By Anthony Bosco
In the first round of the Public School Athletic League playoffs, Brooklyn's Grady High School came to Queens to play Van Buren with all intentions of leaving with a victory.
Well, that did not happen. In the late stages of the fourth quarter, a Van Buren player toed the charity stripe for a free throw with the VeeBees well on their way to an upset win in the opening round of the playoffs.
The gym was quiet as the player dribbled the ball before his shot when one lone voice echoed throughout the gym. “Queens is still soft,” the Grady fan bellowed.
Soft or not, Van Buren won the game, but the message was clear. When it comes to the rest of the city, Queens is still a second class citizen on the basketball court.
The results of this year's semifinal matches held this past weekend will hardly strengthen Queens' cause. Not one Queens team will play at this weekend's championship triple-header at Madison Square Garden, though there were borough representatives in all the semifinals.
Cardozo, the defending PSAL 'A' city champions, lost its semifinal encounter with Brooklyn's Lincoln, 75-65, while John Adams, the lone remaining boys 'B' team from Queens, lost to Sarah J. Hale, 74-58. And in the girls 'A' playoffs, perennial finals contender August Martin was eliminated by Sheepshead Bay, 62-56.
Though none of the games were blowouts, Queens was hardly strengthened by these losses. Last year, however, Queens seemed to all but erase the stereotype that the borough's basketball teams could not hack it with the city's best.
Cardozo's run at the city championship went through all comers, beating the Bronx's Columbus in the second round, Newtown in the quarters, Lincoln in the semis and the Bronx's Kennedy in a memorable championship game.
This year, however, coach Ron Naclerio's club never appeared to muster the kind of team effort last year's championship team seemed to depend on.
“The last three four weeks they seemed to come together,” said a disheartened Naclerio the day after his team was eliminated. “But when you get to that level, the other team will capitalize on every mistake you make.
“We had some flashes of brilliance, but in the second half we did not play to the level of Lincoln and got what we got.”
Naclerio seemed so depressed after the loss he could not even muster his trademark exuberance when I asked him about his former prodigy Rafer Alston, now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
“At least he's there,” was all Naclerio could say.
The coach's disappointment is probably shared with some of his colleagues across Queens. At August Martin, coach Joel Ascher has brought team after team to the city championship. His Angels lost the crown last year to Bergtraum, but at least that was in the title game. It's unusual enough for Martin to lose in the playoffs, but to lose before the finals is almost unheard of.
But that's what happened this weekend when Sheepshead Bay, the Brooklyn team, built up an early lead before Martin slowly got back into the game in the fourth, closing to within four points in the final minutes. The run ended there, however, and Queens again was sent packing.
The boys 'B' playoffs offered Queens perhaps the best chance to get to the Garden Sunday. Of the 16 teams, six Queens schools, Franklin K. Lane, Grover Cleveland, Adams, Long Island City, Bowne and Aviation, were all represented in the second round of the playoffs.
One round later, however, only John Adams remained. That team's run came to end this weekend as well, falling to Hale by 16.
Last year's 'B' final featured nothing but Queens teams, as Lane defeated Cleveland, 68-50. Both teams had to scratch and claw their way to the championship, but at least they made it to the Garden. Not so this year.
I have long defended Queens as a haven for basketball. I never believed that the borough was “soft” to quote one angry Grady fan, but rather unbalanced. The best teams dominate the rest of the field and then get challenged in the citywide playoffs.
Usually, Queens can hold its own with the best, unlike in other sports, such as baseball, where a team can go undefeated in the league and lose in its first post-season crossover game.
While certainly not Brooklyn in depth, Queens is not the soft touch many think, proven by Cardozo's win last year in the 'A' title game and just a look at some of the players Queens has turned out – Anthony Mason, Mark Jackson, Kenny Anderson, etc. But whether Queens teams can reassert their footing on top of the city game next year remains to be seen.
So for the first time in several years, the Times/Ledger newspapers will not be sending anyone to Madison Square Garden to cover the championship triple-header. There is simply no one for us to cover.
Instead, we will have to be satisfied with a press credential Tuesday, when the girls' 'B' league championship is decided. In that game there is a 100 percent chance of Queens coming home with a title, as Adams and Forest Hills will do battle for city, as well as borough, supremacy. Queens' Bryant won the title last year, as well.
It may not be much to hang one's hat on, but for high school basketball fans, it's all Queens has left in the PSAL.
