God Shammgod in black, Ricky Soliver in gold.

Much of the talk Wednesday night at Dyckman (204th and Nagle) was surrounded around the ensuing match up between 184th St.’s Steve “The Saga Continues” Burtt Jr. and Dominican Power’s Chris “Jiggy Thing” De La Rosa. Burtt Jr. attended Rice HS and De La Rosa attended All Hallows of the city’s Catholic League, so by nature the rivalry was already in their blood. Burtt Jr. may have won the individual battle dropping 31 points and drawing the “ohhhs and ahhhs” from the crowd, but Dominican Power cruised to an easy 71-60 win. Baby Shaq aided DP’s effort by netting a team-high 19. Also at Dyckman, Dynasty’s Keydren “KiKi” Clark dropped 27 in a 76-64 loss to JTA. Clark did his best to keep his squad in the game, but at the end of the day JTA’s size was just too much to overcome. Kenya “Rodman” Carruthers and Josh Holland netted 17 each for the winners . . . Family night at ‘45th and Lenox had the elders bring out the young whipper snappers to check out the games at the Tri-State Classic. The action was brisk with Raw 129’s God Shammgod, who grew up right down the block, showing glimpses of his world-famous handle against former Iona guard Ricky “Slick Rick” Soliver, representing for 84th Street. Shammgod finished with a light 38 points all at cup, in leading Raw 129 to the 104-98 win. Slick Rick dropped 42 for 84th Street in the loss. Game two was a showdown between Most Hated and D’s Crew. Charles “Kobe” Van Lierop knocked down a couple trey balls for Most Hated before Manhattan College vets, Pete “Mr.” Mulligan and Jason “Gate” Wingate, came off the bench to finish the job. The game was never in question as Most Hated got the victory by a score of 110-93. Smooth scored a game-high 24 points for Most Hated.

By Kyle Henry, with contributions from Andrew Katz and Sean Couch