Wings Blow Thru Gaels; Wins Tru-Ballaz Chip

BRONX, NY - It all came down to this. On Thursday at FDA III HS, Wings Academy battled Iona Prep for the championship of the Tru-Ballaz Pre-High School Classic. It would be a game of inches that ultimately came down to the final seconds and a 65-62 photo finish in favor of Wings Academy.

Wings may have drawn first blood, scoring right after the tip-off, but Iona prep quickly took the lead as its senior leader, Ty Jerome (27 points), came out blazing from long distance. Suddenly down 5-2 to Iona Prep with 6 minutes, a strong move by Kevin Saylor '16 (7 points) resulted in a 3 point play pulling the Bronx school to within a point of the New Rochelle opponent. .

Iona Prep was dominating the boards. That and crisp passing was a signature for the Gaels who had slight edge but 3:10 left in the opening quarter, Malik Diallo '16 (4 points) knotted the score at 10, using pure scrappiness. Jose Perez '17 (22 points) soon gave Wings its first lead with a strong and1 move, scoring after contact.

Jerome began to misfire and Wings pushed its lead to five points. Iona Prep did counter but Saylor responded for Wings. Jerome drew a foul, driving to hole as the quarter ended but Wings was still ahead 19-15.

Josh Alexander '18 (16 points) pounded down low for Iona Prep but Wings pressure defense minimized the time that Iona Prep's shooters had to get off. 23-17 As a result, Wings increased its lead to 6 points with 5:10 left in the half.

Perez began to rule the roost inside for Wings with his physicality but Jerome's I.Q. was getting the Gaels to the line, keeping the Gaels within striking range. A fade away by the Virginia commit was countered by Malik Mooving '16 (18 points) from the arc. Saylor and Mooving further padded the lead 33-24 in favor of Wings at the half.

Mooving set off the third quarter with a trey and propelled Wings lead to 12 points. The Gaels got the lead down to 3 points as Nick Brennan '17 (7 points) and Jerome scored off turnovers.

Perez plugged the leak as he scored in transition but Iona Prep was relentless attacking the paint. Turnovers continued for Wings and with 3:24 left in the third quarter, Patrick Flemming '16 (10 points) and Alexander tied the game at 38.

Wings regained the lead but Iona Prep tied the game at 42 and again at 44. A three point play by Mooving gave Wings 3 point lead but a step back at the buzzer by Jerome kept Wings lead hair thin.

Holding on to a 47-46 slight advantage at the start of the fourth quarter. With 7:10 left to play, the score was tied again at 49. Iona Prep increased its lead to 4 points until Mooving sparked Wings Academy to a 55-52 advantage. The Gaels fought back and with 2:57 it was 58-57, Gaels as Jerome scored a reverse layup

Mooving again powered the Wings Academy offense, tying the game at 58 with 2:17 remaining in regulation. Gio Gabbing '17 (2 points) scored a layup off a Wings turnover and the Gaels led 60-58 with 1:58

Perez netted a trey but the Gaels responded. Perez knocked down a second trifecta and Wings led by a point with under a minute. Perez then got key defense stop and got fouled with 18.3 ticks left on the clock. The junior was pure with both free-throws and Wings Academy was up by three-points.

Because of the youth and inexperience of the Gaels team, everyone knew who the ball was going to. As expected, Jerome did get the ball and tried to drain a three-ball in the corner pocket with two Wings defenders on him. The shot fell short. The Gaels got the rebound and called time with 2.4 seconds but couldn't get the shot off in time and Wings took home the Tru-Ballaz championship hardware.