Ethan Feldman and the rest of red-hot Packer Collegiate don’t plan on cooling down anytime soon.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore and the streaking Pelicans downed Friends Seminary with relative ease, 55-36, in the ACIS boys basketball semifinals at home in Brooklyn on Saturday. Feldman was instrumental in aiding Packer to its 18th consecutive victory by notching 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
“I like to shoot mid-range jump shots,” Feldman said. “I practice them a lot and I always look to take what the defense gives me. We lost to these guys the last time we played them, but we weren’t that good in the beginning of our season and have improved a lot.”
Feldman hit five jumpers in the game, leading Packer to its first ACIS final since 2004. Feldman ended the first half with 13 points, which was half of his team’s total and equal to the total points combined of Friends. The Pelicans were also aided by Jake Shapiro, who notched 12 points all from downtown.
The Pelicans weren’t taking the Owls lightly, as Friends was the last team to defeat them back in December before their streak began. The two teams split the season series, but Packer knew how important this game was and attributed a quick start to their success. The Pelicans went on a 7-0 run out of the gate, and never looked back.
“Out of all the teams in the league I think Friends scares us the most,” Packer coach George Boutis said. “We lost to them last time and getting off to a 7-0 start was huge. Ethan always has a big game for us. The nice thing is he seems to do it with the flow of our offense.”
The Owls, which have endured a frustrating season, were paced by Matt Matland who put up a team-high 14 points and four rebounds in the loss. Joe Pucci put up 12 points while Emery Andrew contributed 10. Friends will miss out on the ACIS finals for the first time in 10 years.
“I’m disappointed because we have beaten them this season,” Friends head coach David Lieber said. “Today when we needed a big play we just couldn’t get it. … We’ve had a disappointing year.”
Packer now goes on to play Staten Island Academy in the ACIS final Monday at 5:30 at Packer Collegiate, a team Packer has beaten twice this season.
“We match up pretty good with them, but they’re playing really well now so that should be a very competitive game,” Boutis said. “We’re on this streak and I don’t know when it’s going to end, but believe me I never thought we’d ever be close to this.”