Why do they stay Class A?
There are two PSAL squads that are arguably Class AA teams inside of Class A divisions. Year after year, Brooklyn Law & Tech and Curtis high schools have summarily beaten Class AA teams with such regularity that to call those wins upsets has become almost laughable.
Both teams slice through their respective Class A divisions like a hot knife through butter, beating the competition by 20, 30, 40, 50 and even 60 points. If you ask Brooklyn Law & Tech Coach Kenny Pretlow why he keeps the Jets in the single A division, he says it's because [we’re] not good enough.
While Pretlow admits his squad could place third in Manhattan and the Bronx Class AA, he believes the Brooklyn Class AA is a different animal. “Brooklyn AA is the best and toughest league.” Although Coach Pretlow is correct, his Jets continue to prove season after season that they could still be competitive.
When asked how Brooklyn Law & Tech beat Thomas Jefferson during the summer and recently beat Christ the King, Wings Academy and W.H.E.E.L.S. in the preseason, he describes those wins as aberrations. “[We won because] we have a system and Larry [Moreno] is a great player.” It’s true that Moreno, who recently committed to St. Francis (Brooklyn), is a talented point guard but the Jets have had talented point guards for the past three years with Mikko Johnson and Matt Scott before him.
Pretlow concedes that if a Class AA team sleeps on Brooklyn Law & Tech, they will get their feeling hurt but still is firmly entrenched in the belief that in a small high school of only 500 students, the talent pool is simply too small to compete on the most elite level of the PSAL.
Another Class A PSAL high school that has become a spoiler over the years is Curtis H.S. The Staten Island school, like Brooklyn Law & Tech, have been Class AA dragon slayers as well having beaten St. Peters, John Bowne and Cardinal Hayes last season.
The Jets have opted to remain a Class A team, but the Staten Island powerhouse would love nothing more than to be a Class AA team. “Curtis in a sense is a “AA” school by the old definition – school size, level of play etc. but since we play in the SIHSL and most of the borough are not “AA” schools, the PSAL has classified us as “A”, said head coach Dwayne Archbold.
Archbold said that the Staten Island League is a hybrid because they have Class AA, A and B teams that they are required to play. “That’s why our non-league games are important and who we schedule to play.”
It’s clear that Brooklyn H.S. of Law & Technology and Curtis H.S. have the firepower to compete on a higher level but for different reasons, won’t or can’t jump into the deep Class AA waters. Meanwhile, their Class A opponents will continue to get trounced while their Class AA non-league opponents can never take the Jets or Warriors for granted unless they’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
