Kings of Queens Once Again

Trinity Fields rose up, above the Campus Magnet trees and through traffic. He wasn’t just snatching a rebound, one-handing another miss by the Bull-Dogs on one leg, fighting through severe leg cramps, he was figuratively grabbing Cardozo that elusive borough championship, the crown that eluded them the past two seasons.
When the senior guard came to down with the ball and was quickly fouled, the celebration, three years in the making, had begun. His coach, Ron Naclerio, was pumping his fists on the sideline uncontrollably, hugging and slapping hands with each one of his players and assistant coaches.
Moments later, when Cardozo had officially knocked off Campus Magnet, 58-51, at St. John’s University, the Judges enjoyed it even longer. They formed a large scrum at mid court, cheerleaders, players, coaches and fans, hopping up and down in unison.
“I walked into Cardozo my junior year and wanted to win two borough championships,” said Fields, whose team-high 15 points garnered him MVP honors. “It didn’t happen last year, so I knew once I committed to Iona [College], my next goal was to win the championship my senior year.”
“And,” he added, “I accomplished it.”
Two months ago, this would have been considered an unlikely sight. Cardozo, who brought in seven new players, several of them transfer students to make up for the losses of James Southerland and Chris Hampton to prep school and the graduation of Chris Abney and Justin Garvin, lost two league games in the span of two weeks, to Campus Magnet and Edison. The Bull-Dogs beat them again in January, handing the Oakland Gardens school their most league defeats in over 20 years.
The new group did not mesh well; there was in-fighting and selfishness. Many practices ended with Naclerio going at it with one of the newcomers. Mike Blissett, his usually cool-headed assistant, was forced to crack the whip.
At the turn of the year, it finally started to click. The Judges (22-5) earned non-league victories over Archbishop Carroll (Pennsylvania), San Diego (California), and Landstown (Virginia). The players started rooting for one another. Fields emerged as their leader. Edy Toussaint, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter to key the borough championship victory, became the second scorer. Guards Reynaldo Walters (10 points), Dennis Oglesby, Daisean Roberts and Vincent Scott came on, too, buckling down defensively and taking turns adding offensive punch.
“From what people thought we were going to be as compared to other teams, this team might be as joyful to see what happened to them as any team,” Naclerio said. “Because if you are the best team by far and you win, that’s great, but when you have to really work hard - and there were games we had to really work hard - and you have to mix and match and you have to get the kids to play their ‘A’ game a lot more than even they think they’re able to give, that makes me feel really good.”
It had the same effect on his players. Many said the 5-foot-6 Scott could not play at Cardozo, yet was a mainstay for four years. Others questioned their undersized front line - Toussaint, Marquis Grant and Denzil Wilson - until they limited Queens’ supposed two best big men, Presano Bell of Edison and Campus Magnet’s Kyle O’Quinn, in the final two rounds of the borough playoffs. Finally, there were questions about whether Fields could thrive as the go-to scorer. He answered the bell, too.
“Now people can’t say anything,” Fields said. “We proved them wrong. We’re the team still standing,”