For the first 16 minutes of play, it appeared that the game between Canarsie High School and St. Dominic High School would go right down to the wire. But someone forgot to tell Nathaniel Lester, the talented offensively skilled guard from Canarsie.
Lester registered 14 of his 16 points in the final 16 minutes of play to lift Canarsie High School past St. Dominic, 71-55, at the Hope Through Hoops Fourth Annual Classic held on the campus of Hofstra University.
The classic is held each year in memory of Tom Crotty who lost his live on September 11th, 2001.
St. Dominic actually held a 27-26 lead at the half due to several factors. Among them: the ability to move without the basketball and create space between them and their defenders.
Four different times, St. Dominic utilized a pretty backscreen and cut to the basket, resulting in a layup that thrilled the old-time basketball fans in the audience. With so much dunking, alley-ooping, and kick and shoot philosophy in basketball today, it was a pleasure to watch a brand of game that gave memories of the old time Knick championship teams.
However, Canarsie possesses some high quality division one talent and some terrific basketball skills of its own. And they are young.
Yves Jules, a junior guard, showcased his ability to knock down the perimeter jumper. He dampened any St. Dominic lead in the first half with some key jumpers. His sweet touch from the outside led to 13 points, including two three-pointers.
Caleb Bedau was equally as effective for the talented Canarsie team. He dropped in 14 points, including three from the perimeter. Brian Cummings added 14 points also for the winners.
But it was Lester getting untracked in the second half after seeing not a lot of playing time in the first 16 minutes of play. He has 10 points in the decisive third quarter in which Canarsie eliminated a one-point deficit and turned it into a 47-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Brian Katz led St. Dominic with 14 points. Markeys Deans added 12 points and T.J. Carey scored 10 points for St. Dominic.