By Dylan Butler
The Cardozo boys’ basketball team had five other losses, but none stung Cameron Tyler as much as the Dec. 18 defeat at neighborhood rival Bayside.
For a month and a half, the loss ate away at the junior transfer from Catholic powerhouse Rice. Making matters worse was Bayside continued its winning ways and headed into last Thursday’s rematch at Cardozo undefeated and with a chance to clinch the Queens II-A title.
Redemption for Tyler and the Judges finally came as Cardozo defeated Bayside, 78-73, in front of a standing-room-only home crowd. Tyler scored a career-high 41 points, including 14 of his team’s first 16 points and 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch, to clinch the victory.
“The loss at their gym hurt us,” Tyler said. “I’ve been waiting for this day. That was a game we expected to win.”
The victory moved the Judges into a first-place tie with the Commodores in Queens II-A and ended Bayside’s 20-game winning streak.
“He goes to the hole as well as anyone I’ve ever coached,” said Cardozo coach Ron Naclerio. “He’s a stubborn kid which makes him talented but I hope that doesn’t prevent him from reaching his ultimate potential.”
The game, which was a heated affair throughout, did have a controversial ending. Trailing 76-73 with four seconds left, Bayside senior guard Lance Hazel (21 points) was set to take his second foul shot when Commodores head coach Joe Capuana called timeout.
Capuana said the officials told him he had one timeout left, but the official book had Bayside (20-1, 12-1) without any left. The Commodores were hit with a technical foul, one of four issued to the two teams during the game.
Tyler, who was 18-of-25 from the free throw line, buried the technical foul shots to clinch the game.
“It was the wrong call,” Capuana said. “In a game like this, it makes you wonder why the game is determined by a 16-year-old kid at the scorer’s table.”
Bayside was also hit with a bizarre technical foul at the start of the third quarter. Trailing 31-29, the Commodores were supposed to have possession at the beginning of the third quarter.
Instead, because Hazel dunked on the halftime layup line, it was Cardozo (17-6, 12-1) who had possession after Tyler converted the technical foul shots.
“It was a legit call,” Capuana said. “That was stupid on our part. The refs made the right call there.”
Added Hazel: “It’s routine. We couldn’t see the refs and the coaches told me to do it. It’s partly my fault, I should have known.”
The Judges looked like they’d blow the game wide open with a 24-9 run to take a commanding 55-38 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.
But Cardozo was sloppy and Bayside capitalized. On a steal and layup by senior C.J. Okogeri (26 points), the Commodores sliced their deficit to 66-60 with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter.
“I was proud how we came back,” Capuana said. “We want to be a rival with them. They’re the best team in Queens and we want to be with them.”
The win likely gives Cardozo the inside track to the top seed in the Queens Borough Championships, to be held Friday through Monday. Bayside, though, should also be seeded highly and could possibly face the Judges again.
“That hurts, for the game to come down to something like that,” Hazel said of the technical foul in the final seconds. “But we have to keep our heads up. We’ll see them again.”
Cardozo 53, Gompers 37. Tyler had 28 points in the John F. Kennedy Classic. Stedford McLeod led Gompers (16-7) with 10 points.
Newtown 53, Central Bucks East 43. Steve Duran and Miguel Maria netted 12 points apiece while Bobby Pandy added 10 points to lead Newtown (19-5) in the New York-Philadelphia Challenge at Villanova University.
August Martin 57, Beach Channel 55. Donell Cummings had 22 points and Jenar Harrison added 12 points and 20 rebounds to lead August Martin (5-6 Queens III-A).
John Adams 78, Richmond Hill 37. Taylor Murphy had 26 points and 20 rebounds for Adams (15-8) in the non-league game. Richmond Hill is 18-5.
Cardozo 64, Park West 63. Tyler won the game for Cardozo with a pair of free throws with 19.8 seconds left in the game. He finished with 30 points while Park West (16-6) was led by Brian McFadden, who netted 24 points.
Bryant 79, Newtown 66. Brandon Williams had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Diego Aguiar added 19 points and 15 boards to lead Bryant (20-4, 11-2 Queens I-A). Newtown, which saw seven players benched because of disciplinary reasons, dropped to 18-5, 12-1 in Queens I-A.
Jamaica 80, Edison 42. Yves Keslin had 12 points and four steals to lead Jamaica (14-9, 10-3 Queens II-A).
Grover Cleveland 63, Long Island City 57. Ralph Williams had 25 points and Kris Fryc nailed a pair of foul shots with six seconds left for Cleveland (9-10, 5-3 Queens I-A).
Francis Lewis 71, Hillcrest 49. Chris Lemieszewski had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Lewis (11-11, 5-8 Queens II-A).
Forest Hills 87, Flushing 49. Chris Chin led Forest Hills (12-11, 8-5 Queens I-A) with 14 points.
Springfield Gardens 54, Van Buren 47. Leonard Walker paced Springfield Gardens (9-11, 4-7 Queens III-A) with 19 points.
Campus Magnet 67, Far Rockaway 55. Andrew Gordon led Magnet (10-7, 5-6 Queens III-A) with 19 points and 12 boards.
Newcomers 52, Robert F. Kennedy 37. Fabian Morales had 22 points and nine assists for Newcomers (4-18, 4-8 Queens B).
John Bowne 65, Townsend Harris 59. Richard Hall had 40 points and 12 rebounds for Bowne (6-7 Queens II-A).
Queens Vocational 62, American Studies 50. Queens Voc (8-9, 7-4 Queens B) was led by Vincent Calderon, who had 17 points and 11 assists.
Aviation 79, Franklin K. Lane 61. Pete Caris netted 27 points for Aviation (12-11, 5-8 Queens I-A).
Richmond Hill 75, Renaissance 30. Luis Abreu had 17 points for Richmond Hill (18-4, 11-0 Queens B).
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
