NY Vs NY The Finale: Year 2 of Nike Nike's NYC's Tournament Finishes Strong
Thomas Jefferson HS Guard Jaquan Carlos 21' going up for the tough layup during the NY vs NY Championship on August 4th. Photo Credit: Ben Berry
Nike’s NY vs NY tournament has been the highlight of the 2018 summer hoops season. For the past six weeks we got to see some of the elite high school basketball players from the NYC Tri-State area battle it out for best team in the city. Throughout the past six weeks Nike and Game seven marketing have put in a lot of work to make sure each week was spectacular and on August 4th, the tournament ended with a bang with their championship day at the legendary Rucker Park. It was only right that the tournament ended on one of NYC’s most hallowed grounds.
The day started with some showcase games which featured some of the top Boys and girls players in the city from grades 8-12. In those games we got to see some talented athletes for the first time.
The girls game featured some of the top easing seniors in the Tri-state area. Team Flight edged Team Force 48-46 behind 13 points and four rebounds from Nina Rickards. Rickards hit the buzzer beating three pointer to win the game for Team Flight.
in the NY vs NY futures game we got introduced to some of the best rising 9th graders that the city has to offer. Fans also got another look at the No.1 freshman in the nation Emoni Bates out of Michigan. Bates who scored 26 points and was named MVP bounced back from a tough debut two days prior at the NY vs NY semi-finals when he suited up for Team Watson. Other standouts from the game were Dariq Whitehead (Montverde Academy-FL '22) Noel Echevarria (Eagle Academy Bronx) who scored 20 points and five boards in the 81-80 win over Team Force, and CJ Riley (Cardinal Hayes '22).
The future's game was the perfect game to segue into the main event. The championship game between Team Dyckman and Team Gersh Park. Two teams representing parks that are an hour away from each other. A lot was at stake in the fourth overall meeting between both Gersh and Dyckman. Gersh was looking to be the first team in the tournament’s history to finish undefeated while Dyckman got another chance to not only to win the title but beat their rivals. The game
Up 15-11 in the first quarter, Gersh would outscore Dyckman 16-8 to take a 31-19 lead into halftime. In the third quarter Dyckman fought back to cut Gersh's lead to single digits in the third quarter, but Gersh would respond with a massive run of their own to win the game 61-48. Team Dyckman was able to put up a valiant effort but Team Gersh Park showed how strong they were down the stretch, It was the fitting end to the summer for Team Gersh as they finished their season undefeated and repeated as champions. Jaquan Carlos was MVP of the championship game as well as named Nike's player of the year.
Overall, Nike's NY vs NY championship day was the perfect ending to the 2nd year of Nike's Intra-park tournament. Rucker Park was beyond capacity and gave many fans in the park flashbacks to the early days of the Entertainers Basketball Classic. It will be interesting to see what Nike has in store for year three of NY vs NY. What we do know for now is year two is the year Nike raised the bar.
