Considering their tumultuous, roller-coaster season, Forest Hills’ PSAL Class AA playoff opener made perfect sense. On paper, the 14th-seeded Rangers had the edge over No. 19 James Monroe of the Bronx, in the paint and on the perimeter.
Yet, down the stretch the Eagles were right there, to the final seconds. Forest Hills prevailed, 52-50, when Jeremy Taveras’s half-court heave at the buzzer hit the ceiling. It was emblematic of the Rangers’ up-and-down year that saw four of their core players gone, either because they left the team or were unable to contribute for separate reasons.
“This was typical,” said senior Terry Harrison, who scored 11 points. Forward Alex Hall led Forest Hills (17-11) with 14 and Andre Armstrong added nine.
The Rangers celebrated Coach Ben Chobhaphand’s first home playoff win in his four seasons by gathering together at half-court, arms locked, as one another danced. There was plenty of reason to celebrate.
“They stepped up,” Chobhaphand said. “My guys didn’t give up.”
They’ve had plenty of reason to this year. When Chobhaphand moved Forest Hills to Queens AA, the borough’s highest level of competition, he didn’t anticipate such a trying season.
The Rangers, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the PSAL Class A playoffs last season, were returning their entire team while adding several transfer students. But of the 12 players Forest Hills began the season with, only eight remain.
Junior guard Armani Cardwood recently left the school after a perceived slight in a local newspaper. Junior point guard Joseph McCoy moved back home to North Carolina last January. Junior forward Keith Stephens hasn’t played in close to a month because of illness and junior forward Prasanna Kumar flunked off the team.
“We’re eight strong,” Armstrong said. “We’ve come together as a family.”
Those absences, in addition to Armstrong, their star guard, missing two games - both losses - for disciplinary reasons, bumped the Rangers to fourth place after starting the year by winning eight of their first 10.
So despite racing out to a 10-point lead in the second quarter, Chobhaphand wasn’t surprised to see the game up for grabs in the final moments. Particularly since Armstrong and Damir Beharovic, their two leading scorers, were struggling, and Monroe’s diminutive yet quick guards Marcus Razor (game-high 19 points) and Stanley Brooks (17), created havoc on the perimeter, neutralizing Forest Hills’ pressure defense.
But the Rangers never folded. Leaning on the adversity they dealt with after losing players or their tough non-league losses, Forest Hills didn’t cave in. In the final 30 seconds, while nursing a one-point lead, Hall blocked a shot and Harrison ripped the ball away from Daniel Odiase.
“I’ll go to war with these kids in a basketball game,” Chobhaphand said.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Rangers. In the second round they will meet No. 3 Wadleigh of Harlem, who they recently scrimmaged. Wadleigh will have the size advantage in the paint, but is susceptible to turning the ball over and good guard play.
“My team’s prepared,” Armstrong said. “I think we can go to the Final Four, regardless of our seed.”
In other PSAL Class AA playoff games No. 11 Thomas Edison topped Truman, 68-56, and No. 17 William Bryant fell to No. 16 Lehman, 81-77.
