Cardozo falls to JFK

When Cardozo faced John F. Kennedy in mid-January, they rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit. But this time, there would be no comeback, as the fifth-seeded Judges fell to No. 4 JFK, 61-46, in the PSAL Class A quarterfinals at St. Francis College Sunday afternoon. Michelle Pacheco led the Knights with 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and Tatiyiana McMorris and Veronica Ruiz each added 18 points.
In her final game, senior point guard Marissa Flagg led Cardozo with 14 points but managed just three assists and shot 3-of-15 from the field, and center Adenike Oyesile had nine points and 10 rebounds. Overall, the Judges were just 15-for-56 from the field in a dreadful shooting display. “We weren’t patient on offense,” Cardozo Coach Larry Carradine said. “We really didn’t take any high-percentage shots.”
But what killed the Judges was foul trouble. Flagg and Oyesile each committed three fouls in the first half, and although they played the entire second half, foul trouble limited them from playing with their usual aggression, specifically Oyesile, the Judges’ lone inside presence. “When she gets in foul trouble, she gets timid,” Flagg admitted. “We didn’t shift over to give her [enough] help.”
When Oyesile was whistled for her third foul halfway through the second quarter, Cardozo trailed by just 20-19, but by halftime, they found themselves down by seven. Cardozo got within five late in the third quarter, but the Knights (24-5) scored 13 of the next 15 points, six coming from Ruiz.
Cardozo (19-6) would slice the lead to nine on a Nicole Garzon lay-up, but their press, which worked so well the last time the two teams met, was repeatedly broken as McMorris and Pacheco scored nine straight points.
“They beat our press real good,” Flagg lamented. “Most of the time, it hurt us more than it helped us.”
- Zachary Braziller