Girls: Rose Classic Saturday

BROOKLYN, NY - With the April Live Period now behind us it was time to get back on the court at JHS 113 for some Rose Classic action. Some of the top teams in this year's tournament hit the court on Saturday in Fort Greene as each squad looks to come together as a unit to make a run at a championship.

Undoubtedly it was a great day of action at The Rose with many players and teams showcasing their abilities and putting on great displays, and with NYCHoops.net in attendance, we were able to take in the competition and bring you now a recap of the play.

In what has to be considered the game of the day because of the competitiveness, it was Positive Direction that was able to hold on as after taking a lead as big as 17 in the second half, the Hoopers fought back, with led by the sharpshooting early of guard Sierra Green (Francis Lewis '16), Positive Direction was able to grab the 8 point victory.

It was all about Green in the opening half, especially in the closing 5 minutes as she put on an outside shooting display knocked down 4 threes in a little over 3 minutes and finishing out the half with 16 points as Positive Direction took a 36-23 lead into the break.

The Westchester Hoopers were not able to handle the pressure defense applied by Positive Direction as the litany of guards that they threw at them in double teams in the backcourt seemed to rattle the younger team early on.

While Positive Direction was able to get good play in the paint from Danielle Patterson (The Mary Louis Academy '17) in the second half, slowly but surely the Hoopers started to chip away at a lead that seemed to be getting out of hand in the opening moments of the half, and it was the long ball that led the way.

Of course Teisha Hyman (Woodlands '19) was a weapon getting out in transition off of misses and pushing the tempo and scoring but the dynamic long range duo of Desiree Davis (Kingswood-Oxford, CT '19) and Ashley Wilson (Norwalk, CT '19) combined to make 7 threes in the second half to allow the Hoopers to get within 7 with just over 3 minutes to play.

It seemed that all of a sudden with Positive Direction forcing long range shots, and the Hoopers connecting from all over the floor that we had a game on our hands, but led by the steady point guard play of Taliyah Brisco (Francis Lewis '16), Positive Direction was able to right the ship and finish the game out strong coming together late in the game and pulling out the 60-52 victory.

Green had a game high 23 points for Positive Direction while Patterson added 14. For the Westchester Hoopers it was Hyman who had 14 points to pace the team, with Wilson and Davis each adding 12 points apiece in the loss.

It was more good play from Positive Direction in their second game of the day as against the Exodus 18u team, they were able to get Patterson going in the midrange where she seemed to be a matchup nightmare, running away with this one by a 28 point margin.

In the opening half it was all about the guard play of Brisco and Jasmine Brunson (The Mary Louis Academy '16) as both were able to run the floor and get easy buckets driving to the rim, but in the second half, that's when it became Patterson's game.

She opening the second half scoring with an elbow jumper, and the buckets after that just seemed to come and come. Be it a beautiful back to the basket spin move in the lane, or a long jumper showing off her extended range, Patterson did it all in the final 16 minutes to help see Positive Direction cruise to the comfortable and easy victory.

Patterson had 14 of her game high 18 points in the second half for Positive Direction to lead the way, while Brunson and Brisco had 13 and 10 points respectively to help their team go 2-0 on the day.

In the loss it was Shonnyvelle Regalado (Nazareth '17) who led Exodus with 11 points in the defeat.

There was a positive on this day for Exodus as they did win their first game of the day to finish 1-2 in their 3 games they played. They lost a game to the Westchester Hoopers as well on Saturday but it was the game against the Belles that saw them go down early only to make a big comeback late to come away with the hard fought win.

Regalado was clearly the star for Exodus as she had things going on in the second half during the massive run for Exodus as after being down by as many as 15 in the first half, they were able to fight back to tie the game at 62 late.

It was Emily Engstler (St. Francis Prep '18) that put the Belles up in the early going as the combination of her being able to finish both inside and outside, along with her great passing skills out of the post that allowed them to get up, but just as easy as it came, it all went away.

The Belles struggled defensively to contain Regalado and Margarita Kilpatrick (Archbishop Molloy '17) as both were able to score from long range with not much resistance to see them scrap their way back into the game.

