You literally had to be there to appreciate Anton Marchand’s joke.
“I was trying to get Ronald to come, but he couldn’t make it,” the Rose Classic president and emcee said.
The Ronald in question was Ronald McDonald. And Marchand figured with all the McDonald’s All-Americans on the court in the Rose main event Saturday evening, why not ask the big man himself to come down to Brooklyn?
On one team, coach Lauren Best’s Golden Girls, was St.Michael Academy’s Jennifer O’Neill and North Babylon’s Bria Hartley. The other squad, Swagga is Back coached by Dinero Young, was a pair of out-of-towners: H.D. Woodson (D.C.) guard Ronika Ransford and Germantown Academy (Pa.) sharpshooter Maggie Lucas.
For those scoring at home, that’s Kentucky, UConn, Georgia and Penn State – in that order – being represented and about as much as star power you’re going to find in the girls game in one place. It was so big that another McDonald’s All-American – Bishop Loughlin’s Villanova-bound Jayvaughn Pinkston – was there to take it all in.
The game was everything one could hope it would be. But it was clear that Swagga ran out of gas in the end. Young’s squad was playing its third game of the day and the players just didn’t have their legs down the stretch.
Jelleah Sidney, on the other hand, did – but doesn’t she always. The St. Mike’s alum and future Syracuse forward had a massive block of Murry Bergtraum’s CeCe Dixon, followed by an acrobatic putback on the other end to give the Golden Girls a lead late in the fourth quarter. That was the momentum swing Best’s ladies needed to get it done and they won, 71-60.
Hartley finished with 19 and Sidney had 13 of her 18 points in the second half, making the same winning plays that led St. Mike’s to the 2009 New York State Federation Class AA championship. O’Neill had 13 points and Bishop Ford’s Shayra Brown had seven of her 10 points in a big fourth quarter.
For Young, Ransford had 18 points and Archbishop Molloy’s Kyra Aloizos had 16 points, clearly showing the ability to play with elite players. Murry Bergtraum’s Doris Ortega had eight points and the Golden Girls held Lucas to just six points and one 3-pointer. More on her later.
Marchand mentioned on the mic that it’s difficult to schedule and make good matchups for the 40 teams in the tournament. Well, it’s clear he and commissioner Cleon (Silk) Hyde are doing a pretty good job. Every single girl competing in the main event was committed to a Division I program.
— The only thing more impressive Saturday than Mrs. Lucas’ chocolate chip cookies – and that’s secondhand information from my colleague Joe Staszewski – was Maggie Lucas’ 3-point shooting. She hit eight against the Exodus Falcons in the morning and canned 10 against the New England Crusaders later on to break the Rose Classic single-game record, previously set in 2006 by Basketball Results’ Christina Gugliero (nine).
That was the best shooting performance I’ve ever seen in person. Penn State has some recruiting class coming in with her and Christ the King’s Ariel Edwards.
— The future of the St. Mike’s players is still up in the air. But coach Apache Paschall said an announcement could be forthcoming this week. Unfortunately, that’s all he would say.
— Aquinas senior Sade Jackson was incredible for the New Heights Seniors. She scored 26 points against the New England Crusaders on circus layups, 3-pointers and pullup jumpers.
“She’s a killer,” Marchand said. “I don’t know what these college coaches are thinking.”
Some are finally catching on. Jackson, who didn’t have much of anything just a few weeks ago, now has interest from Manhattan and Central Connecticut State. It’s well-deserved.
“She’s too good not to be signed anywhere yet,” New Heights coach Rock Rosa said.
— In other New Heights recruiting news, Bronx Science forward Taylor Murtaugh is headed to Trinity, an excellent academic school in Hartford, Conn. She’ll play basketball and soccer there. Murtaugh led Science to the PSAL city girls soccer title this year. Also, Murry Bergtraum’s Laray Drayton, who missed just about the entire season with a leg injury, will play at Bridgeport next year.
— I also learned this week that Wings Academy guard Latasia Ward signed with ASA, the Division I junior college in Brooklyn. Ward led Wings to its first PSAL Class A title game this season, averaging 26.7 points per game. ASA coach Adia Revell, coming off earning NJCAA Region XV Coach of the Year honors, is very excited to have her.