With Division I talent all around her, Reana Mohamed was one of the best players on the floor. Her fearless drives to the basket and all-around skills were on full display at the Wheelchair Charities HS Basketball Classic on Tuesday night at LIU. The Mary Louis junior had a team-high 18 points for Queens in the borough’s 75-71 loss to The Bronx.
Mohamed has been working hard in the gym since the season ended and was anxious to show off her improvements this weekend to college coaches at Boo Williams, the premier AAU event of the April evaluation period. There’s just one problem: the athletic, 5-foot-8 guard will not be competing at the tournament with her Positive Direction team.
Friday is Junior Ring Day at Mary Louis, an esteemed institution at the small all-girls school in Jamaica Estates.
“They say you should only miss if it you’re terminally ill,” Mohamed joked.
She will have more time in July to play in front of coaches. Besides, Mohamed already has interest from Bucknell, Cornell, LIU, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, North Florida and Temple. She’s primed to become just the third Mary Louis player since 1980 to earn a Division I scholarship after Amanda Burakoski (St. John’s) and senior Karin Robinson, who is headed to George Mason. Ring Day, though, is something she’ll only have once.
“It’s a very special and prestigious tradition,” TMLA athletic director Joe Lewinger said. “It is a day that all the families of the junior class come together with the faculty and administration and celebrate a monumental moment in their high-school career. Everyone is dressed in their holiday best, from the parents to the students. Much is talked about how they share in this tradition with the TMLA graduates before them.”
Mohamed called Boo Williams a “big opportunity” to showcase her skills, but she got something out of the Wheelchair Classic. The visit to Coler-Goldwater hospital, she said, was a profound experience. Mohamed said she could see how happy the patients were to see and communicate with the players and it impacted her how they approach everyday life.
“They were comfortable there,” Mohamed said. “They weren’t complaining or anything. It was normal to them.”
Primetime matchup denied: There was almost a fifth meeting between Nazareth and Christ the King on Wednesday indirectly. Had Queens defeated The Bronx on Tuesday, it would have met Brooklyn in the championship game.
Oden called it “Christ the King-Nazareth for the 6,000th time,” but she was hoping to get a chance to avenge CK’s loss to Naz in the CHSAA Class AA state final. The Illinois-bound forward dropped in 17 points in the loss to The Bronx. Brittany Horne had 20 points and Troi Melton had 18 points for The Bronx.
“I’d like to play them any day,” Oden said. “If we would have won, I would have been happy about that.”
Notes: John F. Kennedy point guard Shaquaya Daniels said she has interest from Indiana State, North Carolina A&T, Siena and Hofstra, but will need to take the SAT again in an attempt to get a qualifying score. … Playing a few blocks from her future college home, St. Francis-bound guard and Middle Village native Maddie Jankowski of St. Mary’s (L.I.) hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer for Queens. … The freshmen and sophomore Queens girls defeated The Bronx, 46-21. Mary Louis sophomores Jasmine Nwajei and Emily Arias each had seven points and TMLA soph Kate Goldman had six points. Sara Cochran led The Bronx with five points.