By Anthony Bosco
Nayshee Collins shook off the nerves, ignored the raucous crowd and calmly sank the second of two free throw attempts with 11.8 seconds remaining in regulation, breaking a 52-52 tie and handing the Bronx Leadership Academy Lady Wolves a one-point win over the John Adams Spartans in the PSAL ‘B’ Division city championship last Thursday at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights.
Collins’ clutch shot from the charity stripe closed the book on what had been a frantic and frenzied affair between two evenly matched teams. Adams, making its third straight appearance in the ‘B’ title game, led most of the way, but squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter when the Lady Wolves made their run.
“The pressure wore us down,” said Adams head coach Harold Krieger. “We made some bad decisions with the ball and they took total advantage of it.”
But it was second-seeded Adams which seemed to have the upper hand most of the way. After a slow start had the Spartans trailing 8-4 with 2:47 remaining in the first quarter, the team’s two key contributors during the game, Dinorah Diaz and Francesca Romano, gave the team the lead with just less than two minutes to go.
No. 5 BLA, however, took the lead at the end of the quarter when game MVP Vanessa Rivera, who finished with 18 points, six steals and four assists, nailed a desperation three-pointer as time expired — the Lady Wolves’ last bright spot until the fourth quarter.
Adams (23-5) opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 24-17 lead with 2:50 to go before the half. During the stretch Diaz, who wound up with 25 points and 25 rebounds, was the standout, capitalizing on her position under the basket for some easy points, while Romano, the team’s standout senior all season, who had 15 points, distributed the ball on one end and hassled the BLA offense mercilessly on the other.
Adams, 37-28, with 1:44 remaining in the quarter after BLA had pulled even with the first basket of the second half. Diaz and Romano continued to dominate the offense for Adams and it was Diaz’s basket just more than a minute into the fourth that gave the Spartans a 10-point lead, 42-32.
That’s when BLA came storming back.
Rivera, Dyshea and Donita Session keyed the comeback as the Spartans’ offense went cold. A three-pointer by Josette Plata with 1:07 left finally tied the game. And when Plata missed her first free throw in the final seconds, overtime seemed like a real possibility, until she drained the second.
“I was nervous when she missed the first free throw, but I knew she was going to make the second one,” Rivera said. “That’s all we practice in practice. She just had to have confidence. Everyone had to have confidence in her and she made it.”
With 11.8 showing on the clock, Romano quickly dribbled up court for Adams and fired a shot from the right blocks that missed the mark. Diaz’s offensive rebound and putback attempt also failed to connect and a final desperation shot by Romano at the final buzzer also didn’t connect.
“Hey, if she had one more to make we win the game,” Krieger said of Romano. “She played her heart out, I feel bad for her. You know, you’re up in the fourth quarter and you let the game get away. We won it two years ago, last year lost in overtime and this year we lose by one. You just got to feel for the kids. Terrible, terrible. These girls played very hard. I feel for them. I feel terrible for them.”
The Spartans could not hide the tears from their faces as BLA celebrated at center court after the game. BLA, however, was elation personified.
“This is the biggest win we ever had,” Escobar said. “These whole playoffs we’ve been taking it game by game, one at a time and with a lot of heart.”
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-030, Ext. 130.
