By Simon Chen
Coming off an abbreviated schedule last week, the Brooklyn “A” East Division had limited action. In the game of the week, the Telecommunications Yellow Jackets and the Sheepshead Bay Sharks were tangled in a divisional match up that needed overtime to determine a winner. It was in overtime that the Jackets’ defense allowed only one point to the Sharks that led them to a victory and continued their perfect 9-0 record. But Midwood would still sit in second place with a 8-1 record despite beating Tilden. Lafayette Patriots forward/guard/center Wayne Surin and New Utrecht Utes forward/center Artel Kelly would both post season high scores. Despite Surin scoring a season high 32 points, it still didn’t lift his Patriots to a victory, as they still sit in the cellar of the division with a 0-9 record. Fort Hamilton Tigers guard Tarik Alassari has only averaged 14.50 points per game heading into this match up but he would lead his Tigers – who have a 5-4 record – over Erasmus Hall (1-8 record). Alassari notched 17 points, snagged 8 rebounds, and dished out three assists. The Tigers came out flat in the first quarter, being outscored 12-11 but started to blow down the doors of the Dutchmen by outscoring them for the next three quarters of play, 59-50. Fort Hamilton is currently on a three-game road trip with two of its remaining games at Tilden and Sheepshead Bay. With the victory, the Tigers are in a three-way tie for fourth place, sitting with Tilden and New Utrecht at 5-4. In the game of the week, the Sheepshead Bay Sharks sat in second place with a 7-1 record behind the 8-0 Telecommunications Yellow Jackets prior to the game. You can make that 7-2, as the Sharks would fall in overtime to the Jackets (who now have a 9-0 record), at Sheepshead Bay. The Sharks came out of the gates, fireless, only scoring 7 first quarter points and giving up 22 first quarter Jacket points. Giving up 22 first quarter points to a Jackets team would usually mean that the “T.A.T”, the name that is displayed on Yellow Jackets jerseys, would be a guaranteed victory. But not so fast. The Sharks would come back with bite by scoring 22 of their 29 first half points in the second quarter, to only being down by 7, 36-29 at the half. Sharks Head Coach Roy Steinbach’s pep talk at the half must have fired up his squad as they scored 17 three quarter points to tied the game at 46 at the end of three quarters of play. In the fourth quarter, both the Sharks and Jackets, would match each other pound for pound, as they both scored 12 points in the final 12 minutes of play. Tied at 58 a piece, an overtime session would be necessary to determine the winner of this one. Steinbach’s Sharks would run out of fire in the extra session, as they would only score one point, a point that came from the line. Since the offense played flat so did the defense as the Jackets were able to manhandle the Sharks by outscoring them 10-1. Leading the Yellow Jackets would be forward/center Nikita Davis, who scored 27 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had three assists. In the lost cause, Sharks’ guard Tyrell Faulcon scored 20, had 7 rebounds and three assists. With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improved their undefeated record to 9-0 and still sits atop of the division with a one game lead over the Midwood Hornets (8-1). In the defeat, the Sharks fall to 7-2 and are two games out of first place. In the blowout of the week, the Hornets stung the Tilden Blue Devils at Tilden. Midwood (who now have a 8-1 record) immediately set the tone for the game by scoring 21 first-quarter points and held the Blue Devils (5-4 record) to only seven in the quarter. Leading the Hornets was forward Gregory Noel, who scored 21 points and pulled down 25 rebounds. The Hornets’ defense swarm the division’s leading scorer, Blue Devils’ forward/guard Ashton Pascall to only 13 points, 12 rebounds, and an assist. But the Hornets weren’t able to hold Blue Devils’ forward/guard Javon Jackman, he scored 17 points, three rebounds and 8 assists in loosing cause. Not only did the Hornets hold the division’s leading scorer to a minimal 13 points but only fouled once in the entire game. Lafayette Patriots Head Coach Danny Catrambone had his squad determined to get their first win of the season and the 2007 calendar year. Catrambone had great response from his forward/guard/center Wayne Surin, who had only scored an average of 18.44 points per game throughout the season, as he scored a season-high 31 but the Pats (who now have a 0-9 record) would be denied their first victory of the season as they fall to the New Utrecht Utes (5-4 record) at Lafayette. Surin, would finish his day with 13 rebounds and four assists. For the Utes, forward/center Artel Kelly would score a season high 32 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists in the victory. Another impressive performance was guard Ismael Gonzalez, who scored 24 points, snagged down 6 rebounds, and dished out 8 assists. Both of these squads played pretty even but it was the Utes scoring just a mere four more points than Patriots that lifted them in the victory. The Pats still sit in last place winless with an 0-9 record. With their most inspirational and important player missing from the lineup for three games, FDR Captain and guard/forward Tomasz Kurpiewski came back and made an impact. A great enough impact to win, as Kurpiewski led his Cougars (who now have a 3-6 record) to claw the helpless Madison Knights (2-7 record) at FDR. The FDR guard/forward scored 23 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and had four assists. But it wasn’t just Kurpiewski’s performance that powered the Cougars to their first win of the calendar year, as Cougars guard Steven Sharrers had his share in the win an impressive performance. He scored 19 points, had two rebounds and three assists. With the Cougars up 12 at the end of three quarters of play, 47-35, the Cougars nearly lost the lead by giving up 23 fourth quarter points to the Knights. But the Cougars just wouldn’t be denied their first win of 2007.
