Wardlaw, Wagner advance

Last year Robert Wagner was eliminated from the playoffs when their star point guard Carl Wardlaw cramped up late in a close loss. When No. 14 Wagner returned to post-season play, however, Wardlaw and the Panthers had no such problems, outworking nineteenth seeded Seward Park, 65-52, last Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the PSAL Class B playoffs. Wardlaw notched game-highs of 26 points, nine assists and seven steals.
“I’m a senior,” he said, “and I’m not trying to go home early. We can go far if we put our minds to it.” Jamel Edwards had 17 points and 18 rebounds and Joshua Cushnie added 10 points for Wagner.
The hard-earned victory was typical of Wagner’s inconsistent yet successful season. Despite losing two starters to injuries - center Vic Caputo to a broken hand and guard Atiba Baptiste to a fractured ankle - the Panthers (20-7) won Queens-B for the second year in a row. But they developed a propensity for blowing big leads; in two of their three divisional defeats, they led by 20 points. True to form, they jumped out to an 18-4 lead five minutes in, only to be tied at halftime. “We can go on runs in both directions,” Head Coach Bob Breung lamented.
Part of the problem is the electrifying yet out-of-control nature of his point guard. As the lead dwindled, Wardlaw’s play grew worse. He turned the ball over, and the pressure of perhaps his final game began to build. But as has so often been the case with Wardlaw in his four years at Wagner, he managed to regroup after a pep talk from Breung. “I told him to start taking care of the ball,” Breung said.
Wardlaw obliged, setting the tone after halftime. He found Cushnie for an open 3-pointer to start the third quarter before stripping Randy Singleton, who led Seward Park (13-8) with 20 points, and going coast-to-coast for a lay-up. He fed Guillermo Valdez for a 3-pointer that pushed the Wagner lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter, and his 3-point play in the lane with just over three minutes left sealed the game.
“I never felt this was going to be my last game,” Wardlaw said. “There are many more to come.”
- Zachary Braziller