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iS8/Nike Friday Night Upsets

SOUTH JAMAICA, NY – Friday’s iS8/Nike Spring HS Classic in some ways mirrored the recent political landscape as the establishment candidates fell by the wayside. Here are recaps of both exciting games

2G’z-Steph Upends Ben Gordon All-Stars, 67-60

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Cameron Winston & Darren Horn
Cameron Winston & Darren Horn
M. Wingate

The Ben Gordon All-Stars a/k/a Mount Vernon HS has been in the iS8 forever and is one of the staple teams in the tournament but 2G’z established early on that that nugget of a fact was irrelevant to the outcome of the game.

Tyrone Cohen ‘16 and Darren Horn (Wadleigh ’16) set the stage early as they helped catapult 2G’z to a 5 point lead before Ben Gordon could respond. As both teams got their sea legs, Greg Calixte ‘17 began to pound inside while Demitrius Robert ’18 and Jason Douglas-Stanley ‘18 attacked from the perimeter for Ben Gordon closing the gap.

With 3:12 left in the warm up quarter, Noah Morgan ‘17 finally tied the game at 13. The lead vacillated back and forth until a bucket at the buzzer by Cohen put 2G’z back in front by a deuce to begin the second quarter.

2G’z rode their momentum throughout the second quarter even with spirited counters by their Westchester opponents. After falling into a 5 point disadvantage midway through the quarter, Ben Gordon fought back and trailed at the half, 39-37.

Ben Gordon’s patented defensive intensity began to come into play as Calixte and Morgan began to own the paint. 2G’s turnover resulted in them relinquishing their lead by three-points as Calixte drew a foul late and knocked down free-throws.

Although down to start the final quarter, 2G’z had gas left in the tank. Horn and Cohen teamed up to regain the lead and long balls by Cameron Winston (Pomfret School ’16) along with extra beef inside by Bryan Assie (Thurgood Marshall ’16) began to run down the Ben Gordon All-Stars.

Two minutes remained in regulation and suddenly 2G’z had amassed a seven point lead which they would hold onto until the end.

Cohen paced 2G’z-Steph with 17 points with Winston and Horn adding 13 points apiece. Calixte and Roberts was high men for Ben Gordon with 11 points each.

Montibello Park Shocks New Heights, 86-74

Justin Cole, Isaac Grant & Yashawn Bright-Gonzalez
Justin Cole, Isaac Grant & Yashawn Bright-Gonzalez
M. Wingate

On its face, the winner of the game might have been a foregone conclusion for most but underdog Montibello Park must’ve have missed that memo. Or perhaps they got the memo but didn’t decide to disregard it until the final quarter.

While Bello took an early lead that could’ve been attributed to adrenaline as a thunderous Sid Wilson ‘17 dunk and the perimeter game of Keith Williams ‘17 put New Heights in front by seven to start the second quarter.

Baskets by Aaron Walker ‘17 and Justin Cole ‘17 began to keep pace with New Heights firepower but it didn’t make a dent in terms of the lead Trailing 41-36, Montibello Park needed a spark to get the job done.

The spark would come from offensive opportunities created by point guard Chaz Platt (Holy Cross’16) and capitalized on by Aaron Walker ‘16 and Isaac Grant (Molloy ’16) inside. The spark however did not become a flame as Williams and Isaiah Washington ‘17 countered.

As the fourth quarter started, Montibello still trailed by seven. They were competing with New Heights offensively but finally seemed realize that the secret sauce that was missing was defense and started to close the deficit.

Yashawn Bright ‘16 who was relatively quiet during the first half, activated in the final stanza and with 5:59 left to play, Walker tied the game at 63 apiece. New Height regained the lead but it flip-flopped multiple times as both teams headed into the home stretch.

Tied again at 71 with 2:45 remaining, Dom Priolo (Molloy ’16) knocked down a clutch 3-point shot that put Montibello back out in front. Stepped up defensive intensity by Montibello took its toll on New Heights as Bright and Cole put the finishing touches it their team’s unlikely victory.

Cole led the way with 16 points with Bright and Grant contributing 15 points each. Wilson scored a game high 27 points for New Heights


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