The final game on Sunday PSAL Tip-Off Classic featured the John F. Kennedy Knights and the McKee/Staten Island Tech Seagulls. MSIT gave the Knights all they could handle but veteran coaching and solid team gave Kennedy a 84-67 win.
The game began with the Jeffrey Short (43 points)/Naquan Pierce (25 points) Show getting off early and often. The duo scorched MSIT with an 8-1 run. Atigi Moore (27 points) interrupted the Knights party with a solid drive plus the foul but the Seagull were clearly overwhelmed by the onslaught. A Pierce pull up gave Kennedy a 13-4 lead with 3:46 left in the quarter. To the Seagulls credit, the did manage to weather the initial storm and end the quarter down 18-10 as Brian Gary-Hogan (4 points) began to add offense for MSIT.
Early in the second quarter, the Seagulls cut the Kennedy lead to 18-16 as the five guard Staten Island team attacked relentlessly. Pierce managed to push the lead to 6 but with 5:37 left in the half Moore cut the Kennedy lead to 4 points. In what began as a potential blowout was now tied at 25 with 4:05 left in the half as Moore knocked down a trey from the left corner. Another 3-ball from junior Joshua Good (15 points) followed by a steal and a bucket off the inbound and Kennedy found themselves on backside of a 32-26 MSIT lead. The Knights fought back as Short tied the game at 32 apiece off a three pointer with 1:25 left in the half. Sharif Manley (16 points) would seemingly give the Seagulls a 3 point lead off a trey but Short would bang a three while falling out of bounds as time ran out in the half.
37 all to start the half amount to a new beginning as winning was not a foregone conclusion for the Knights. The Seagulls out hustled the Knight and came up with rebounds against the taller Kennedy squad. Each team would hold 1 point lead and with 4:37 left in the third a basket by Badih McQueen (6 points) put JFK on top 44-43.
MSIT kept the pressure on and compensated for their lack of height with pesky defense and an uptempo game which got the Knights in foul trouble. Because Pierce had 3 fouls, Kennedy head coach Johnny Mathis wisely subbed the PG out on defense for Ronar Cruz (2 points) and utilized Short's height advantage. The Knight were able to increase their lead to 5 points with 51.9 seconds left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights began to pull away from the Seagulls as the Staten Island team seemed winded from the pace. Up 59-47 with 6:42 left, Kennedy spread the floor to burn time off the clock. MSIT began to backpeddle as Pierce began to display why he's one of the top point guards in the city as the Knights lead blew up to 16 with 5:15 left in regulation. Moore stopped the bleeding briefly but Kennedy had momentum and would send the Seagulls back to Staten Island with a donut.
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The game began with the Jeffrey Short (43 points)/Naquan Pierce (25 points) Show getting off early and often. The duo scorched MSIT with an 8-1 run. Atigi Moore (27 points) interrupted the Knights party with a solid drive plus the foul but the Seagull were clearly overwhelmed by the onslaught. A Pierce pull up gave Kennedy a 13-4 lead with 3:46 left in the quarter. To the Seagulls credit, the did manage to weather the initial storm and end the quarter down 18-10 as Brian Gary-Hogan (4 points) began to add offense for MSIT.
Early in the second quarter, the Seagulls cut the Kennedy lead to 18-16 as the five guard Staten Island team attacked relentlessly. Pierce managed to push the lead to 6 but with 5:37 left in the half Moore cut the Kennedy lead to 4 points. In what began as a potential blowout was now tied at 25 with 4:05 left in the half as Moore knocked down a trey from the left corner. Another 3-ball from junior Joshua Good (15 points) followed by a steal and a bucket off the inbound and Kennedy found themselves on backside of a 32-26 MSIT lead. The Knights fought back as Short tied the game at 32 apiece off a three pointer with 1:25 left in the half. Sharif Manley (16 points) would seemingly give the Seagulls a 3 point lead off a trey but Short would bang a three while falling out of bounds as time ran out in the half.
37 all to start the half amount to a new beginning as winning was not a foregone conclusion for the Knights. The Seagulls out hustled the Knight and came up with rebounds against the taller Kennedy squad. Each team would hold 1 point lead and with 4:37 left in the third a basket by Badih McQueen (6 points) put JFK on top 44-43.
MSIT kept the pressure on and compensated for their lack of height with pesky defense and an uptempo game which got the Knights in foul trouble. Because Pierce had 3 fouls, Kennedy head coach Johnny Mathis wisely subbed the PG out on defense for Ronar Cruz (2 points) and utilized Short's height advantage. The Knight were able to increase their lead to 5 points with 51.9 seconds left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights began to pull away from the Seagulls as the Staten Island team seemed winded from the pace. Up 59-47 with 6:42 left, Kennedy spread the floor to burn time off the clock. MSIT began to backpeddle as Pierce began to display why he's one of the top point guards in the city as the Knights lead blew up to 16 with 5:15 left in regulation. Moore stopped the bleeding briefly but Kennedy had momentum and would send the Seagulls back to Staten Island with a donut.
Posted from wireless.rivals.com[/URL]
