By Christine Sampson
“I sat out a couple of my starters because they were late to the game,” Carradine said. “(Playoff seeding) was my big concern, but we were willing to sacrifice that to show them what it means to be late.”No. 3 Beach Channel took advantage of that, keeping close tabs on second-seeded Cardozo in the first half, but once Cardozo starters Shakeena Halsey and Jackie Smith completed the usual lineup in the second half, the Judges (18-6) rolled to a 57-35 win. Cardozo led 18-15 at halftime, after a Marissa Flagg layup with two seconds left. It could have been a lot worse for Cardozo, which had already sent Beach Channel to the foul line 12 times. The Dolphins (7-8) missed their first 10 free throws. “It's our Achilles heel,” Beach Channel coach Victor Nazario said. “If we shot 50-percent, then it's a tie game at the half.”Beach Channel also suffered from turnovers created by a suffocating Cardozo press, something Carradine stressed to his team during a third quarter timeout. The next six minutes consisted of a 17-0 run, during which Flagg scored six of her 18 points and fed Lekesha Harris (15 points) and Adenike Oyesile (11 points) for two of her 6 assists.Beach Channel sophomore Tiffany Wilson (8 points) landed a pair of 3-pointers to make the score 40-25 at the end of the third, but it was the closest the Dolphins would come the rest of the way. Freshman Jasmine Strong totaled 8 points and 14 rebounds for the Dolphins.”It's tough to be in the game like that and have such a lopsided score at the end,” said Nazario, whose team will play in the 'A' city playoffs for the first time since moving up from the 'B' division this season.But Carradine sees a bright future for the first-time 'A' team. “They have a pretty balanced team,” he said. “They competed. They didn't back down from us.”Francis Lewis 73, Bayside 33. Vionca Murray scored 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting for top-seeded Lewis (24-1) in a Queens borough semifinal game Saturday at John Bowne. No. 4 Bayside (5-9), which was added to the borough playoff when August Martin voluntarily withdrew from the borough playoffs, was led by T.K. Bent's 14 points.Francis Lewis 50, Lower Merion (Phila., P.A.) 40. Murray scored 19 and Dawn Coleman added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals for Lewis in the inaugural New York vs. Pennsylvania tournament at St. Dominic's in Oyster Bay Sunday.Reach contributing writer Christine Sampson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
