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Tip of the Hat Hoop Classic

GARDEN CITY, NY- There was a great day of games played in front of a packed house for nearly the entire day at Adelphi University at the Gary Charles Tip of the Hat Hoop Classic.

Several the best teams from across Long Island and New York City made the trip out to Adelphi for a strong non-league test, with two games really catching our eyes as games to watch.

One of those ended up being a game that went down to the closing seconds, while the other was a knock down slobber knocker of a game that was as tough and physical as you will see. Overall it was a great day of play and here now is a recap from the excellent action that took to the court on this warm and sunny Sunday winter afternoon.

Holy Trinity (by a hair) Over Thomas Jefferson, 81 - 80

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Mike Sixsmith & T.J. LOng
Mike Sixsmith & T.J. LOng (M. Libert)

When any team takes on Thomas Jefferson it's nearly impossible not to play a style of basketball that will make the game fast and more than likely out of your comfort zone.

That was the case for Holy Trinity as well on Saturday when they took on the Orange Wave, a perennial power in the PSAL Brooklyn AA in New York City. Falling behind 52-41 and giving up 12 threes’ in the opening half to Jefferson was not anywhere near the type of start that the Titans had hoped for, but it's not how you start instead being how you finish that matters most.

Clamping down on the perimeter in the second half and doing a better job contesting shots, it was the defense that Holy Trinity played as the game wore on that got them back into the game, and with sharpshooting Mike Sixsmith '20 hitting the game winning three with 7 seconds left it was the Titans coming back from a late deficit to overcome Thomas Jefferson in a thriller at the Gary Charles Tip of the Hat Hoop Classic, 81-80.

It's not that Holy Trinity can't play the type of up-tempo pace that was being played in the opening half that saw them fall behind Thomas Jefferson 52-41, it's just that it was playing right into the Orange Wave's hands.

Titans head coach Joe Conefry knew that too but said not playing that style when you go up against a team like Jefferson is extremely hard with the way they get out and go after every missed shot.

"You have to. Offensively you must be aggressive or you will get the ball stolen from you and it will be a rough day," Conefry said about playing the quicker and faster tempo. "Defensively we didn't play as hard as we should've and yes, they have two very good players that made some really tough shots but I didn't our intensity was there on the defensive end in that first half."

What made it not as bad for Holy Trinity though was the fact that Conefry consistently has been telling his team this season to never get down because of an early deficit, never wanting his team to ever get too up or too down, knowing that if they could defend the outside more and play a bit more within themselves that the game was still in reach for them.

After seeing the duo of Jaquan Carlos '21 and Ramsey Saleh '21 combine to make all 12 of the Orange Wave's first half three's they defense of Holy Trinity pressed out much more the way Conefry wanted in the third quarter as they limited Jefferson to no made triples in the quarter and only gave up 10 points in total over the eight minute span to see them go from down 11 at the half to leading 63-62 after T.J. Long '20 finished off a beautiful feed from Sixsmith cutting down the baseline.

It did seem as if all the momentum had shifted toward Holy Trinity but this was a game of ebbs and flows as after Long hit a left side three with 3:39 to play in the fourth it was a 73-68 lead for the Titans with everything going their way.

Going nearly the entire second half without a made three, Saleh was able to drain Jefferson's first with 3:18 to go from the right corner, and that seemed to perk up what was a fairly stagnant Orange Wave offense as Carlos would score 7 straight after that as well to lead Jefferson on a 12-0 run to give them an 80-73 lead with 1:12 left.

Some at that point may have looked at the game as thought that the Titans made their run but Thomas Jefferson withstood it and found a way to rally late to get the win, but Holy Trinity wasn't done in quite yet either as Jared Weakly '21 was able to finish above the rim off a nice feed from Long, and when Trevor Rohlehr '20 was able to come down and knock down a left corner three after a Jefferson turnover it was an 80-78 game once again.

With only 16 seconds left though it looked as if the Titans would have to foul and send Jefferson to the FT line and hope. That proved to not be the case though as after the inbound it was an immediate double team from Holy Trinity that forced a traveling call in the corner with 12 seconds to go giving the Titans the ball back with a chance.

Conefry called a timeout to set up the play he wanted. It was called for Sixsmith, who had already hit 4 threes’ in the game, to do what his coach says he does best.

