones in transition extended St. Rays lead to 21 with 3:02 left in the half.

FDA III made a dent in their deficit as Tamar Rivers scored from the perimeter but they trailed 34-12 at the half.

Inspired by a pep talk from their coach, FDA III matched St. Rays on offense. Their defense effort was a different story. Two NBA range three-balls by Ferguson from the right and left side pumped the Ravens lead to 46-16 with 4:52 left in the third

St. Rays was already in sub out mode as the game officially reached blowout status. Without the Ravens starters, FDA cut their deficit to 26 going into the fourth. St. Rays put their starters back in to close out the game.

Ferguson paced St. Raymond with 18 points with Adams scoring 13 points. Rivers led FDA III with a game high 22 points.

The Championship between Wings Academy and St. Raymond is set to take place on Wednesday (10/23) at 6pm.

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