Coach Topper with the infamous T-Shirt. Photo: Randy Millard.
Nothing can stop NYC summer basketball, not even the current 90-plus degree weather that started last Monday and doesn’t appear ready to leave anytime soon. Even with the heat, summer leagues were still a go this weekend and there was even a decent turnout of players and fans alike.
Friday night at the Cage (West 4th and Avenue of the Americas), seven players scored eight points or more to lead 1.3/The Champs over Aquawasi “Q” St. Hillaire’s T.A. Express. Q, who hit a game winning buzzer-beater at last week’s all-star game, is really flying under the radar. The agile swingman seems to drop 30 every time he steps on the asphalt at West 4th. Friday night he netted 39, but it wasn’t enough. T.A. trailed by 11 after one quarter and spent the rest of the game playing catch up. Courtney Castro dropped 18 for T.A., but struggled to find his range at times. Former Christ the King HS star Mark McCarroll led 1.3 with 16 points. 1.3 is scheduled to take on Fuego Mayical Friday, July 25 at 6:00 p.m.
Coach Topper of the undefeated Harlem Ballers walked into the park Friday night at Dyckman (204th and Nagle) with a t-shirt that read “We Own Dyckman.” The phrase went along well with the game as the Harlem Ballers defeated Dominican Power 84-79. The Harlem Ballers never trailed as Kenny “Serious Satellite” Satterfield came out looking to get buckets in the first half. Satterfield scored just about every way imaginable, hitting deep jumpers over the outstretched arms of defenders, as well as his traditional slashes to the basket on the way to 19 first half points.
In the second half, Satterfield’s backcourt mate Kareem “Big Game” Reid got in on the action draining jumpers and putting on a dribbling exhibition shaking the Nike checks off of Dominican Power defenders.
Chris “Jiggy Thing” De La Rosa and “Baby Shaq” did their thing for Dominican Power, scoring 17 and 19 points respectively. “Serious Satellite” (27 points) and “Big Game Reid” (28 points) dropped 56 points between them for the Harlem Ballers.
The Franchise at the free-throw line. Photo: Trevor Kapp
Saturday the Cage, undefeated Pick & Roll made easy work of the Corporate League All-Stars. Corporate league tried to make a game of it, but they missed several wide open looks and had some untimely turnovers which led to their demise.
C.L.A.S. led by five at intermission, but Pick & Roll came out strong to begin the second half, and grabbed the lead mid-way through the third quarter and never gave it back. The backcourt triumvirate of Brian “Too Fast, Too Furious” Gardenhier, Ty Williams and Andre Dearing, which is easily one of the best at West 4th, struggled at times through this one for C.L.A.S. Gardenhier, who participated in the all-star game last week, scored just 12 points, well below his season average. Williams stepped up and notched 20 points and Dearing went off for a game-high 24. The team’s lack of size proved to be a problem, as they had no answer for the Hammer down the stretch. Mark scored 18 points and the Hammer added 15 to lead Pick & Roll. Pick & Roll is scheduled to take on Money Inc. Saturday, August 3 at 6:00 p.m.
It might have been just a three-man team, but it was still enough to push United Brooklyn over the Gym Rats 73-69 in Saturday’s second game at the Cage. Karl “The Crossing Guard” Sanders, got to the rack at will, and scored 35 points for U.B.K. John “The Franchise” Strickland, netted 23 for the winners and James “Stixx” Williams chipped in with 14.
U.B.K. led the entire way before Andre Forrester, who dropped 20 points for the Rats, converted a tough lay-in with two minutes left to put the guys in white up one. But Sanders quickly responded to give U.B.K. the lead for good. United Brooklyn is scheduled to take on Derrick Adams Monday, August 4 at 6:00 p.m.
At Conrad McRae (Dean St. between Carlton st. and Flatbush Avenue), the best youth tourney in the city, Shaquille Upshon dropped 30 points leading his Fat & juicy Burger squad to a 58-53 win over Trackmasters. GBX defeated Vinnie Styles 45-44 in the second game of the day. Ian Vasquez led GBX with 16 points and Chris Miller dropped 15 for Vinnie styles. In the final game of the day Juice All-Stars crushed Checks & More 77-45. LeBrent Walker, a rising freshman heading to Lincoln HS, led Juice with 18 points. Walker is a well built lefty guard that can slash to the rack or hit the pull up J. Listen for his name in a few years, he is a definite all-city player by his senior year. Ted Tudor scored 16 points for Checks & More. Games at Conrad McRae are played every Saturday and Sunday starting at 11 a.m., with the last game being played at 4 p.m.
Contributed by Trevor Kapp and Randy Millard
