By Dylan Butler
“We didn't take one bad shot the entire game,” said Van Buren head coach Perry Dortch. “We worked their 1-1-3 zone and made them work defensively. Once again Josh and John were good. They had trouble dealing with our matchups.”
With the score tied at 39, Puello missed a runner in the lane, but Ifill was there to grab the rebound. His putback missed, but he was fouled to set up the game-winning free throws.
Ifill ended with eight points and six rebounds. Puello had eight points and four assists and Darby scored 12 points to lead the VeeBees (15-3), which led 18-11 at the half.
Van Buren opened the tournament with a 62-42 win over Syosset last
Wednesday. Darby and Puello again led the way. Darby scored 25 points and Puello had 17 points and 13 assists.
“We played smart, sometimes the smart outlasts the strong,” Dortch said. “It was a good win and it was nice to win the tournament. It's good to have a PSAL team win a tournament like that.”
Francis Lewis 71, Floral Park 60. Marlon Marshall led the way for the Patriots with 23 points. Jermaine Johnson also netted 19 and Damien Herard added 13 for Lewis (8-6).
Science Hill (Tenn.) 89, Campus Magnet 79. Devon Ray had 40 points for the Bulldogs in a losing effort at the Arby's Classic in Bristol, Tenn. Andrew Gordon added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Mark Arrington netted 11 for Magnet.
Sabonis (Lithuania) 51, Campus Magnet 48. Elvis Belone scored 16 points for Magnet. Arrington had 12 points and Ray had 11 to pace the Bulldogs at the Arby's Classic in Bristol, Tenn.
Long Island City 69, John Adams 65. LIC was led by Charles McCoy, who had 30 points and 15 rebounds. Zijad Medunjanin netted 14 points and Bobby Moore and Chuen Lam had 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs (6-9).
Townsend Harris 48, Bronx Leadership Academy 44. Issac Acosta had 17 points and Philip Marmon-Halm added 14 for the Hawks at the Robert Wagner/LaGuardia Community College Holiday Tournament last Thursday.
Wagner 47, Collaborative 35. Keenum Holder had 12 points for Wagner (7-5) and Terrence Greene had 14 points for Collaborative.
LaSalle 63, Newtown 46. Eric Sterling had 14 points and Khalid Rumpf added 12 for LaSalle last Wednesday night at the Monsignor King Tournament at St. Thomas Aquinas in Brooklyn. Johnny Carter scored 18 for in a losing effort for Newtown (6-7), which also fell to St. Francis Prep in the seventh-place game Sunday.