Jaeonna Sutton (Christ the King '18) was strong on the ball and pushing it and leading the way from the perimeter, but down the stretch it was all Regalado as she was able to hit shot after shot when Exodus needed it as they closed the game on an 8-2 run in the last 1:44 to come away with the impressive 4 point victory.

Regalado had a game high 26 points in the win for Exodus, with Kilpatrick adding 15 as well for the winners while it was Sutton who had 20 points to lead the Belles, and Engstler adding 18 points along with a good amount of rebounds, blocks, and assists as well.

The other big time team to play on Saturday was the NJ Sparks Nike EYBL team, and even playing without Patterson who is playing with Positive Direction, and Honesty Scott-Grayson (Blair Academy, NJ '18), who wasn't here on Saturday, the Sparks rolled with ease.

Triple Threat actually gave them a bit of a run in the early going with strong play from Katie Clarke (Our Lady of Lourdes '17) fighting and scrapping for buckets going at the basket, but the size advantage of the Sparks eventually wore down the Poughkeepsie based squad.

Gabi Redden (Rutgers Prep, NJ '17) and Raven Farley-Clark (Paterson Eastside, NJ '17) were able to impose their will in the paint and score time after time down low to eventually open up a double digit lead midway through the first half, and one the Sparks got going nothing seemed as if it would stop them.

The Sparks took a 16 point lead into the half, and in the second half it became more of the guards showing off what they could do as Breyenne Bellerand (Immaculate Conception, NJ '17) was a strong and heady leader getting the ball up and down the court, and Erica Martinsen (Blair Academy, NJ '18) was able to knock down a couple of long distance three balls to put the game out of reach.

While Triple Threat never quit and played hard on both ends of the floor, they just didn't have the size, strength, or speed to matchup as the NJ Sparks rolled to the 68-39 victory.

Bellerand had 15 points for the Sparks to pace the team, with Redden adding 12, and Martinsen and Farley-Clark each adding 10 points in the victory.

Clarke was the leader for Triple Threat as she showed a good shooting touch in the second half as well and finished with a solid 14 points in the loss.

While the win over Triple Threat was impressive, that was the Sparks second game of the day, the blowout 52 point win over the Lady Snipers was game #1 in a performance to remember from Blair's newest star in Martinsen.

A recent transfer from Williamsville East in the Buffalo area, Martinsen put on a display in the opening half against the Lady Snipers as she connected on 6 threes and had 23 points all in the opening 16 minutes. Tori Harris (Half Hollow Hills West '17) was a versatile weapon taking it to the rim as well in the early going as the Sparks took a 52-10 lead at the half.

The Sparks did take their foot off the gas in the second half for the most part, running clock and not looking to score each time down the floor, but Redden still had a strong showing scoring 10 in the final 16 minutes as it was a true runway for one of the top teams in the EYBL as they coasted to a blowout 74-22 win.

Martinsen didn't score in the second half so she finished with her 23 points, while Harris had 12 and Redden added 11 in the dominating win for the Sparks.

They may had struggled against one of the top teams in the country in the Sparks, but to Triple Threat's credit they were able to really show that against most teams they can play well and thrive, doing exactly that against a tough Riverside Hawks (Green), with Clarke and Jessica Wilkinson (Red Hook '17) each shooting the ball strongly in this one for a comfortable 20 point win.

It was a back and forth game for most of the opening half as Riverside was actually up 14-13 midway through, but a late 13-2 run allowed Triple Threat to take a 10 point lead into the half as Wilkinson scored 8 points during the run to put them in what looked to be control.

After closing the first half strong, Triple Threat began the second half playing just as well as Katie Wall (Ketcham '19) got into the scoring act as well with a pair of long range threes, and with Clarke able to control the game with quick hands defensively as well, the 10 point halftime lead became a 20 point lead less than 4 minutes into the second half.

Samantha Schultz (Kings Park '18) finished the game strong and helped push the deficit down to as little as 14 down the stretch, but the deficit was too large, and Clarke was too good late as Triple Threat showed they are a contender going forward with a very strong 63-43 victory.

Clarke had 17 points for Triple Threat Poughkeepsie to lead the way for them, while Wilkinson added 15 points, with Wall chipping in with 10 as well in the winning cause.

In defeat it was Schultz who had 11 points and Lauren Hackett (St. Anthony's '18) who added 9 points for Riverside Green.