Another long girls basketball weekend came to an end Sunday night and there was plenty left to chew on when all was said and done. Enough happened at the John F. Kennedy Challenge in The Bronx on Saturday and Sunday to write a short novel. But, for the benefit of the reader, I’ll consolidate my thoughts into a single blog.
– Murry Bergtraum has CeCe Dixon, Doris Ortega and Shukurah Washington. South Shore has Jasmine Odom. Francis Lewis has Kelly Robinson (when healthy), Sabrina Jeridore and Ayana Duncanson. Just about all of the top teams in the PSAL – and the city, for the most part – have star players that define them. But not John F. Kennedy. For the Knights, it’s someone different every night, and that is what’s making coach O’Neil Glenn’s team dangerous as the season goes on.
Who do you stop? Beats me. On Saturday in a huge win against Mary Louis, Leshauna Phinazee, Jazzarae Campbell and Chelsea Custodio had big games. But others – like Deaisia Acklin, Isis Alonso, Sarah (Bama) Vann and Danissa (Fuzzy) Smith – are more than capable of top-notch performances. The Knights are together, on the same page and Glenn might be doing his best coaching job in the more than a decade he’s been coaching at his alma mater.
– Damion Reid, The Post’s intrepid high-school photographer, owes MSG’s Gene Golda a beer up in Glens Falls in March. Why? Reid thought, like many others, that St. Michael Academy would knock off St. John Vianney (N.J.) on Saturday night. Golda, being the Jersey shore guy he is (no, not that Jersey Shore), figured otherwise. The guy from the Garden State had it right. And – hate to say it – Jersey has us in the city beat this year beat by a mile.
Between Shabazz, Neptune, St. John Vianney, Colts Neck and Trenton Catholic, New Jersey has five teams that should be nationally ranked. Murry Bergtraum beat Neptune last weekend, but St. Mike’s fell to Vianney and Colts Neck on back-to-back nights. It’s hard for me to admit, but the best girls hoops in the Tri-State area right now is in the Dirty Jerz.
– Plenty of the criticisms against Bishop Ford coach Mike Toro are true. Yeah, he’s definitely young – at 22, he’s the youngest varsity girls basketball coach in the city. Sure, he’s brash, perhaps even a little cocky at times. But Toro is going to be a good coach in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens for as long as he wants to be.
Why? Not because if his affiliation with Exodus. Toro legitimately wants to be great – and not just as someone who just gets by with great players. He’s working hard to learn the game inside and out. He’s downright obsessed with being the best coach he can be. You don’t have to like him, but at least respect him for that.
– I don’t really care who’s playing in the New York State Federation Class AA tournament upstate this year. But wouldn’t it be a great story if 22nd-year head coach Bob Daggett guides St. Peter’s to Glens Falls in the tourney’s final season there? The Eagles have made it there as an ‘A’ team, but never at the highest classification. Daggett has forever played second fiddle with great teams due to the presence of programs like Christ the King and now St. Michael Academy.
It would be cool to see St. Peter’s up there before the Federation picks up and moves to Albany for 2011. Daggett certainly has the team to do it – the Eagles look phenomenal right now led by Colgate-bound Catherine Lewis, Pace-bound Victoria Jones and the most underrated backcourt in New York City (Christine Kline and Jamie O’Hare). However, getting to Glens Falls will be difficult. St. Mike’s, Christ the King and Bishop Ford will all be legitimate contenders – and that’s not even taking into account Long Island. The CHSAA Class AA state tournament is going to be bananas. Keep March 12-14 free on your calendar.
– You know what the most amazing thing about Murry Bergtaum is year after year? Consistency. It’s simply uncanny. The faces have changed, the teams have changed, but Bergtraum is still Bergtraum. It seems like every team goes through its ups and downs – St. Mike’s is in the middle of a slight dip right now. But the Lady Blazers just keep on keepin’ on. That’s a credit to coach Ed Grezinsky, who has guided them to 11 straight PSAL city titles.
Bergtraum is ranked No. 9 in the country by USA Today, has wins over St. John’s College (D.C.), Neptune (N.J.) and University (N.J.) and I’d be shocked if they’re not holding another banner at Madison Square Garden come March. People are forever saying Bergtraum is down, it isn’t the team it used to be. I’m not really buying it.
– Everyone at Kennedy on Sunday should write an email to Trenton Catholic coach Khaliq Lewis-El for his lesson on what NOT to do when your team is facing adversity. Potter’s House (a phenomenal team, by the way) was ahead, 37-27, with 3:19 left in the third quarter when Trenton Catholic’s superstar junior Briyona Canty picked up her fourth foul. Lewis-El went ballistic and was tossed from the game for using some a combination of words that’s not suitable for a family publication. He denied it to Kennedy coach and tournament organizer O’Neil Glenn, but everyone at the scorer’s table confirmed what he had said.
So instead of leaving the gym with dignity, Lewis-El decided to take his ball – or in this case, his team – and go home. He pulled his girls off the court and they left toward the locker room to the shock of the packed crowd. That’s a nice thing to teach your players. Things aren’t going your way? Ah, just quit. I don’t care how bad the referees are. You never pull your team off the court unless you legitimately fear for your girls’ safety.
Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and Trenton Catholic – an excellent team – eventually returned to the court. Lewis-El either realized the err of his ways or wasn’t crazy enough to cross Glenn, a very large former NFL player.
– It might take a doctor from the Mayo Clinic to diagnosis exactly what’s wrong with St. Mike’s right now. But, if you don’t mind, I’ll take my crack at the problem. The Eagles are too good. No, don’t wipe off your screen. And no, that wasn’t a misprint. St. Mike’s is absolutely loaded with talent. Coach Apache Paschall has Division I players coming out of his Under Armour duffel bag. But he and assistants Ron Kelley and Lauren Best haven’t figured out which five work best together on the court.
That’s not a criticism of them at all. It’s no easy thing to do and when can they really do it? In league games against St. Vincent Ferrer and Mother Cabrini? No offense to those teams, but they’re ‘B’ and St. Mike’s is a different kind of ‘B’ – much, much better.
When was the last time the Eagles actually played a team, before this weekend, that was as good or better than them? It’s been awhile. St. Mike’s traveled more last year, it played tougher competition throughout the season. Paschall and company had things figured when March came along.
And they will again. There are a few other issues. There’s a leadership void without Janine Davis and Jelleah Sidney. Darius Faulk, Brianna Sidney and Bra’Shey Ali – none of whom played major minutes last year – are still getting acclimated. But the Eagles will be fine, because they’re just too damn good. So yes, what I’m saying is that they’ll be OK for the same reason that they’re broken right now.
And on that note, I leave you. Hope you enjoyed the Kennedy Challenge – my colleague Joseph Staszewski and I certainly did. Now if I can only get the smell of jerk chicken out of my sweater.