The Benjamin Cardozo Judges continued their winning ways in Queens, defeating the Long Island City Bulldogs, 69-58, to capture the borough championship at York College on Saturday, February 11.
The victory was the Judges’ third Queens championship win in as many years, this time led by senior Tajay Henry’s 21 points and 10 rebounds. The towering forward drilled many key baskets, including a dramatic dunk as time, and the game, slipped away from the Bulldogs.
Cardozo led the contest from beginning to end and seemed on the verge of blowing out L.I.C. as they took a 51-36 lead late in the game. However, the Bulldogs were able to hang tough, cutting the deficit to just four points late in the final quarter.
And they might have won the game too, if not for Cardozo junior Kyle Credle. The 5-foot-10-inch guard scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth, nailing a crucial three-pointer that all but sealed the deal with under one minute remaining and gave the Judges the championship. Rounding out the scoring for Cardozo were senior Rasheed Robinson with 13 points and eight rebounds and senior Ryan Yearwood with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Bulldogs, who upset top-seeded Bayside High School in the team’s prior series and was the only team from the Queens ‘A’ division to reach the borough playoffs, managed to stay in the game behind seniors Sadji Camara and Arthur Santanna who each scored 17 points in the loss. In the upset win over Bayside, L.I.C. was led by senior Xavier Jones with 18 points, while Santanna and Camara scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Next up for the Judges is the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) class ‘AA’ playoffs, in which the school grabbed the fifth seed. Games start this week and the finals will be played at Madison Square Garden on March 17. It’s not over for L.I.C., as the Bulldogs will compete in the PSAL’s class ‘A’ playoffs, culminating with the finals on March 18.
