GSC Visits Harry Van Arsdale

As a result of the NYC snow storm on February 8th, Grand Street Campus' last game against the Harry Van Arsdale Cardinals was postponed. On February 12th, 2013 the Wolves made their way to Harry Van Arsdale to play in a game that mattered the most to the Cardinals; if the Cardinals wanted to make the playoffs this would have to win this game. Head Coach Thornhill of the Cardinals said that he told his team before the game that "all we need to do is execute… I expect us to go to the playoffs". In the first quarter, GSC's play was far from what it was during the course of the season. The Cardinals started the game with back to back scoring in the paint without any challenge from GSC. Even when the Wolves had the opportunity to score they missed free-throws and open lay-ups. The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over the Wolves with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. On almost every trip down the court, the Cardinals were able to score by finding the open man in the paint. Grand Street's first points came with about 4 minutes to play with a lay-up from Lawahn Lewis. With scoring from multiple players including Richardo Malin and Jordan Coleson, the Cardinals increased their lead to 11 very quickly, while GSC only put up 4 points with 2 minutes left in the first. GSC managed to score ending the first with a score of 19-9. To begin the second quarter, Coach Sharpe inserted Kamaal Seymour-- which was probably the earliest he was put into a Grand Street game—to defend the paint. Finally, the Wolves defense started to pick up but even on fast breaks after steals, the Wolves could not convert. The poor rebounding of GSC reared its ugly head once again as Malin who was probably the shortest on the court, grabbed rebounds over GSC's taller players. Coach Sharpe constantly inserted and withdrew players to find a team that would be able to provide some scoring for the Wolves. As the Cardinals continued to roll with excellent rebounding from Xavier Long, who had 4pts in the first, none of GSC's shots fell even the open ones. The only two players who scored for GSC in the second quarter were Joel Banton and Lawahn Lewis who added 2pts a piece. The half-time score was an unforeseen 30-14 lead by the Cardinals. At half time Coach Sharpe blamed the incredibly low scoring from the Wolves on their inability to convert on open opportunities; Sharpe also added that "they are letting Van Arsdales energy interfere". When asked about the attitude of the GSC players in the locker room Sharpe said "it’s positive, we just have to get everyone on the same page". In the third quarter the Wolves tried their best to be more aggressive on both sides of the court despite the Cardinals intensity. While the Wolves made strong moves to the basket, their defense continued to fail as the Cardinals opened up a whopping 24 point lead with 3 minutes to play. Coach Sharpe immediately called a time out and expressed his anger to his players without holding back. The anger did in fact turn into some scoring from Tarik Allicock but it still was not enough. With 12 seconds left, Coach Sharpe showed his complete disappointment by benching all of his thus-far trustworthy players and inserting the bench. The Cardinals Xavier Long put some of his talents on display with nice moves to the hoop including a couple of reverse lay-ups. The score at the end of the third was 51-23. Couldy St. Jean, only in his 3rd game of the season, provided some instant scoring for GSC in the first couple of minutes. As the Cardinals went on a missing streak, St. Jean took advantage and scored 8 points for GSC. The Cardinals took complete control over the game as Long scored 10points in the second half. The final score was 61-33. While the Cardinals celebrated, the somber minded Wolves could do nothing but accept their lowest scoring game of the season. Despite the loss to Harry Van Arsdale, Coach Sharpe spoke before the game saying that "[this season was] successful because with only one Senior we were able to win a lot of games despite our inexperience”. Sharpe added that Senior Joel Banton came in as he should—as a leader. When asked about what he was impressed by and what he hoped to carry into the playoffs, Coach Thornhill responded "that they actually executed what we've been practicing and for us to just be patient and believe that we're a great team instead of just listening to me saying it". The Cardinals showed their ability to compete against the higher ranked GSC team. Point Leader- Xavier Long 19 points (HVA) Assist Leader- Johnny Ayars 6 assist (HVA)Rebounding Leader- Xavier Long 12 rebounds (HVS) The Grand Street Campus Wolves ended their season with a record of 10-4 which they didn't hope for but will have to accept, and the Harry Van Arsdale Cardinals with a record of 7-7. The standings go as followed: 1. Benjamin Banneker(13-0) 2. Grand Street Campus(10-4) 3. Automotive HS(8-5) 4. Harry Van Arsdale(7-7) 5. Dr. Susan S. Mckinney(5-8) 6. Bushwick Campus(4-9) 7. Campus of John Jay(3-10) 8. Global Studies(3-10). The schedule for the playoffs will be announced shortly.