NYC’s Kuron Iverson throwns down a dunk for two of his 21 points. (Denis Gostev)
Dayshon Smith collected a long pass running down court and thought it was just him and Aaron Harrison with a Big Strick Classic win on the line.
“I didn’t know there was anyone behind me,” the Putnam Science Academy point guard from The Bronx said.
Smith laid the ball up only to see Jordan Mickey come from out of nowhere to deny him with a blocked shot to seal Team USA’s thrilling 87-86 win over New York City in a high school basketball all-star game at CCNY Saturday night. The second annual contest was played in the memory of beloved streetball legend John (The Franchise) Stickland, who died in his sleep in October of 2010.
“All I was thinking about was don’t let him get this shot off,” said the 6-foot-9 Mickey, who attends Grace Prep in Texas.
The highly recruited forward, who has a plethora of high major schools after in, jumped in celebration with USA teammate Andrew Harrison. The Travis (Texas) point guard, who carried the squad most of the night, had just missed the front end of a 1-and-1 on the other end after scoring 14 points.
“No competitor wants to lose these games,” said Harrison, one of the nation’s top recruits.
He described the contest as being a “pride game” after a hotly contested scrimmage Friday night at Gauchos Gym. Harrison got into it at times with Lincoln star Isaiah Whitehead, who drew NYC within one late with a foul-line pull up.
“Harrison is a good player,” Whitehead said. “I wanted to show him I’m a good player. too.”
The city squad has multiple chances to prevail. Twice, Chris McCullough had contested dunk attempts down the stretch, but could not convert. They led by as much as 13 points, but saw the lead trimmed to 69-67 after three quarters. Team USA ripped off a 12-2 run midway through the third.
“We slowed down,” Whitehead said of the starting unit. “If we had stayed in the game we would have pushed the lead a little more.”
Kuran Iverson paced NYC with 21 points and McCullough had 13 — the two earned MVP honors for the city squad. Whitehead, Queens native Jermaine Lawrence and Pathways forward Jordan Washington each tallied 10. Robert Hubbs scored 14 points for Team USA. Aaron Harrison, Andrew’s brother, and Kadeem Lattin each chipped in 13. Troy Williams had the dunk of the night, a full extension one-handed slam over a defender in the first quarter.
“It just didn’t come,” McCullough said. “We should have got the win.”
Washington, Christ the King’s Jon Severe and Whitehead sparked an 11-0 city run in the second quarter to give NYC a 43-36 lead on a Washington 3-point-play with 3:24 left in the frame. USA rallied behind its defense to tie the score on on an Andrew Harrison trey, but a Richard Williams floater put NYC up 50-48 at the half. It was a lead the city expanded on, but could not maintain.
“We didn’t want people to say New York beat us,” Mickey said. “We thought we had the better players.”