PSAL Borough Playoffs Notebook
The regular season is far behind us and its officially playoff time in NYC, the city playoffs start soon but first it's time for the borough playoffs a time to see which teams in the PSAL run their boroughs. Tonight was the semifinal round as 16 team teams across the city played for their chance to advance to their borough championship game on Saturday. I was at Terminal 23 yesterday for the Bronx semifinal matchup between Walton Campus and Wings Academy.
The semifinals of the Bronx Borough playoffs was a battle of 2 regular season champions. Wings winners of the Bronx AA with a record of 14-0 and Walton winners of the Bronx A West with a record of 16-1.
The game started out as a low scoring defensive battle, with Walton racing out to a 13-8 lead in the 1st quarter. The Wildcats were crashing the boards and defending Wings very well but Wings Academy was able to battle back to tie the game at 13 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Wings started to pull away bit from Walton as they were able to go on a run to take a 21-17 lead from there Wings would outscore Walton 6-4 to take a 27-21 lead at the half other players on the Wings Academy were still trying to find their rhythm on offense during the 1st half but senior guard Boubacar Kammisoko kept Wings ahead with 17 first half points.
Walton continued to play Wings tough in the 3rd quarter keeping the game close with their defense and rebounding. The Wildcats were able to keep the game as close as six points but Wings capitalized off their mistakes wings went into the 4th Quarter up 40-33
In the 4th and final quarter Wings Academy got back to back corner jumpers to put Wings up 45-37. From there Wings would score eight straight to take a 53-37 lead. Walton would fight back to cut the deficit to 11 but that would be as close as they would get as Wings closed out Walton 59-47.
The key for Wings in this game was their defense and their ability to capitalize off of Walton’s mistakes. Walton played the defending bronx borough champs very tough for most of the game. Boubacar Kamissoko led Wings with 19 points and Jose Perez scored 14.
Walton was led by Andre Rivera a guard who played well on both ends. The 6-3 guard scored 22 points to lead the Wildcats. Despite the tough loss Walton is one of many contenders for the PSAL “A” City title. They will learn a lot from this loss.
Wings Academy will face division rival Eagle Academy in the Bronx Borough Championship on Saturday at Queens College, gametime is at 11am.
Other Borough Semifinal Scores
Bronx: Eagle Academy 83, Kipp NYC College Prep 57- This game was won in the second quarter when Eagle outscored Kipp 27-8. Negus Hazel led Eagle With 20 points, Tyrese Crosdale scored 16 points and Grabbed 10 boards, DeMarley Smith scored 15. |
Queens: John Bowne 79, Springfield Gardens 48- Alejandro Vasquez led Bowne with 29 points. Christian Hinckson had a near Triple double with 17 points 16 rebounds and 8 assists he also blocked 4 shots. Kareem Reid had a triple double with 17 points 11 rebounds and 11 blocks. QHST 85, Cardozo 69- This was a rematch of last year's Queens Borough Championship in which Cardozo won. QHST will get another chance at the borough title Saturday when they face John Bowne, the last time both teams met was in the regular season finale when Bowne won 90-88. |
Manhattan: Frederick Douglass Academy 80, Mott Haven 72- Jayquan Robinson, Lasana Camara and Travis Cox scored 14 points each for Frederick Douglass. Malik Henderson Added 10. WHEELS 90, Wadleigh 79- WHEELS and FDA have some good history in the Manhattan borough championship. In FDA beat Wheels 69-58. WHEELS won their first borough championship in 2014 when they beat FDA 58-50. |
Brooklyn: South Shore 66, Brooklyn Law&Tech 54- Jaykwan Ellison scored 20 points and Larry Moreno had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. South Shore will meet Lincoln for the third time this season in the championship. Lincoln beat Jefferson in their semifinal game 59-54 |
PSAL Borough Championships at Queens College Saturday Feb 18th, 2017
Bronx Championship: Eagle Academy vs Wings Academy 11:00 am |
Manhattan Championship: Frederick Douglass Academy vs Wheels 1:00 pm |
Brooklyn Championship: South Shore HS vs Abraham Lincoln HS 3:00 pm |
Queens Championship: John Bowne vs Queens High School of Teaching 5:00pm |
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