Jaquan Conway’s latest stellar performance lifted Evander Childs to the PSAL Class A quarterfinals.
The senior guard surpassed the 1,000-point plateau with 30 points and added six rebounds and five assists as the No. 5 Tigers topped 12th-seeded Banneker, 58-42, on Thursday. Conway also limited Banneker star Marquis Roberts to eight points.
“He was great from the start,” Evander Childs coach Dave Fonfa said. “He came down court and started scoring right away, making great moves. It seemed like he couldn’t miss three quarters of the game.”
Romaine Thomas added 10 points, 18 rebounds and 8 blocked shots and Devan Garrett had 11 rebounds for the Tigers. Fonfa loaded up his non-league schedule with Class AA teams such as Transit Tech, Manhattan Center and Eagle Academy from the PSAL and Mount St. Michael and St. Francis Prep from the CHSAA. While Evander (20-7) only beat Manhattan Center, it realized what it took to beat top competition.
“I felt we proved we can compete against anybody and defensively we still played the same defense,” Fonfa, the fourth-year coach, said. “The only team that really hammered us was Mount St. Michael. It was a learning experience for us.”
Evander Childs will now face one of the top ‘A’ teams in the PSAL next Wednesday when it visits No. 4 Bedford Academy. This is already the best season the Tigers have had in quite awhile. Fonfa researched the last few decades and no boys basketball team has reached the quarterfinals in any classification as far as he’s aware.
“We spend as much time in the gym as any team and it’s paid off,” Fonfa said. “We’re very pleased, we’re happy to go to the quarterfinals and we’re happy to go to Brooklyn [to face Bedford Academy]. We want a chance to redeem ourselves. We lost by 11 to [eventual PSAL Class A champion] Midwood in the Round of 16 last year. We’re very excited about the opportunity.”
No. 4 Bedford Academy 72, No. 20 John Adams 60: Darren Thomas had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, Sean Snagg added 18 points and seven rebounds, Iran Duncan had 10 points and five assists and Darien Best chipped in 10 points and five rebounds for Bedford (23-5), which hosts No. 5 Evander Childs in the quarterfinals March 7 at 5 p.m. Paul Johnson scored 19 points and Ahmed Kone had 18 points and 10 rebounds for John Adams (13-5).
No. 6 Springfield Gardens 58, No. 27 Brooklyn Tech 56: Greg Williamson scored 17 points, Jason Deochan had 12 points and four assists, Eghosa Osagie had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Dupree McBrayer had 11 points and six assists for Springfield Gardens (18-4), which meets No. 11 DeWitt Clinton in the second round March 2 at 5 p.m. Brooklyn Tech wraps up its season at 11-9.
CLASS B
No. 3 Newcomers 82, No. 19 Metropolitan 73: Newcomers (17-0) will face No. 11 Leon Goldstein in the quarterfinals March 7 at 5 p.m. Metropolitan finishes the year at 14-6.
No. 7 WHEELS 81, No. 10 August Martin 76 OT: Eulogio Medina had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Junior Lora added 17 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, Raymer Leonardo notched 13 points and 10 rebounds and Tyshawn Myles had 11 points and 20 rebounds for WHEELS (19-2), which rallied from a double digit deficit. The Wolves meet the No. 2 Eleanor Roosevelt/No. 15 Bathgate winner March 6 at 5 p.m. Jameik Riviere had 32 points and Aaron Swanson added 24 for August Martin (14-5).
No. 11 Leon Goldstein 55, No. 27 NEST 43: Lucas Savage had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Daniel Finkelstein scored 14 points and Jacob Berardi had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Leon Goldstein (17-4), which takes on No. 3 Newcomers in the quarterfinals March 7 at 5 p.m. NEST finishes the year at 12-5.