Looking at the PSAL Queens ‘AA’ division

Two perennial powers gone young. Two rising programs with their best days fast approaching. Could there be a turnover at the top for Queens public school boys’ basketball?
The ten-team PSAL Queens ‘AA’ division, which represents the borough’s top talent in boys’ hoops, showed signs of an emerging “big four” last season. In the top two places were Campus Magnet (17-1) and Benjamin Cardozo (15-3), first- and second-place stalwarts since the current format began in 2006. In the next two places were Thomas Edison (13-5) and Forest Hills (12-6), new division additions who found that the ‘AA’ water was warm.
These four talented teams separated themselves from the pack in 2007-08 - so much so, in fact, that 8-10 was the best record any opponent could muster. Now, with wind at the backs of Thomas Edison and Forest Hills, the structure of Queens’ fearsome foursome could be on the verge of flipping.
Campus Magnet, the defending division champion, is a particularly good emblem of such change. A year after breaking out of second place, and just months after stomaching a loss to old foe Cardozo in the Queens playoffs, the Bulldogs find themselves four starters short. Sasha Clarida, a junior guard who scored over eight points per game last season, is the lone returnee.
“Campus Magnet lost the size that they had through graduation,” says Cardozo head coach Ron Naclerio, “but they still return [some] key players.” He points to Magnet senior guard Chad Coachman as a potential leading scorer, and he notes that senior forward Kelvin Lewis “looks like a football player.” (Senior forward Leston Simpson, it should be noted, actually is one.)
As for Naclerio’s squad, the Judges are suffering similar losses, most notably those of senior point guard Trinity Fields and his 20 points per game. A lot of raw talent persists - consider 5’4” sophomore point guard Shaquille Pearson, cousin of Cardozo alum Ryan Pearson - but Naclerio readily acknowledges that the question marks of rebuilding abound.
“We have practically a whole new team,” he says. “Over the years, Cardozo has been known as the king of Queens. We would like to continue it. [But] it’s never easy. Even when we had great teams, we never took anything for granted.”
That the Bulldogs and the Judges will be notably weaker in 2008-09 is far from certain. Naclerio and Magnet head coach Charles Granby have sustained dynastic success for decades despite the constant ebb and flow of aging Queens youths. Forest Hills head coach Ben Chobhaphand, for one, doesn’t buy into the negative hype.
“I expect [to deal with] two great veteran coaches,” he says. “These are guys who have been coaching longer than I’ve been living. … They have been coaching 30-plus [years]. People are saying they’re in a down year, but I don’t believe anything until we play them.”
Chobhaphand, for the record, is only 28-years-old.
The well-recorded exploits of Naclerio and Granby do not tell the entire story, however. Worth equal consideration are the sudden surges of Thomas Edison and Forest Hills, two teams whose peaking senior cores may mean that a repeat of 2007-08 is no longer enough for Cardozo and Magnet.
Edison has always been a bit of a wild card, and nearly always in a positive way. While a 13-5 record last year was only good enough for third place in Queens, it included upsets over both Magnet and Cardozo - and it was followed by a riveting run to the city semifinals. This year in particular has supporters of the Inventors more optimistic than ever, as many of the team’s prospective stars are seniors. Among them are guard/forward Isiah Stokley (16 points per game last year), guard Stephon Hodges, and forward Joshua Gray.
Could a Queens title be within reach?
“That’s what the goal is,” says head coach John Ulmer Jr. “That’s what we’re hoping for. We’ve got to go out there and take care of the stronger teams.”
Ulmer’s eyes look a little less rose-tinted than others;’ his interview follows a loss to Brooklyn’s playoff-destined Boys & Girls, which Ulmer had anticipated as a litmus test for his team. However, Forest Hills’ Chobhaphand is buoyant as his team heads into division action. He knows his Rangers are in good form this year, and he is not afraid to admit it.
“This is my fifth year coaching. I want to be on the same table and in the same conversation [as the favorites],” he says. “That’s our goal at Forest Hills. … We are not trying to be a one-hit wonder. We want to be mentioned with the Cardozos and the Campus Magnets.”
Recent history is a good sign. Last year, Forest Hills’ first in the ‘AA’ division, the Rangers scored the best record of Chobhaphand’s tenure. Not only do they return four strong senior starters in 2008-09 - guard Andre Armstrong (14 points per game), guard Damir Beharovic, forward Alex Hall, and forward Chris Larmond - but they also add 6’6” first-season guard/forward Maurice Harkless, who averaged a double-double last year as a JV freshman.
“He’s a starter,” Chobhaphand says of the sophomore. “He’s going to develop more and more as gets along.”
Chobhaphand has nothing but praise for Armstrong, “the general out there,” and his effect on team unity. He also is quietly confident about the rest of his crop of sophomores, who composed an undefeated JV championship team last year.
Will they help bring home some hardware in 2008-09?
“We don’t think we’re better than anybody yet. … I’m not going to say we should win the division championship,” he says. “Our success is based on how hard we work in practice and how we mature and fix our mistakes and grow as a team. [But] if we can do that, the sky is the limit.”
- With additional reporting by Robert Elkin