NORTH BETHESDA, Md. – No one would have blamed Boys & Girls if it packed it in. A loss would have done nothing to lessen a season in which the Kangaroos won a second straight PSAL Class AA city title and spent most of the last four months nationally ranked.
Down double digits in the second quarter with just nine players in uniform, The High was surely ready to enjoy the rest of the weekend in the Washington D.C. area without taking the floor again, right?
Wrong.
Accepting defeat just isn’t in this team’s DNA.
“This team believes,” coach Ruth Lovelace said. “They believe that every time they step on the floor, they’re supposed to win. The confidence level is through the roof for this team. They’ve been around for four years. They’ve been part of a winning program.”
And win is exactly what they did Thursday night.
Boys & Girls put together an excellent second half despite being undermanned and knocked off nationally ranked Winter Park (Fla.) for the second time this year, 63-58, in the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational quarterfinals at Georgetown Prep. The game was broadcast live on ESPNU and Boys (25-7) rose to the occasion yet again versus a highly touted opponent.
Though they lost to Mount Vernon last week in the New York State Federation Class AA semifinals, the Kangaroos will be one of just four boys basketball teams in the country playing when they meet Montrose Christian, ranked No. 3 in the country by ESPN, in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
“We play harder against nationally ranked teams,” said Kangaroos senior guard Mike Taylor, who is headed to Rutgers. “When we get back in the city we play to the talent level. I don’t think anyone in the city can mess with us, we just play down to their level.”
No. 15 Winter Park (28-6), which is led by top-ranked prospect Austin Rivers held a 31-19 lead with 1:35 left in the first half. With only nine players on the active roster due to school-related suspensions, No. 24 Boys & Girls was not supposed to keep its legs. But if history is any indication, telling the Kangaroos they cannot do something only serves as more motivation.
Hofstra-bound senior forward Malik Nichols had 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter to bring his team within 46-44 heading into the final frame. Nichols’ thunderous, fast-break slam dunk with 5:06 to go gave Boys a 50-48 lead, one that it would not relinquish. Lovelace said the Queens native has struggled the last few games and a few of his teammates, notably Antione Slaughter, gave him a pep talk on the way down to Maryland.
“We really feel like that he’s probably the best all-around player in the city, because he can do so many things,” Lovelace said. “He showed that today.”
Nichols also had eight rebounds, six steals and two blocks, including a spectacular one on Rivers in the third quarter. Taylor had 15 points and Slaughter added 10 points. Leroy Fludd was the unsung hero, dropping in 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as Boys & Girls dominated the glass, 41-22.
“Rebounding was probably the biggest key,” Winter Park coach David Bailey said. “They just dominated us on the glass.”
The Wildcats were also without starting point guard Brett Comer and reserve big man Michael Merlano. Comer was injured in their trip to a second straight Florida 6A state title and Merlano went back to his native Australia for spring break. Rivers, who played in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago just 24 hours earlier, had 31 points, but on 9-of-22 shooting.
“We just asked our guys to make guys work offensively,” Lovelace said. “We like to apply a lot of ball pressure with help-side defense. We press a lot. Maybe at the end of the game, your legs are not quite under you.”
The Kangaroos’ legs weren’t supposed to be there without guys like Jeffland Neverson, Teyvon Myers and Anthony Hemingway. But they added another victory over a nationally ranked team in a season of them. Taylor pointed to a victory over Academy of the New Church (Pa.), when Boys came back from 18 down in the fourth quarter, as the toughest one.
“We showed the Brooklyn heart in us,” he said.
The Kangaroos brought that down to Maryland with them, too.