It wasn’t quite her life flashing before her eyes, but Chelsea Custodio had a similar sensation after her John F. Kennedy team’s game Tuesday against rival Murry Bergtraum.
“Everything replayed in my mind, from Madison Square Garden last year to the game they beat us in our home and this game now,” the Knights junior said after a 58-46 loss in Lower Manhattan. “We had it. It was real close. I can’t believe it that we were that close and up and we just let them take over.”
Kennedy (14-8, 9-2 Bronx AA) had a five-point lead with 5:15 left in the game. The Knights looked to be on the very cusp of their first victory over the Lady Blazers (15-3, 11-0 Manhattan AA) in coach O’Neil Glenn’s 12-year tenure. But two 3-pointers by Bergrtraum sharpshooter Cori Coleman later and the 12-time defending PSAL city champion had its momentum back.
“Anything can change in five minutes,” Custodio said. “We just sorta lost focus.”
Glenn said Coleman’s 3-pointers summed up the loss. Bergtraum went back to her two straight times. The Lady Blazers went to what worked and the Knights didn’t return to what got them the lead in the first place after Bergtraum went to a man-to-man defense.
“He couldn’t defend what I was doing, but they never continued going to it,” Glenn said of his players. “That’s the problem.”
Kennedy was down 27-20 at halftime, but used a 10-2 run, capped by two straight Custodio baskets to take a 30-29 lead with 3:13 left. There were five lead changes to end the third quarter and Bergtraum went into the fourth ahead 36-35 on a 3-point play by Monae Abrams.
But Custodio started the fourth with a mid-range jumper and she and senior point guard Shaquaya Daniels (10 points) had putbacks to give the Knights a 41-36 lead. Coleman responded with two 3-pointers within 21 seconds of each other to retake the lead for the Lady Blazers.
“This really hurts the worst,” said Custodio, who finished with 11 points. “It hurt a lot because we were up five.”
But getting to that point, the Knights say, has given them some confidence. Glenn was sitting on the bench looking distraught afterward, his head down and his arms on his knees. To him, though, all was not lost.
“I honestly think we can win this whole thing,” Glenn said. “We’re good enough. We have players. We just gotta focus.”