By Five Boro Sports
Krystina Agard isn’t going to lie about it. Yeah, she was disappointed in how things worked out this season — how could she not be?
Her August Martin girls’ basketball team returned all five starters, including her, sweet-shooting forward Patrice Lewis, crafty and strong guard Starasia Lawley and relentless wing Tinamarie Sasser. The Falcons were going to be — for the first time in a long time — a contender.
“I thought in my last year that we’d have a really good team,” Agard said.
But when Agard’s fine career ended Thursday in an embarrassing 84-54 loss to Francis Lewis in the PSAL Class AA second round at August Martin’s South Jamaica gym, not a single one of those three talented teammates were in uniform.
Lewis and Sasser failed off at the beginning of the season and Lawley was suspended for the game by the school for frequent truancy, sources told FiveBoroSports.com.
Agard poured in 36 points and was the only Falcon in double figures. She was given a large trophy during halftime for scoring more than 1,200 points in her four-year stint at the school. But it was hardly a consolation.
The 5-foot-9 guard said it crossed her mind to just quit and walk away — but that wouldn’t be in her character.
“I thought that, but I don’t want to let my team down,” Agard said.
Instead, she put August Martin on her back for long stretches of the season. Agard averaged 27.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. She put herself in consideration for all-city honors and led the Falcons to regular-season wins against Francis Lewis and Midwood.
“She does it all the time,” legendary Martin Coach Joel Ascher said of Agard carrying the team. “She has outstanding character. There’s not a better kid in the school.”
Agard’s grades are also outstanding, yet she isn’t being recruited by any Division I schools. Molloy College and NYIT, both local Division II institutions, are the only ones who have interest at this juncture. Agard is long, sinewy strong and athletic, can slash to the hoop and drain long-range jump shots. Ascher can’t figure out why colleges at a higher level haven’t come calling.
“I still don’t understand why people aren’t looking at her,” said the coach, who has won 14 PSAL city titles. “She’s among the best players I’ve had. Too bad she didn’t have any help.”
Agard went to Brazil with the PSAL all-stars last spring and played on the team with Shanee Williams, China Crosby and Victoria Macaulay, all Division I signees. Murry Bergtraum Coach Ed Grezinsky, who coached the squad, is as confounded as Ascher with Agard’s lack of looks.
“If I’m a local mid-major school, I’d be nuts not to recruit her,” said the coach, who has won 10 PSAL city titles. “She could play on any team in the city.”
Those are two coaches with a combined 24 championships stumping for her.
Maybe it’s because Agard is quiet and her game doesn’t have a lot of flash. But she got the job done — even when her teammates let her down.
“And,” Grezinsky said, “she’s an even better kid.”
