Sports

South Shore’s Martin stars against former school in wild, OT thriller

It was a sort of homecoming for South Shore forward Wayne Martin.

“Today was great,” the senior said. “I wanted to throw the ball down their throats today. I wanted to shut the crowd up and beat them.”

Just two minutes after glaring into the hostile crowd with a look of accomplishment after his layup extended South Shore’s lead to four, Martin, who transferred last year from Transit Tech, dunked the ball with authority as the buzzer sounded to end overtime.

He scored five of South Shore’s last seven points, propelling the Vikings to a 64-61 overtime victory over the Express in PSAL Brooklyn AA boys basketball Thursday in Brooklyn. Martin also scored a team-leading 23 points.

“I had extra motivation today, playing my old school, so I wanted the ball in my hands at the end,” Martin said. “But we won as a team. Today we showed that we can finish against good teams. Last year that was a problem but not this year.”

Tied with just three minutes remaining in overtime, Martin took over. After being fouled on a layup attempt, he sank one of two free throws to give South Shore a two-point lead. Following a Transit Tech turnover, the senior laid the ball off the glass for a layup with just 1:30 left to extend the lead to four.

To the crowd’s displeasure, Martin jogged down the court with his head high, clapping and yelling toward the people he called his classmates just two years ago. One final steal and a powerful dunk later and South Shore both avoided an upset and showcased its heart at the same time.

“This whole team has that closer mentality,” Martin said. “We showed our toughness out there, too. I’m happy for this team.”

After trailing for the first 80 seconds of the game, South Shore maintained a steady, slim lead until the fourth quarter, despite the unconscious play of Transit Tech guard Fabian MacDonald. The junior racked up 15 points by halftime and nearly equaled that in the third quarter alone, scoring twelve.

MacDonald buried a 3-pointer followed by a steal and a layup after just 40 seconds of play to begin the fourth quarter, giving Transit Tech a four point lead, their largest lead of the game. The two squads traded baskets until the time remaining went from minutes to seconds.

With 14 seconds left, MacDonald buried a fadeaway jump shot from the top of the key in the face of a defender, giving Transit Tech a one-point lead and the guard two of his game-high 36 points. South Shore forward Shamiek Sheppard was fouled with one second left while driving to the basket and hit one of two from the stripe to hold off the Transit Tech charge and send the game to overtime.

“It’s really hard to lose a tough game like this, but I feel like this will build our confidence as a team as well as my own confidence,” MacDonald said. “We can play with any team – Lincoln, South Shore, anyone. And we’re only going to get better.”

“Fabian was terrific today,” added Transit Tech head coach Mike Perazzo. “The kids are tough and expect to win every game. This isn’t the result we wanted, but I’m proud of our guys. We will get better, that’s for sure.”

But no matter how good Transit Tech gets, Wayne Martin believes that his new team will be better this season than his old team, as well as every other team in the city.

“We’re going to get to the number one ranking this year,” he said. “No doubt we’re going to get there.”