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Jackets, Sharks in championship hunt – Stellar teams to vie for coveted borough-wide bragging rights

By Simon Chen

As the 2006-2007 regular season concludes, the Brooklyn “A” East will send two representatives to the Brooklyn Borough Championships beginning this week. Those two representatives will be the Telecommunications Yellow Jackets (17-1) and the Sheepshead Bay Sharks (15-2). The Jackets are seeded sixth and will play third seeded Canarsie while the Sharks, seeded seventh, will play Boys & Girls. The Fort Hamilton Tigers clawed past the Madison Knights, at home, with an impressive performance by guard Nabiel Bader, who scored 19 points, netted six rebounds, and dished out nine assists. With the victory, Fort Hamilton are promoted 10-7 while the Knights are delegated to a 3-14 record, tied for second-to-last place, just above the 1-16 Lafayette Patriots. The FDR Cougars slip past the Dutchmen at Erasmus Hall with guard Steven Sharrers’ 17 points and three rebounds on the afternoon. This victory marks the second time on 2007 calendar year that FDR has won a game and improve their record to 4-13 on the season while the Dutchmen decreased their record to 5-12. In the victory, the Hornets guard Adalet Canovic, who netted a 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists on the afternoon. Despite the Utes losing, they are still alive for the playoffs as they need a victory against the Lafayette Patriots at home. Sheepshead Bay pulled past Tilden with a spectacular performance by guard Tyrell Faulcon, who scored 24 points, snagged down eight rebounds, and dished out two assists. For Tilden, they still clinch a playoff berth but still jockey for playoff seeding. The loss drops them to 9-8 while the Sharks improved to 15-2. The Telecommunications Yellow Jackets were able to post a season-high 85 points en route to a 27-point pounding of the Lafayette Patriots. Leading the Jackets was forward/center Nikita Davis, who netted 24 points, pulled down 12 rebounds, and dealt out five rebounds. With the victory, Telecommunications is 16-1 while the drops the Patriots to a lowly and pitiful 1-16 record on the year. The Fort Hamilton Tigers headed into the playoffs with two strong performances by guards Nabiel Bader and Tarik Alassari. Bader contributed 14 points, three rebounds, and nine assists of his own. While, Alassari clocked in a 14 point, three rebound, and two assist day for Fort Hamilton. With the loss, the Dutchmen ends the season with a 5-13 record as the win promotes Fort Hamilton to 11-7. The Madison Knights were able to hold off the FDR Cougars at Madison with a great performance by forward Javon Jean, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Despite the lost cause, FDR guard Steven Sharrers, led all scorers with 22 points, two rebounds, and three assists. The Utes’ forward/center Artel Kelly scored 20 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists led them to a victory and improved their record to 9-9 and clinches a playoff spot while the Patriots concluded their season with a 1-17 record. In the game of the week, the Sheepshead Bay Sharks traveled to Bay Ridge to battle their divisional foe, the Telecommunications Yellow Jackets for a chance at the division title. The game got off to a slow as it took until the 7:09 mark of the first period for the Sharks to score their first bucket but two Jacket turnovers contributed to it. It would even take the Jackets longer to net their first bucket at 6:35 but a late 6-0 run by the Jackets allowed them to take a 18-17 first quarter lead. With a slim one point lead, the Sharks stormed back by scoring 15 in the second to head into the locker room with a 32-31 lead. In the third quarter, the Sharks with the inability to finish drives down the court. They finished the woeful quarter with only four points as they allowed 15-Jacket scores and went into the fourth quarter with a 46-36 lead. In a game marred by turnovers, the Jackets left the door opened for the Sharks to come back and they did. Despite being down by 10, the Sharks felt the urgency to score. At the 2:17 mark of the fourth quarter, the Sharks were within three points of Telecommunications. But it wasn’t enough as the Jackets were able to slip by the Sharks and win the 2006-2007 Brooklyn “A” East Division title. The Yellow Jackets finished their spectacular season with a 17-1 record and will now look to capture the borough championship and then will try to attempt to win the City championship. After the game, Telecommunications’ Head Coach Chris Weil commented about winning the division title as, “I’m happy and ecstatic for the guys, they worked hard all year and I’m glad that we got here.” As for his outlook on the postseason, “Well, I’m looking forward to it, its been a long season, the guys have been working hard for it.” Despite dropping this game for the Sharks, they will face second place Lincoln at the Railsplitters’ home court. The Sharks, also impressively finished their 2006-2007 season with a 15-3 record and will now also look to capture the borough championship and hopefully a city crown, to boot. Sharks Head Coach Roy Steinbach was asked on how his team has become so successful for this season, he answered, “there is not just one star but they are multiple.” The Hornets were led by a strong Stefon Douglas performance, as the Midwood guard scored 15 points, two rebounds, and five assists. Despite the lost, Tilden is in the playoffs and ended their season with a 9-9 record.