Sports

Harley makes most of Harlem swan song, scoring 39 as Wadleigh tops Bayside

Basil Harley was so good in his home finale Tuesday night in Harlem, he drew praise from coach Mike Crump.

The often-critical, emotional and combative Wadleigh coach began his postgame remarks ripping his seniors for what they didn’t do, but ended up waxing poetic about Harley, his 5-foot-6 point guard.

“Years from now he can come on this block and walk into this gym and say my last game I had 40 – he can add a point,” Crump said after the speedy 5-foot-6 guard poured in 39 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in the eighth-seeded Tigers’ 77-70 win over No. 9 Bayside in the second round of the PSAL Class AA playoffs. “He went out like Captain America, he went out like Donald Trump, he went out like Flavor Flav with all the girls. You can’t go out any better than the way he went out.”

Harley wore many hats on Tuesday – he was Wadleigh’s go-to scorer, point guard and one of its top rebounders. He sank 3-pointers, he picked opponents’ pockets and started the fast break. He fearlessly drove the lane and scored over Bayside’s mountainous forwards.

“He carried his whole team on his back,” Crump said. “He carried Harlem on his back.”

Anything that was needed, Harley did – and as a result the eighth-seeded Tigers (22-5) advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will meet the No. 1 Thomas Jefferson/No. 17 Robeson winner at St. John’s University on Sunday at 5 p.m.

“We didn’t lose a game here this year and we didn’t want to start today,” Harley said.

Freshman Donovan Wilkerson had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Stephen Turner added eight points and six assists for Wadleigh. Cantrell Barker paced Bayside (20-6) with 20 points and Uzonna Akazi had 17.

After Wadleigh fell behind 7-0 early, Harley went to work. He scored 11 points in a furious 22-0 run. When Wadleigh went on an 18-8 run to create a 17-point cushion, Harley had 10 points and added three assists. He also sank four clutch free throws in the final half minute to ice the contest.

“They were giving me the opportunity to score the ball and I’m a scorer,” he said. “They were backing up off me and letting me get my shots off.”

Between interviews and taking photos with family and friends, Harley basked in the memorable performance. Growing up on the same block as the Harlem school, with family on hand, he wanted to go out a winner. Crump told him on Monday it would come down to him because many of his teammates were going through what Crump described as “personal problems.”

“This is the last game I had here and I couldn’t ask for a better one,” Harley said.

The loss followed a similar pattern for Bayside: fall behind big early and stage a dramatic rally. Down by 17 entering the fourth quarter, the Commodores got as close as four with 21.0 seconds left, but couldn’t climb the proverbial mountain.

“We’ve been playing like that all year,” Semper said. “It just bit us in the ass today.”

Despite the early postseason exit, Semper was happy with his team’s season. It shared the Queens AA title with rival Cardozo and beat the powerhouse Judges for the first time in 11 years.

“We had a great year; you can’t take away 20-6,” the coach said.

Wadleigh, meanwhile, moves on to the final eight for the third straight season and fifth time in six seasons. Crump was critical of his seniors other than Harley, saying he needs more out of them on Sunday at St. John’s to reach their first semifinal berth under his watch. The Tigers, he fumed, are still alive because of Harley.

Yet, in the next breath, he also said he’s confident, confident his team will show up and have a chance to advance.

“We’re going there to win – we’re not going there to lose,” Crump said. “You know what? We’re playing with house money. Nobody even thought we would get to the quarterfinals. We earned our eight seed.”

zbraziller@nypost.com