Wolves Win 62-37 over Seward Park

And here it begins the play-offs where teams are put to the test in seeing who remains on top. Enough with the jazzy talk, the Wolves faced their round one opponent the Seward Park Bears on Thursday, February 16th in the Wolves Den. Just to give a brief rundown we take a step back; the Wolves ended their regular season with a 19 point win over Automotive HS having an overall record of 9-5, the Seward Park Bears handled the HS Economics & Finance with a 27 point win giving them a record of 9-7.*ALSO, Nigel Hemingway who

averaged 16 points a game last season returned to play his first game in a while with the Wolves* Both teams looked to win in this crucial play-off game where one loss equals the boot ending a team's season. Before the game I spoke to two key players for the Wolves- Jeremy Guzman (captain) and Ayoola Ogunwale (Starting PG) and I asked them how they felt about this game. "[This game is] very important it’s the playoffs but I'm ready to go we just need to have good ball movement and play defense" said Jeremy. Both seemed relatively relaxed, when I asked Ayoola about what he had to do that day he responded by saying "get my team mates going, scoring, playing defense...whatever it takes to help the team win".
The Wolves started the game with a three after the tip (which seems to be a tradition) and immediately got back on defense. Even though the game didn't start fast pace with shorts and sneakers speeding up and down the court, the Wolves did a good job of being patient in finding a good look whether it be at the basketball or behind the arc. GSC had some great defensive stops against Seward Park who looked somewhat nervous. The Bears remained close to GSC despite trailing some and pushed a 13-11 score to end the first quarter. As more fans started drifting in, the second quarter got underway and the Wolves just went off. They would force a steal and then hit a three, it was just wonderful, a once quiet crowd burst out of their shells to scream and jump in joy.
A 19-18 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half became a 28-19 lead with 2 minutes left. Before one had the chance to check the lopsided score it was half time with the Wolves leading 34-21 with much help from Nigel Hemingway, but not everyone was happy. Ask Coach Rick of the Seward Park Bears "whats wrong is that we only have 21 points you have to have at least 60 points to win a game" he said in disgust. Coach Sharpe was more or less pleased with the Wolves play "were doing a excellent job defensively on their go to guy [Lasana]" he said. Lasana Williams, team captain of the Bears, had himself a good game against HS Economics & Finance with 16 points, but he wasn't exactly having a flashback with this Wolves Team.
So we found ourselves in the 3rd quarter where two goals ran out onto the court- one to maintain the lead and the other to come from behind and win. The Wolves continued to roll and roll until they rolled into a 41-25 lead over the Bears. Then some drama broke out but not on the

court, consequently everyone in the stands were forced to exit the premise in an orderly fashion. This play-off game turned into a scrimmage-style game; everything was heard, the sneakers squeaking on the hardwood, the coaches yelling "23 23 hey you gotta watch the ball", the whistles for a time out, it was interesting. The Wolves began to slack off in the fourth maybe because of the 20 point cushion they had but Coach Sharpe wasn't going to let anything happen "we look tired ! we need to wake up ! we are still in a game !" he urged his team. GSC picked up the pace

with steals and fast breaks as they sailed their way into a 62-37 win over the Seward Park Bears.
Impressed with Nigel Hemingway's game as of many, I asked Coach Sharpe what Nigel's addition brings to the team especially in the play-offs he responded saying "he gives us this energy we didn't have before, he also gives us an instant spark on offense". "See, what'd I say 62 you gotta get past 60" I heard Coach Rick yell, and he was right well for this game at least. Congratulations to the Wolves for winning their first game of the play-offs, next GSC will play the Evander Childs Tigers on Tuesday, February 28th 5:00 p.m @ Evander Childs Gym. GO WOLVES !!

Leading Scorer: Ayoola Ogunwale 15 points
Leading Re-bounder: Nathaniel Wyatte 5 rebounds