A week ago, 19 former Queens high school standouts and four assistant coaches saw their seasons extended into postseason play. But after a tumultuous week in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments, only three have survived.
Former…
By Dylan Butler
And then there were three.
A week ago, 19 former Queens high school standouts and four assistant coaches saw their seasons extended into postseason play. But after a tumultuous week in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments, only three have survived.
Former Christ the King standout Sue Bird at Connecticut, Illinois men’s assistant coach Norm Roberts have advanced in the NCAA tournament and New Mexico junior Eric Chatfield from Queensbridge has made it to the next round of the NIT tournament.
Bird led a depleted Huskies team to an 89-44 win over Colorado State in the second round of the East Regional Monday after UConn dismantled Long Island University, 101-29 Saturday at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. Bird, a junior guard from Syosset, L.I., had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists in the win over No. 9 Colorado State and had 13 points and six assists against the Blackbirds.
UConn (30-2) advanced to the East Regional semifinal in Pittsburgh to face North Carolina with the win.
Roberts is the lone Queens product coaching in the NCAA tournament, as the Springfield Gardens native and the Fighting Illini defeated Northwestern State and UNC-Charotte to advance to the Sweet 16. Roberts, a former standout and coach at Queens College, and top-seeded Illinois will next face No. 4 Kansas in the Midwest Regional Friday in San Antonio at about 8:30 p.m.
Chatfield, a junior transfer at New Mexico, had eight points and two rebounds as the Lobos defeated Baylor last Wednesday in the first round of the NIT. Nex Mexico (20-12) advanced to face Peppedine in the second round in a game scheduled for Tuesday.
For everyone else, last week marked their last college basketball games of the year and for some, like Western Kentucky’s Nashon McPherson, it marked their final collegiate game.
McPherson, a Springfield Gardens product, and the Hilltoppers gave No. 3 Florida a run for their money in a South Regional first round game Friday before falling 69-56 at the Louisiana Superdome. The Jamaica resident had 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
“It was just one of those nights,” McPherson said. “I just wasn’t hitting my shots.”
Queens native Karim Shabazz, a 7-foot-2 center at Providence, also saw his collegiate career come to an end in the NCAA first round as the 10th-seeded Friars fell to No. 7 Penn State 69-59 Friday night in the South Regional at the Superdome.
Shabazz came out strong in the paint for Providence (21-10), but saw his minutes limited by foul trouble. He finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in just 19 minutes.
When Hofstra finally succumbed to UCLA in the first round of the East Regional in Greensboro, N.C. it meant a host of Queens natives were out of the tournament. Freshman point guard Joel Suarez from LeFrak City played two minutes for the 13th-seeded Pride in the 61-48 loss to No. 4 UCLA. Abdou Sylla from Cardozo also saw limited time in his final collegiate game, while Bellerose resident Mike Feely, a St. Francis Prep grad, did not play for Hofstra (26-5), which features Queens Village native Tom Pecora and Bayside resident David Duke, also a Cardozo product, as Jay Wright’s assistant coaches.
Royal Ivey’s solid freshman year came to an end Friday as No. 6 Texas fell to 11th-seeded Temple 79-65 in a mild upset in the first round of the South Regional at the Superdome.
Ivey, a Hollis resident out of Cardozo High School, started against Owls and played well, blocking a shot early and then pulling up and draining a jumper. But as was the case for most of the last month, Texas coach Rick Barnes pulled Ivey for defensive-minded Freddie Williams. Ivey played 14 minutes for the Longhornes (26-8).
Zach Williams, a 6-foot-7 freshman forward, also started his first NCAA tournament game for No. 5 Ohio State, who were upset by 12th-seeded Utah State, 77-68 in a first round game in the East Regional Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Williams, a Middle Village resident out of Christ the King, had six points on 3-for-4 shooting in 22 minutes for the Buckeyes (20-11).
Freshman point guard David “Jeep” Hilton, who attended John Bowne High School, did not play for Hawaii (17-14) in the Rainbow Warriors 79-69 loss to Syracuse in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Dayton, Ohio Friday. The 5th-seeded Orangemen (25-9) were blown out by Kansas in the second round Sunday. Senior walk-on Chris Schau from Floral Park did not play in either game.
The NCAA first-round also marked the end of a collegiate career for two former Queens standouts on the women’s side.
Kristeena Alexander, a starting point guard at George Washington, had 10 points, including a buzzer-beating 18-footer to bring the seventh-seeded Colonials to within 38-27 at the break. But the former Christ the King standout and GW (22-10) just couldn’t get claw their way back into the game and lost, 76-51, to No. 11 Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Norman, Okla. Saturday.
“It just wasn’t our night,” said Alexander, who also had three assists. “We kept thinking we could get it going, but nothing seemed to work. Give Stanford credit.”
Former August Martin standout Allison Thorne had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds in her collegiate finale, but it wasn’t enough, as No. 12 Fairfield (25-6) fell to fifth-seeded Utah in a first-round game Saturday at Salt Lake City, Utah.
After an eight-points, eight-assists performace in UConn’s 72-65 first-round NIT win over South Carolina, St. John’s Prep grad Taliek Brown had no points and no assists in 14 foul-plagued minutes in the Huskies 67-61 second-round loss to Detriot Mercy Sunday at Gampel Pavilion.
Former Molloy standout Reggie Brown also had a disappointing NIT tournament. The sophomore from Flushing had two points in Richmond’s 79-56 first-round win over West Virginia, but he went scoreless in the Spiders 71-56 loss to Dayton Monday.
In the women’s NIT, former Jamaica standout Osato Edobor-Osula had two points in two minutes in George Mason’s 66-56 first-round loss to Georgetown last Wednesday.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
