By Elio Velez
That was because in the final seconds of the fourth quarter of the PSAL Queens borough championship, the Thomas Edison coach was starting to feel a bit giddy. As the buzzer sounded, he joined his team as it celebrated at midcourt after defeating Campus Magnet, 70-61, becoming the only 'A' team to capture a boro title.Edison, the Queens West A division co-champions, took on its higher-ranked 'AA' opponents with a fearless intensity they've shown throughout the season. “I believed we shocked high-school basketball,” Ulmer said. “Am I surprised? Maybe by about 50 percent.”After the PSAL placed Edison in the restructured 'A' division, the Inventors continued their 16-game winning streak by sweeping Bayside, Cardozo, the undefeated Queens AA regular-season champion, and the Bulldogs in five days. They had the size and athleticism to match up with Campus Magnet (19-9), which was playing in its third straight Queens final. But the Inventors needed their own stars to shine when it counted.Ulmer had to change the mindset of a team that experienced losing for many years prior to his elevation from the JV to the varsity. One example of that change is how shooting guard Allan Thomas realized his talents were not being put to good use. The junior played only three games due to academic ineligibility last season and Edison (22-5) went 5-9 in Ulmer's first year.”I felt I let my teammates down,” Thomas said. “Not working hard and not caring about anythingÉIt took me a while to realize that. I realized it after the season was over and in summer school.”So, the shooting guard stepped up his game in the fourth quarter, combining with senior Devin Brown to score the first 10 points. It turned a close, 45-42 Edison lead to a commanding 55-44 advantage. Thomas finished with 24 points and the 6-foot-7 Brown chipped in with 18. Campus Magnet started strong as its leading scorer, Malachi Peay, knocked down his first six shots to give his team an early lead. But Edison got a break when Peay got into foul trouble, and took advantage when the senior forward fouled out with 5:38 into the third quarter. With Keith McAllister (16 points) also eventually fouling out, those factors gave the Inventors the opening they needed to reclaim the lead.”They have some good players,” Campus Magnet coach Chuck Granby said. “They played very well. But the minute we got into foul trouble, the game changed…That was the game.”Edison doesn't advance to the 'AA' city playoffs, but Ulmer doesn't mind. With the borough title, his success was rewarded with the No. 2 seed in the 'A' tourney. “We know we've got a target on our back and everyone wants to knock us off,” the coach said. “We just got to get more focused and prepare for the playoffs.”
