NY Teams Split @ Peach Jam Quarters

NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – The anticipation was palpable as a sea of Division I coaches came to witness the matchup between two of the nation’s premier big men along with a face-off of highly ranked point guards. Such was the case on Saturday during the quarterfinal 17U round of the Nike Peach Jam the featured the PSA Cardinals from NYC and Expressions Elite (M).

The big boy game did not disappoint as both teams rose to the occasion When the dust settled, improving to 5-1, the fully-loaded Cardinals eliminated Expressions Elite, 53-45 to advance to the semis.

6’11” Mohamed Bamba ‘17 put the Cardinals ahead early with an array of moves in the paints. Brandon Randolph ‘17 was proficient from the perimeter which put Expression in a hole early. Rivals 4-star point guard Tremont Waters ‘17 along with Kimani Lawrence began to heat up and a 7-1 run sliced the Cardinals advantage to a point.

Bamba, in an effort to show up 6'10" Nicholas Richards ‘17 who battled him mightily throughout the contest, took a couple of ill-advised shots out of his range. Lawrence made the Cardinals pay. With 7 minute left in the half, Expression snatched its first lead.

That lead was brief as Randolph nailed back-to-back buckets. Richards stepped up his game, countering Bamba who had just taken him to the well in previous possession. “Guard me,” yelled the 6’11” Expressions center. Elite Rivals 5-star point guard Quade Green ‘17, who was relatively quiet spending most of his energy chasing Waters, began to show-up and show-out, ending the half with a fade away jumper that left the PSA Cardinal in front 26-20.

The second half began with a scare quite literally as the Cardinals without warning rushed a surprised Waters who coughed up the ball resulting in a transition basket by Randolph. Waters responded with an offensive explosion that ended with a jumper by Jermaine Samuels that put Expressions Elite out in front yet again.

Fortunately, Green began find his sea legs in the second half, tying the game at 37 and at points throughout, carrying the team. Cole Anthony ‘19 soon put the Cardinals ahead but a resilient Expression knotted the game at 39 and again at 43 as Richards scored inside. This time it was Bamba who countered taking it right to Richards.

The Cardinal also stepped up its defensive pressure, especially on Richards when he got the ball on the perimeter. Expression turnovers shifted the momentum. A 10-2 run finally closed out Expression Elite for good.

Green finished the afternoon with 17 points, 10 assists, 3 steals, 4 rebounds and zero turnovers. Bamba added dropped 12 points to go with 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Waters paced Expressions with 13 points, 6 assists and 3 turnovers. Richards inhaled 13 rebounds and 6 points.

Coming from behind throughout most of their contests in pool play, the Rens were unable to pull a rabbit from its hat during the opening playoff round versus Team Penny.

Jordan Tucker, having totally recuperated from his opening pool play game, scored a game high 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists with Hamidou Diallo adding 12 points and 6 rebounds.

PSA Cardinals will play Team Penny in the Semifinals Saturday evening at Riverview Park Activities Center.