Rudy Collins of Forest Hills goes up for a shot over Cardozo’s Dwayne Brunson. (denis gostev)
Forest Hills couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than it was presented with Friday night – PSAL Queens AA crown on the line and borough power Cardozo coming to its jam-packed, rowdy and raucous gymnasium.
The atmosphere before the opening tipoff was electric, the home crowd lustily booing Cardozo and creating a deafening sound once the host Rangers took the floor.
There wasn’t a lot of cheering for the next hour or so – not until Forest Hills’ last-ditch comeback effort. The rally, though, wasn’t enough to overcome the multitude of mistakes and loose play that preceded it in a 68-61 loss.
“It’s real frustrating because I expected us to come out a lot better than that,” said UConn-bound junior forward Maurice Harkless, who scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
The evening started in an ominous manner when Cardozo guard Reynaldo (Junior) Walters stripped a Forest Hills guard and went in for the game’s opening basket. It didn’t get better for the Rangers (14-8, 11-3 Queens AA) until the fourth quarter. The Judges led 18-8 late in the first quarter, 32-20 at halftime and 54-33 early in the final stanza.
It was at that point, as the showdown had turned lopsided and the partisan crowd was about to loose interest, when the Rangers awoke. Junior Nick Padgett scored 14 of his 20 points in a furious, head-spinning 22-4 run, getting Forest Hills to within 58-55 with 2:56 remaining.
“I felt we were gonna come back and win,” Harkless said. “Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes.”
Cardozo (15-7, 12-2) silenced the Forest Hills faithful with a 10-2 spurt, aided by three fouls away from the basket.
It was the previous three quarters, however, that did in the Rangers. They managed just 13 free throws altogether, close to 20 less than they average, coach Ben Chobhaphand said, the result of settling for jump shots instead of attacking the basket.
There were too many unforced turnovers to chronicle and plenty of easy opportunities Forest Hills failed to convert. Cardozo big men Ryan Rhoomes (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Dwayne Brunson ate up the smaller Rangers in the paint, combining for 33 points and 20 rebounds.
“Ryan and Dwayne rebound well,” Chobhaphand said. “That’s what they did.”
The Rangers have come a long way under Chobhaphand, winning their first Queens crown last year, just their second season in Queens AA, and reaching the PSAL Class AA quarterfinals. This campaign hasn’t gone quite as smoothly, understandable considering Harkless was the only returning starter, joined on the roster by eight other juniors.
Chobhaphand has kept his junior-laden team together, despite several non-league losses, and had led them to six straight league victories until Friday’s disappointing setback. Of course, the Queens borough title is still theirs to defend. A rematch with Cardozo a week from Sunday is possible, if not probable.
“They ain’t walking out of here like its easy,” the fifth-year coach said. “They should’ve lost the game. We were right there. We had them on the ropes.”