"It was drawn up for Mike to get the ball and make a play," Conefry stated.

With Long setting the screen to free Sixsmith away from his defender, he was able to catch the ball and take one dribble getting enough space at that point to not attack but square up and fire from the right wing banking it off the glass and sending in through the net with 6 seconds left to give Holy Trinity the 1 point advantage.

Jefferson didn't have a timeout remaining so Carlos took the ball up the court himself and was able to spot and get up a contested three at the buzzer that was short as Holy Trinity rallied from a 7 point deficit with under 90 seconds to play to taken down Thomas Jefferson in a true classic, 81-80.

Sixsmith hit the game winner and had 21 points for the Titans, while Long had 29 points to pace the way for Holy Trinity. Jefferson got a game high 30 from Carlos with Saleh adding 22 in what was truly a great game from start to finish.

The end just happened to go the Titans way though with Sixsmith after the game saying that he thrives on the pressure environment on taking the last shot for the win, with Conefry having no doubt that when it came down to it his playmaker was going to get the job done.

"Like I said, I told Mike to make a play and that's a play," Conefry said with a smile after the tremendous comeback win.

Benjamin Cardozo Stumps Baldwin, 50 - 42

Romello Faison & Chamarri Baskerville
Romello Faison & Chamarri Baskerville (M. Libert)

It wasn't the prettiest game people will ever see but when you are 15-0 coming into the game the way Cardozo is sometimes you just find ways to get the victory when you aren't necessarily playing your best.

That was exactly the case for the Judges on Sunday as they didn't shoot the ball particularly well, and they turned the ball over way more than head coach Ron Naclerio wanted, but with Chamarri Baskerville '20 hitting three big shots from behind the arc late in the third quarter it was enough to give them a bit of a cushion and help Cardozo to a hard fought 50-42 victory over the Bruins.

Coming into with an unblemished record on the season the pressure was on the Judges in this one on Sunday evening against one of the better teams on Long Island in a one loss Baldwin team.

Neither Cardozo nor Baldwin shot the ball particularly well in the early going though Kamani Jones '20 was able to knock down a pair of threes’ early in the second to put the Bruins on top for the first time. With turnovers and tough shots, the norm early on Cardozo did find a spark in Romello Faison '20 late in the half as he scored the Judges final 5 points, including going coast to coast for a score to give his team a 28-27 lead at the break.

Going into halftime leading by 1 instead of trailing seemed to give Cardozo a bit of a confidence boost against a Baldwin team that was pressuring the ball and creating more problems for the Judges than they had seen all year up to this point.

It was a one possession game either way for nearly the entire game until Baskerville came alive in the final minute of the third quarter as he went 3-3 from the outside scoring 9 of his 11 points in that short span to see the Judges go from up 1 to taking a 9 point lead into the fourth.

That was just the cushion Cardozo needed it looked like with Baskerville saying he felt coming to the bench after the third quarter ended how big those shots were going to be.

"It came as the flow of the game went and I could feel how big those were for us, it gave us a more comfortable lead," Baskerville explained.

Baldwin to their credit never totally went away as they were able to get the deficit on a couple of occasions back down to just 4 but Andrew Laing '21 was clutch from the FT line late as Cardozo played far from their best but found a way to win behind the 12 points of Faison to push the Judges to 16-0 on the year after the 50-42 win.

Jones paced Baldwin with 11 points in the loss, the second of the season for the Bruins with both coming against top teams in New York State, proving that regardless of the opposition that Baldwin can hang and play against anyone.

Showing character and heart Cardozo improves now to 16-0, and while Naclerio wasn't especially happy with his team's play a win is a win with Baskerville using those who still doubt this year's Judges team as motivation to show everything that they are truly one of the best in New York this year.

"We're 16-0," Baskerville exclaimed. "Of course, we got haters still who doubt us but we are just gonna keep the haters quiet while we're winning."

Other Gary Charles Tip of the Hat Hoop Classic Results:

Brentwood 73- Mount Vernon 59

Jordan Riley '21 (B)- 20 points

Troy Hupstead '20 (MV)- 16 points

Uniondale 55- Elmont 39

Jo-Jo Wright '23 (U)- 14 points

Jevon Santos (E)- 12 points

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