On a three-pointer by Pete Caris, the sixth-seeded Flyers had a five-point lead with 1:04 left in the first…
By Dylan Butler
The Aviation boys’ basketball team appeared well on its way to a trip to Madison Square Garden to play in the PSAL Class B championship game.
On a three-pointer by Pete Caris, the sixth-seeded Flyers had a five-point lead with 1:04 left in the first half. Banneker coach Wendell Saunders noticed his players were nervous and played tentatively.
But the Warriors turned it around, going on a key 8-0 run to close out the half with a 28-24 lead en route to a 61-48 semifinal win.
“When we got into the half with the lead, that calmed them down,” he said.
Banneker, which lost to eventual champ Sarah J. Hale last year in the quarterfinals, advanced to face No. 8 Thurgood Marshall in the PSAL ‘B’ final Sunday at 4 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
Caris led Aviation (23-4) with 16 points, but most of his scoring came from the perimeter as the Warriors worked on stopping Caris’ ability to dribble penetrate.
“We wanted to stop [Caris]. We wanted to make him go left because every time he goes right good things happen,” Saunders said. “We wanted to stop their penetration and make them take jump shots in our man-to-man.”
The Flyers officially led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, but it should have been 15-7 after official scorer Charrise Willis missed a Kareem Bertrand (13 points) layup with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Aviation coach Steve Hagenlocher noticed the mistake, as did several reporters and spectators. The officials conferred at the scorer’s table, but did not add the two points.
With 1:45 left in the game, Caris nailed another three-pointer which should have cut the Warriors’ lead to just three, but with Aviation trailing 53-48, the Flyers were forced to foul and Gary Forbes (20 points) nailed two free throws to extend Banneker’s lead officially to 55-48.
“The two points help, but who knows, maybe things do change,” said Aviation senior Glen Byrd. “But I think if we didn’t give up that spurt [at the end of the first half], everything would have been all right. We gave up that spurt and we never recovered.”
Led by the sophomore Forbes, the Warriors closed out the game on a 20-9 run. Douglas Hammond added 12 points for Marshall.
“We felt we should have been there last year,” said Forbes. “It feels good to be playing in the final now. I’m sure it’s something I’ll never forget.”
Thurgood Marshall 62, John Adams 52. The 12th-seeded Spartans led 28-26 at halftime, but had just one field goal in the third quarter and shot 5-for-15 from the free throw line in the second half to fall to No. 8 Marshall 62-52 in the PSAL Class B boys’ semifinals Sunday at St. John’s University.
The Justices (21-5) opened the second half on a 12-1 run as Donte Taylor scored eight of his game-high 26 points during the spurt.
“We got behind and then time became a factor,” said Adams coach Jim Pittman. “We had to put them on the line because there is no shot clock. Us not making free throws and them making them really hurt us.”
Taylor Murphy had 11 of his 13 points in the first half as Adams (17-11) erased a 10-3 first quarter deficit to take a 28-24 lead on Adrian Smith’s (11 points) steal and layup with 1:55 left in the half.
But Murphy got into foul trouble in the second half and was not as effective.
Donte King also struggled in the second half after scoring 10 points in the first half. He also finished with 13 points.
“Unfortunately our shots didn’t fall today, we were just off today,” said King. “Usually we’re an excellent free throw shooting team. I guess fatigue played a part. It happens like that sometimes.”
Druce Johnson had 13 points and Johnubl Fland added 12 points for Marshall.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
