By Mitch Abramson
Granby, a curmudgeon in his 37th year with the school, didn't really care if they left – he was making the 2005-06 schedule and needed to know how demanding to make it. All five players said they would return, and Granby made his schedule. On Saturday in the Queens Borough Championships at Hunter College, Granby did something a little more impressive than planning games. He and Campus Magnet defeated Benjamin Cardozo, the reigning king of Queens, 80-72 in a stunning upset that highlighted the Bulldogs' experience and exposed Cardozo (20-5) as a team of talented but mismatched players.Campus Magnet senior Evan Thomas, who nearly missed the historic win because of his left ankle which he nearly reinjured in the first half against Springfield Gardens during the borough semifinal, came close to transferring to Lincoln and Grady, he said. Patrick Bordeau, a senior guard, admitted he almost left for Holy Cross and junior Keith McAllister and senior Earl Anglin – who both scored 18 points and clobbered the Judges on the boards – came close to transferring to Our Savior Lutheran and a school in Long Island, respectively. Fortunately for Granby, they all stayed put.”This team has five players full of talent,” Bordeau said. “I knew if we all came back we'd have a very good team. I feel like a kid in the candy story right now. I feel good.”It wasn't just a two-horse race for Campus Magnet (22-3). The Bulldogs had four players in double figures: Josiah Peay had 12 points and Bordeau had a game-high 20, including 13 free throws in the fourth quarter when Cardozo made a late run. They all treated Cardozo's vaunted press like it was a mirage, lobbing passes over it for easy baskets.The Judges' contingent of big men, James Southerland and Scotty McRae, are extremely versatile, but they picked the wrong day to play like guards, and they had trouble contending with Anglin and McAllister down low. Cardozo's 6-foot-9 Djibril Coulibaly played intermittently and was a non-factor.The last time Campus Magnet defeated Cardozo was during the 2000-01 season when Daryll Hill, now a junior at St. John's, was a senior at the Bayside school. The Judges beat Campus Magnet in last year's Borough Championships, 76-63 behind Vic Morris' 34 points. Morris and three other starters left, leaving senior Wes Frederique (eight points) as the only starter from last year's team. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 16-3 first quarter lead, running off 14 unanswered points that was punctuated by a dunk by McAllister over Coulibaly, one of three starters who transferred to Cardozo this year.Nothing went right for the Judges in the first quarter. They were assessed a technical for putting the wrong jersey number for Southerland in the scorebook, a blunder that caused Naclerio to race across the court to protest to the PSAL boys' basketball commissioner Mel Goldstein, bringing his team a delay of game penalty. At another point, he nearly ripped the microphone apparatus that the Madison Square Garden Network put on his hip for the show “High School Weekly.””We haven't played well in 2006,” Naclerio said. “Either I'm not doing a good job or the fact that this is a whole new team hurt us. We have kids who haven't been consistent this year. I had nobody who played last year with the exception of Wes. We weren't mentally tough today.”Still, Cardozo almost walked away with a third straight Queens Borough Championship when they outscored Campus Magnet 22-12 in the second quarter behind aggressive defense from Sean Crawford (18 points), who was playing like he had a stunt-double, crashing through picks and diving on the floor and six points from Southerland (19 points) which enabled Cardozo to trail, 40-38 at the half. They made it a one-point game with 1:52 left on a free throw by Chris Holness. But McAllister answered with a layup on a pass from Anglin and then Bordeau outscored the Judges 11-9 in the final 2:41, all from line.”Maybe this game will give us some respect,” McAllister said. “Whenever you read [publications], everyone's always talking about Cardozo. They've always been on top, so it feels good beating them. We all made a commitment to come back this year and do something special.”Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
