The calendar and the muggy weather said otherwise, but Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center in Harlem had a March feel to it.
Two of the city’s top boys basketball programs from the PSAL and Catholic league matching big shot for big shot, trading runs and momentum shifts. It was only for a spot in the Smartball Classic finals, in the heat of mid-August, but there was a distinct playoff feel to the showdown between South Shore and Christ the King.
“It took me back to that Boys & Girls game at St. Johns,” South Shore forward David Tait, referring to the PSAL Class AA quarterfinals.
Unlike that game, South Shore found a way in the end. Shamiek Sheppard’s basket with 1.7 seconds left in double overtime was the difference in the Vikings’ thrilling 83-82 victory over Christ the King.
Sheppard’s hoop was the last of three memorable shots that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.Twice, CK was moments from defeat before buzzer-beating 3-pointers, by Jon Severe at the end of regulation and Isaiah Cosbert at the end of the first overtime, gave them new life.
“It was frustrating,” Samuel said. “I thought we had the game won.”
In the second overtime, the Royals seemed to be in command, up four points after a pair of Severe free throws. But Sheppard converted a traditional 3-point play, Severe surprisingly missed two free throws and South Shore perfectly executed its final play.
Inbounding out of the backcourt with 7.6 seconds remaining, the Vikings threw the ball into Sheppard in the front court rather than to Samuel. Sheppard, with a bandage over his eye after hitting his head on the backboard earlier in the evening, made a quick move and scored with his right hand. Severe’s half-court heave fell well short.
“They thought it was coming to me,” said the highly recruited Samuel. “So I was a bit of a distraction. I was the decoy.”
Samuel led South Shore with 19 points, four steals, four rebounds and four assists, Tait added 14 points, Sheppard had 12 and Devyn Wilson eight. Severe led the Royals with 24 points and Jordan Fuchs notched 18 points and six rebounds.
Christ the King arrived for the game fatigued somewhat, Severe said, from working its school’s basketball camp for kids. Still, they had the game in hand at one point in the fourth quarter and again in the second overtime.
“The little plays messed us up,” said Severe, bemoaning turnovers and missed free throws. “They killed us.”
It was nevertheless a productive tournament for the Royals, a chance to get acclimated with each other after spending so much of the summer with different AAU programs. The same can be said for South Shore, only they still have a game left to play Harlem.
With the win, the Vikings are in the finals Thursday against Bayside, a 60-53 winner over two-time Smartball champion Boys & Girls. The Vikings are thrilled to have this opportunity after early exits from the summer tournament the last few years.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Samuel said. “We wanted to get to the championship [here] for a few years. We finally got here.”
South Shore assistant coach Shawn Mark was pleased with the victory, especially his team’s execution in the second overtime. He just hopes it carries over into the winter.
“We got to do that when it counts,” he said. “This is a great start for us.”