M.S. 216 Captures Borough’s top seed

Without any ranked players, the George J. Ryan Middle School 216 basketball team has achieved what few at the beginning of the year thought they would do - go undefeated and earn the top seed in the upcoming playoffs.
After going 10-0 and winning the District 26 league title in the fall, M.S. 216 of Flushing has just completed another undefeated regular season, winning eight straight over some of the Borough’s toughest competition.
“I’ve been so impressed with the character of my guys; we are the epitome of team basketball, a new top scorer every night,” said Coach Paul Vigoda.
Although M.S. 216’s average margin of victory for the year is 24, of late they have had very competitive games against some of the city’s top players. Chris Gayat of I.S. 192 gave them all they could handle before M.S. 216 pulled out the win in the final minute by two. In their last game, 6-foot-6 Roland Brown of I.S. 59 had an impressive triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 blocks, yet M.S. 216 was able to fight through yet again and win by four.
As for the road ahead, the Champs Middle School playoffs start this week. Ryan Middle School 216 will open up against district rival M.S. 67. Coach Vigoda, who was recently hired by national powerhouse St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset to assist the boys varsity team, expects that his team will continue to play at a high level.
“Guys like Keith Kilpatrick, Kevin Chang, Dwayne Hilliard, and Fillipo Gatton are throwback players who mix smart play with mental toughness,” he said. “Winning the City or the Borough [title] would be a great way to finish up.
M.S. 216 knows that all too well because they were defeated last June in the Borough finals by I.S. 8, which still stands as their last loss.