By Adam Ronis
It was more than just another game between arch rivals Cardozo and Francis Lewis on Saturday afternoon. Not only was first place and the division basketball crown in the PSAL girls I-A league on the line, but perhaps also an easier road to the championship for the winner.
Cardozo (18-6, 11-1) will get the easier path after defeating Francis Lewis (18-4, 9-2), 51-45, at Cardozo High School. Cardozo won its second straight division title and fifth in six years. The Judges will play a home game in the first round.
Meanwhile, it was a crushing loss for Francis Lewis, which faces the daunting task of playing an outbracket game at home against the third-place team from Brooklyn 8A on Thursday. Either FDR or Midwood will face Francis Lewis. If Francis Lewis should emerge victorious in that game it will have to face defending PSAL champion Murray Bergtraum on the road in the first round on Feb. 14.
“This is a big win,” Cardozo's Shavonne Roundtree said. “It is the biggest win all year for us. I felt I had to step up my game to another level.”
And she did. Roundtree kept the Judges in the game in the first half, scoring 12 points, 10 in the second quarter. For the game the junior point guard scored 20 points.
“She's a total player,” Cardozo head coach Larry Carradine said. “She does anything she can to win. She's our leader. She's the heart of our team.”
The game was tied at 41 with 3:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. Cardozo went on a 6-0 run, aided by four points from senior guard Catherine Isaza (12 points).
Following the run, Shanekqua Campbell fouled out with 2:12 left for the Patriots. Campbell sat late in the third quarter after picking up her fourth foul. The senior point guard returned with 3:05 left in the fourth, but she quickly fouled out.
“We are a different ball club when she's not in there,” Francis Lewis head coach Bill Stolfi said. “Her absence hurt us especially in the last three minutes because we tied the game up. She could have taken over the game if she was in there.”
Campbell was the reason Francis Lewis led, 26-23, at the half. In the first half she scored 11 points and dished out five assists. With Campbell out for most of the third quarter, Cardozo took a 39-34 lead into the fourth quarter. January Johnson was instrumental for Cardozo in the quarter, scoring all of her 10 points, connecting on all six of her free throws.
“She (Johnson) was getting to the free throw line,” Stolfi said. “They were good from the free throw line. That was the difference. They wouldn't let us climb back.”
“We have gotten better as the year went on,” Carradine said. “We lost our first league game and I told the girls we control our own destiny and we won the next 11. Two of the top teams in the city were here today. For one to have a bye is unfair. That's what made this such a vital game.”
Even Carradine, whose team benefited from the PSAL arrangement, was displeased with the losing team having to play an outbracket game. “There's no planning, no consideration by the PSAL whatsoever,” he said. “To have two teams as good as these two and one of them has to play the defending champion in the first round is just terrible.”
Stolfi echoed his sentiments. “It is totally ludicrous,” he said. “There was no thought. It's going to lessen the playoffs. One of the top two teams in the city will be knocked out in the first round.”
After looking at what is ahead for his team, Stolfi said, “We got to play the big teams anyway in the playoffs. We have to do it one way or another. It is just a matter of taking care of business.”
This was the fourth time the two teams squared off this season, with each team winning two games. Francis Lewis won the first meeting at home, 69-49. Then the teams met in the final of the Wingate Christmas/Kwanzaa Girls Basketball Tournament where Francis Lewis won again, 57-49, in double overtime. Cardozo came back with a 42-40 win at home on Jan. 19.
Townsend Harris 35, Jamaica 34. Even without its top player, Kristy Von Ohlen, who was out after rupturing a tendon in her left foot on Jan. 11 and followed that with a sprained left wrist in a snow-boarding accident Jan. 22, the Hawks still pulled off the upset. Leading the way was Kristina Casper, who scored 11 points. Jessica Sharoff added 10 for Townsend Harris (13-9, 7-5 Queens II-A). Jamaica, which captured second place in the league before the game, is 12-8, 7-4.
Hillcrest 46, Springfield Gardens 7. Inez Quetant had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Chidinma Ogueri added 12 points, nine blocks and six steals for the Hawks (9-10, 3-8 Queens II-A). The Golden Eagles finished winless (0-15, 0-11).
Edison 51, American Studies 22. Angie Leung had 24 points and Eboni Rogers added 12 for the Inventors (3-15, 3-5 Queens I-B). American Studies falls to 0-8.
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