Cardozo is King

For years, Francis Lewis was the dominant public school girls basketball program, the team that would roll to 40-point laughers and routinely expect to reach Madison Square Garden, the site of the city championship.
Not anymore. Now that stature, for the time being, belongs to Cardozo.
The Judges finally beat the Patriots, 53-22, last week, toppling their nemesis for the first time in six seasons. &#8220It's great,” sophomore guard Nikita Green said. &#8220It's like a dream come true.”
The 31-point victory didn't just elevate Cardozo over Francis Lewis in the Queens AA standings; it has them believing anything is possible. &#8220That,” Cardozo Coach Larry Carradine enthused, &#8220just gave the girls tremendous confidence.”
Cardozo used that euphoric feeling to throttle Canarsie, 77-28, Friday afternoon, as four different Judges scored in double figures. Green led the way with 19 points, Nicole Garzon added 17 and eight rebounds, Adenike Oyesile had 19 points and 17 rebounds, and senior Lekesha Harris finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
&#8220We don't have any selfish players,” Oyesile said. &#8220Everybody wants to see each other do well. Everybody wants to contribute.”
After a slow start - they lost two of their first three games to Molloy and Lincoln - Cardozo has won three straight. Pressing and trapping the Chiefs after every made basket, the Judges scored 25 of the game's first 32 points, and held a 45-18 lead at halftime. But it all goes back to the win over Francis Lewis, Carradine believes.
&#8220It's been like two different teams,” he said. &#8220When you beat a team like Lewis by 30 … we came out, like, ‘wow.' You could see them working hard today.”
That they are enjoying such success so early with last year's point guard, Marissa Flagg, having moved on to college, is perhaps a bit of a surprise. The Judges don't have a clear-cut floor general. Carradine used Harris, a natural off guard, at the position against Canarsie after rotating Garzon and Green there earlier. The move has freed up the two to create on their own, to showcase their dynamic ability in the open court.
Just a sophomore, the speedy Green had her best game of the year, more than doubling her season average of 8.5 points per game. &#8220She's gonna be phenomenal,” Oyesile said of the underclassman.
Presently, it is the Judges (4-2, 3-1 Queens AA) that should be looked at as the class of Queens. &#8220Every year, we came in with the mindset that we can beat any team,” Oyesile said. &#8220It just happened to be this year … the respect is well deserved. People see us as the team to beat - and we are.”