By Dylan Butler
It all comes down to one game. Arch-rivals Francis Lewis and Cardozo will square off Saturday at 11 a.m. at Cardozo for the basketball crown in the PSAL girls 1-A division. While the battle between the Patriots and the Judges is always a spirited affair, this time there is so much more on the line than just bragging rights.
“The excitement is there,” said Francis Lewis head coach Bill Stolfi. “Whenever Cardozo and Francis Lewis get together there's a lot of competition, whether it be academics or sports. It's like the Mets and Yankees. It has built up over time.”
As if winning the division title isn't motivation enough, the recently released PSAL bracket offers even more reason to come up on top. The winner of the game faces an undetermined opponent at home in the first round of the playoffs on Feb. 16. The loser has to play an outbracket game against the third-place team from Brooklyn 8A for the right to face defending PSAL champion Murray Bergtraum (17-0) in the round of 16.
“It's unbelievable,” Stolfi said. “It's really not fair. It adds a lot more pressure to the game.”
“This is the first time it was set up like this,” said Cardozo head coach Larry Carradine. “I don't know if you can call it the luck of the draw, but for the loser, it will be a very tough road. To win, it will be a big advantage.”
Francis Lewis (15-3, 7-1) won the first meeting between the two schools, 69-49, Dec. 16 at Lewis. Two weeks later the teams met again, this time in the final of the Wingate Christmas/Kwanza Girls Basketball Tournament and the Patriots won again, 57-49 in double overtime. Cardozo (15-6, 8-1) avenged the loss with a 42-40 win Jan. 19 at Cardozo.
“It should be exciting and go down to the wire.” Carradine said. “I don't see either team blowing the other out.”
Francis Lewis is led by senior guard Shanekqua Campbell (12 points per game) and junior forward Lisstette Morales, who missed the last game between the two teams with an injury. Senior forward Zoe Robbins though, may be out. The 5-foot-8 co-captain has an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day.
But the Patriots are a deeper team than in years past. Junior guard Diane Ramirez, sophomore Nicole Iannotto join freshmen Alanna Adams, Teresa Rozza and Maria Miaoulis as other key Patriots.
“We're a much deeper team, we can go 10 or 11 deep, compared to last year when we were really an eight-girl team,” Stolfi said.
Leading Cardozo is junior point guard Shavonne Roundtree, who averages 18 points per game. Junior guard Catherine Isaza (15 points per game), senior center Kathryn Araujo, who returns from a leg injury, junior forward January Johnson and junior guard Kelly Kaso are also key players for the Judges. Cardozo also has a freshman star of its own in 5-foot-5 Erin Breen.
