By Domenico Montanaro
The uncharacteristic meltdown happened in the fourth quarter with Cardozo up 17 points and 7:50 to go in the game. But the team that had dominated the entire game suddenly fell apart. A 2-2-1 trapping zone half-court press that the Judges had made minced meat out of earlier on suddenly looked like Florida's full-court pressure or Nolan Richardson's 40 Minutes of Hell.
The loss was the first time in five years that Cardozo had lost two division games, let alone to the same team. It was Magnet that handed the Judges their first division loss in three years only weeks earlier.
“It's amazing,” said Cardozo coach Ron Naclerio. “You work so hard to get a 17-point lead, and it should have been more, and that's what happens. It seemed like whatever could go wrong was going to. I know high school basketball and I know it's never in hand. I knew Campus Magnet wasn't going to give up.”
Turnover after turnover, poor shot selection and missed free throws were rampant during Cardozo's shocking and sudden meltdown. Magnet, a team that shot as if the rim had a lid on it for three quarters, suddenly was burning up the nets, largely due to the play of Elvis Belone. Belone, plagued by foul trouble for much of the game, only had six points through three quarters, but in the fourth, he came out shooting.
He had 11 in a 3 1/2-minute span in the fourth, including a three-pointer that cut the Judges' lead to five. Thirty seconds later, Belone sank two crucial free throws, cutting it to three.
“This is major confidence,” said Belone, who finished with 20. “We are ready for the playoffs.”
From the 7:50 to 2:38 of the fourth, when Magnet went on a 23-5 run and took its first lead since 12-11, Naclerio never called a timeout even though he had two remaining. He said he was saving them in case Daryl Hill, who picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, had to be relegated to the bench.
“I just felt confident that we would be able to just break through,” Naclerio said. “I realized if I use one [timeout] now and Daryl fouls out, what do I do? To Campus Magnet's credit, they didn't quit. And our problem is that we're not there yet. We might never get there.”
Hill scored a team-high 19 points in the loss after coming off three straight 40 plus performances.
“We did the job on him,” Magnet coach Chuck Granby said. “He wasn't scoring no 40, 50 points today.”
Hill said he thought the loss is good because “all that playing around in practice is going to stop now.”
Despite all of that, the Judges still had a chance to win. Dana Townsend sank the first of two free throws with 1:33 to go to tie the game. The teams then exchanged a series of missed layups in the final minute and the game headed into overtime deadlocked at 61.
Belone wasted no time in the extra session as he sank a three-pointer only 24 seconds in. But just when the Judges seemed done, Dmitri Dmitropolous put a high-arcing push shot into the air that floated through the net, tying the game.
Dmitropolous, who shot 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half and hit none in the second half, had suddenly rediscovered the shooting touch, but not for long. Dmitropolous, who finished with 17 points, missed three more treys in OT, including one with less than three seconds left that he appeared to be fouled on.
The referees held their whistles, however. Townsend followed up the shot, but it was no consolation for Cardozo, as the Judges walked away shocked, knowing they had let the game and their division title hopes slip through their fingers.
Magnet's hopes, however, are very much alive. With a Cardozo win over Van Buren, the Bulldogs' Queens II Division title will be clinched.
“Today we decided to play,” Granby said. “Some other games I'm not sure which team is going to show up. Our minister was up there praying for us. Maybe that helped.”
Magnet's Devon Rey, who led all scorers with 26 points, called his team “lucky to win.”
Whatever it was, miracle or luck, it worked.
Hillcrest 66, Grover Cleveland 51. Leading 26-24 at the half, Hillcrest went on a 26-6 run in the third quarter to defeat the Indians. Mike Thompson scored 18 points and Jon Caban added 15 points, including 12 in the decisive third quarter for the Hawks (9-4, 6-1 Queens I-A).
Bryant 71, Newtown 69. Joneil Major's jumper with four seconds left in the fourth quarter catapulted the visiting Owls to the Queens A-I victory. Deshawn Warren led Bryant (16-2, 7-1) with 25 points and Diego Aguiar netted 14 points and Dwayne Walker added 13. Jamel Moye led Newtown (6-8, 5-3) with 32 points.
Edison 45, Springfield Gardens 39. Reyaad Mohammed had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Charles Jones added 14 points for Edison (6-11) in Inventors head coach Floyd Bank's 550th career victory.
Van Buren 49, Campus Magnet 46. Josh Puello again led the way for the VeeBees (17-3, 8-2 Queens A-II) with 18 points.
Francis Lewis 68, Bayside 45. Damien Herard scored 25 points and Jermaine Johnson added 21 to lead the Patriots (10-6, 6-4 Queens A-II).
Aviation 72, John Adams 70. Kareem Bertrand scored 21 points and Glen Byrd netted 14 for the Flyers (12-2, 6-0 Queens B-II), who take over sole possession of first place with the win.
Jamaica 63, Forest Hills 53. Darryl Eilam had 19 points for the Beavers (9-5, 6-3 Queens A-I).
Flushing 87, Long Island City 47. Kaleek Gibbs had 21 points and 10 boards for Flushing (11-5, 4-2 Queens B-II).
August Martin 52, Franklin K. Lane 41. Donnell Cumings had 21 points for Martin (6-7, 3-6 Queens A-II).
Newcomers 73, RFK 69. Michael Michel scored 17 points for Newcomers (3-12, 2-4 Queens B-I), while Jason Chung netted a game-high 30 points for RFK.
John Bowne 52, American Studies 34. Gene Selimi had 14 points for the Wildcats (5-2 Queens B-II).
Renaissance 62, Richmond Hill 61. Jalan Paige poured in 16 points for Renaissance (1-6, 1-5 Queens B-II).
Townsend Harris 70, Queens Vocational 49. Philip Marmon-Halm led all scorers with 36 points for Townsend Harris (13-4, 5-2 Queens B-II).
– Dylan Butler contributed to this story
