Wildcats roar to final

On the court in the PSAL Class A championship game, Janisha “Brittany” Mitchell remained in control. She set the pace in the first half, scoring 10 of her team-high 14 points as No. 6 John Bowne raced out to a seven-point lead.
When seventh-seeded Martin Van Buren went on a 15-2 run to erase a 13-point deficit, Mitchell remained calm and blunted the spurt with a take-charge attack of the rim.
However, when she fouled out, the game still in doubt, a dream hanging in the balance, Mitchell’s emotions took hold.
Her heartbeat rapidly increased. She tensed up. In addition, when the final seconds ticked away, the Wildcats back in control, she lost control, moisture left her eyes and tears streamed down her face.
“It means everything,” she said after the Wildcats’ 55-52 win pushed them to the first city-championship game in school history. “It’s a big accomplishment. We came from nothing and made ourselves [something].”
Bowne Coach Bruce Bitterman said, “I can’t even describe how great it feels,”
The same Wildcats struggled through several losing seasons until citywide realignment formed a new ‘A’ division made up of the borough’s middle core two years ago. The Wildcats (23-3) took advantage last winter, winning 13 division games - seven more than the previous two seasons - and reached the Class A quarterfinals.
Their one downfall was overlooking the opposition, Bitterman said. Bowne lost games they unquestionably should have won because of cockiness. This year, there were no such problems. They ripped off a 17-1 regular season, good for a tie with Van Buren - the only borough opponent to beat them - atop Queens A.
“They learned how to win,” Bitterman said.
The Wildcats upset No. 3 Medgar Evers in the quarterfinals, and got the best of the Vee Bees in the semifinal. It was not a perfect performance - Bowne did go scoreless for 7:40, bridging the third and fourth quarters - but received another big effort from Mitchell and her backcourt mate, Shakema Johnson, until she left with an injured shoulder, in addition to forward Jennifer Rios (11 points).
Down the stretch, in the final minute, senior Rebekah Thompson turned the game around. Her offensive rebound and follow snapped a 47-all tie with 1:55 left, starting a game-changing 7-0 run.
“I’ve been waiting for that for a long time,” Bitterman said. “She played great.”
Led by Kamesha Lambright’s 26 points, Van Buren (22-4) enjoyed a similar successful season - a share of the Queens A crown and second consecutive Class A semifinal finish - but in the final minutes the game was there for them. McClain was not expecting such a run this March. Lack of experience worried him prior to the Vee Bees quarterfinal upset of No. 2 Food & Finance. However, Van Buren rolled through that challenge. The Jamaica school, however, fell short of their desired destination.
“It wasn’t a matter of who was the better team, it came down to execution,”
Coach Michael McClain said. “That was the bottom line. We did not make the shots we needed to. We didn’t box out when we should’ve.”
“At least we get a team from Queens,” he added, “representing us.”