Holdovers Lead Lewis Comeback

Diatiema Hill understands Francis Lewis was weakened by the departure of two-thirds of their intimidating frontcourt in rugged small forward Dawn Coleman and center Jessica Fuller, the school’s all-time leader in blocks. She also knows Cardozo, their toughest Queens opponent a season ago who had their entire starting lineup return, has improved.
It still doesn’t mean, in Hill’s mind anyway, her Patriots are ready to relinquish their throne as Queens A champions.
“Everybody thinks we’re not good this year,” she said. “It’s been in the newspaper a lot, how Cardozo’s going to take the crown. We just have to show them we’re still the best team.”
Friday afternoon, behind Hill, the Patriots’ only four-year starter, and Vionca Murray, Lewis went a long way to proving their superiority, rallying from a seven-point deficit for a 72-66 win at Cardozo.
“I got on V’s (Vionca Murray) case for not rebounding and controlling the paint, and Tima’s (Diatiema Hill) case for not controlling the game from the outside,” said Lewis Coach Michael Eisenberg. “From mid-third quarter on, they did what leaders are supposed to do: they came up big.”
The Patriots, essentially, became the Murray and Hill show after finding themselves in a 47-40 hole late in the third quarter.
Hill began a 10-0 run, which put Lewis ahead for good, with a floater then fed Murray in transition for an uncontested lay-up. Overall, the duo scored 30 of Lewis’s final 32 points, with Murray accounting for 16 of her game-high 34 points (13-of-15 shooting).
“We had to be leaders on the court,” said Hill, who added 21 points, five assists and three steals. “I gave her that look and she gave that look and we took it from there.”
“Me and Tima talked about it, and we knew we had to pick it up,” added Murray (eight rebounds, four blocks), who transferred in from Christ the King prior to last season. “I knew the other team couldn’t stop me or Tima.”
Out-playing Lewis for nearly three quarters, it was a frustrating finish for the Judges. Coach Larry Carradine lashed out at the scoring table, asking that the music during one of his timeouts be turned down then turned off.
His ballclub was able to stem the Lewis rally, but couldn’t get over the hump. Although they trailed by five points or less for much of the final quarter, Cardozo was unable to protect their defensive glass satisfactorily and couldn’t get stops when they needed them.
“I think as a team we lost focus,” said Flagg, who scored 17 points and dished out six assists. “Hopefully, we can learn from this and move forward.”
Eisenberg knew coming into the season his Patriots (7-0, 6-0 Queens A) would face perhaps their toughest challenge in Cardozo since the winter of 2003 — their last loss to a Queens opponent — when they fell to August Martin. But he was pleasantly relieved afterwards.
“Cardozo is good,” he said. “This was our first step. I’m happy the way we responded. This is the closest league game we’ve played in a while. … Can we be as good as last year?” Eisenberg said, echoing a question. “We’re not there yet.”
As currently constituted, however, they’re still good enough.