Seck pg 9 1-16-20
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Darryl Simmons. Photo by Vaso Brodeur
Abdul Seck has been struggling with his shot for three or four games now.
But he still had the confidence to take — and make — a game-changing 3-pointer in a wild 85-83 win for the Putnam Science Academy varsity boys’ team on Jan. 9.
Seck’s basket from the right wing with 10.2 seconds left snapped an 81-81 tie, and came off an assist from Jaden Brewington, who drove to the basket and drew three defenders before kicking the ball out to Seck.
“It was a drive-and-kick and they all collapsed on Jaden and that left me wide open,” said Seck, who finished with 23 points, tying him with Luc Brittian for team-high. “I know I wasn’t making a lot of shots but I have to keep my head up and keep shooting and eventually they’ll start falling. That one just happened to fall.”
Brewington also factored directly in the play that tied the game at 81-81, as he drove along the left baseline – just as he did on Seck’s game-winner – and laid in a nifty reverse layup with 58 seconds to play.
“I made a little move, hesitated, and got the guy to jump,” Brewington said. “I just went underneath and did what I had to do.”
Brewington scored 11, and Darryl Simmons added 10 for the Mustangs, who got a huge blocked shot from Amir Sanders late in the game, giving them a chance for the win.
“I was in helpside, saw him coming baseline, came over to help, went up, I thought he was about to dunk it, so I went up to get it,” Sanders said. “I just jumped. My first instinct was to block it.”
That game was sandwiched by another win Jan. 8 (98-85 over Redemption Christian Academy) and a loss Jan. 12 (98-80 to Rocktop Academy).
In the win over RCA, Sanders knocked down four 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 20 points, and Darryl Simmons scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate.
Brittian finished with 11 points, and Seck had 10 for the Mustangs, who led by as many as 28 midway through the second half.
It was a different ending on Jan. 12, despite 25 points from Seck and 21 from Sanders. Seck fouled out with roughly 10 minutes to play, and PSA was outscored 29-12 from that point on.
“Foul trouble definitely hurt us,” said coach Dana Valentine. “We gave up too many points…98 points is a lot of points. I think we were the better team for 32 minutes. They were the better team for 40 minutes.”
Simmons, who turned 16 Sunday, finished with 17 points and Brewington added 14 for the Mustangs (7-7).
Boys’ Prep
The boys’ prep team, meanwhile, continued to stack up wins, thanks in large part to the play of Josh Gray. The 7-footer had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a 112-55 throttling of Redemption Christian Academy on Jan. 8, then followed up with 16 points and 20 rebounds, and three blocks in an otherwise lackluster 108-80 win over Rocktop Academy on Jan. 11.
In the first game, JuJu Murray led six players in double figures, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while also grabbing a season-high nine rebounds and handing out five assists.
Vlad Goldin had 15 points, Terrell Ard Jr. 14 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals, Hassan Diarra finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists, and Elijah Everett-Hutchins added 11 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs.
“I loved the energy from the start, and I was really concerned about that, coming back from break, this was probably our smallest crowd,” said coach Tom Espinosa. “I didn’t know if the energy would be here, but I was really impressed with our guys, start to finish played extremely hard.
Espinosa wasn’t as warm and fuzzy after Saturday night’s game, as the Mustangs played uninspired ball, particularly in the first half before finding some good spurts in the second half. The coach was pleased with Gray from the start, calling him “the best player on the floor by far tonight.”
As for that first half, Espinosa called it the worst of the season, as the team played with little purpose.
“It was very disappointing,” he said. “Saying that, we had a nice little talk, kind of, at halftime, and I think we were a little better in the second half.”
Goldin ended with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Mekhi Gray finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Hassan Diarra went for 15 points.
The boys’ varsity 2 team split a pair of games, first beating St. Thomas More 81-60 on Jan. 9, before losing to Fessenden the next day, 63-55.
Erwan Menguy hit six 3-pointers for his game-high 18 points, and Khalil Gooden chipped in with 17 points in the win. Alonzo Henries added 13 points and Kevin Ravix 10 for the Mustangs. But the biggest ovation came for Eric Ruan, who collected his first basket of the season, drilling a 3-pointer from the right wing and sending the crowd and PSA bench into a frenzy.
Michael Phav had 23 points and Menguy 17 points in the loss for the Mustangs (5-3).
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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