By ZACH BRAZILLER
There is a weight that comes with playing for Cardozo, a demand from the home crowd and the rest of Queens, Ron Naclerio often says. The Judges aren’t supposed to lose league games, or, the zany and off-the-wall boys basketball coach said, it will be “front page news.”
“Losing in Queens, it ruins everything,” senior point guard Chris Gayot said. “We have so much pressure on us.”
Cardozo remained atop PSAL Queens AA with a hard-fought 66-63 win over neighborhood rival Bayside on Dec. 22, but the reaction afterward spoke volumes of that immense pressure. When Daquaise Andrews’ desperation half-court heave thudded off the glass, ending the Commodores’ comeback hopes, a roar went through the crowd and the Cardozo cheerleaders stormed the court.
The Judges (5-0, 5-0 Queens AA) themselves, though, simply exhaled. A few high-fives and hugs were given out, but the victory, Naclerio would say later, wasn’t a cause for celebration. It was, perhaps, a lesson to be learned.
“We’re a very nice team, but we have a lot of immature players,” Naclerio said. “The young kids I understand, the other kids disappoint me. … I’ll be happy if the kids realize — the new kids and old kids — the bull’s-eye that we always thought we had is as big as it’s always been.”
While Cardozo never trailed after the early going, they also were never able to pull away and the team nearly blew a game it should’ve stored away in its back pocket, a problem for last year’s runner-up.
For every positive there was a negative. Shelton Mickell had a stellar second half, in which he scored eight of his 16 points, cut short by fouling out. Jermaine Lawrence followed up a brilliant 15-point first half by going scoreless across the game’s final 16 minutes, though the sophomore did grab 10 rebounds and block three shots. Chris Gayot (14 points, nine assists) made one big play after another down the stretch, but also missed eight free throws. Marquis Barnett enjoyed his best all-around game, with seven points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots, but also committed far too many turnovers.
“We’re not satisifed at all — we’re supposed to blow them out,” Barnett said. “We didn’t play how we play. We played to their level.”
Cardozo held leads of 12-5, 33-24 and 61-54. Yet the differential never got above 11, as Bayside (9-2, 5-1) kept on coming, holding its own on the glass against the bigger Judges. Guards William Dobie and Austin Williams, who combined for 27 points, 14 from Williams, were tough to handle, pushing the ball, creating for themselves and others. Undersized forward Alonso Pizzaro was active and harassing in the paint on both ends of the floor and Cantrell Barker made his presence felt with his on-ball pressure and surprisingly sinking two 3-pointers.
“They know now it’s not like last year anymore,” said Williams, referring to a pair of blowout losses last season. “They’re not gonna blow us out anymore. We’re right here with them, we could’ve had them.”
Bayside could never get over the hump, getting as close as one, 48-47, on Pizzaro’s layup late in the third quarter. Hunt responded to that bucket with a conventional 3-point play. After a 3-pointer made it 55-53, Lawrence swatted a Barker shot and Gayot sank two free throws.
The Commodores came storming back even after the Judges seemed to be in complete control, up 65-59 with 36 seconds remaining. They got to within 65-63 on consecutive Andrew baskets with 5 seconds left before Gayot hit a free throw to ice it.
“We have a young team, so going through this is a new experience,” Gayot said. “We have to get this under our belt and move on.”
