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Darryl Simmons. Photo by Thomas Netzer
It was a busy week of hoops at Putnam Science Academy, with all five basketball teams seeing plenty of action.
The Prep boys’ team, ranked third in the country, went undefeated across four games, including an impressive 73-58 win over the NBA Global Academy on Tuesday.
Darryl Simmons led a balanced offensive attack that night with 11 points and six rebounds, while Ben Ahmed had 10 points and nine rebounds. Six other Mustangs scored at least six points in the win. Oswin Erhunmwunse had seven points, including a dunk over a 7-foot-3 defender, and four blocks.
“I thought the guys played hard,” said coach Tom Espinosa. “Defensively, I thought we were pretty good. We only gave up 58 points. That’s a good number.”
Simmons led the way again Thursday night, posting 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists in a 69-54 win over Mt. Zion Academy. Ahmed recorded his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Erhunmwunse scored a team-leading 14 points. The Mustangs then spent the weekend in Springfield, Mass., for a Power 5 conference showcase. Blake Barkley had 15 points and seven rebounds in a 94-75 win over Bridgeport Prep Saturday. Baye Ndongo played real well as he continues to get comfortable after joining the team in mid-January. He finished with 11 points, eight boards and a pair of blocks, then followed up Sunday with 17 points in an 85-64 victory over Redemption Christian, PSA’s ninth victory in a row.
Simmons had 10 more points in that game and remains on pace to score 1,000 career points. Mouhamed Dioubate is also on pace to join that exclusive club (currently only three Mustangs have hit that mark), and he also has a chance to become PSA’s career and single-season rebound record holder.
Varsity Boys’ Team
The Varsity boys’ team had a packed schedule as well, playing five games in five days, with wins in three of them. The highlight was Wednesday’s 57-53 overtime win at Wilbraham & Monson, keyed by Nick Sokol’s 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force OT. Michael Olorunsola had a team-high 15 points for PSA, which also got 12 points from Max Shepel. Sokol and Erick Aponte both had nine points in the win.
A day earlier, they beat Plainfield High’s freshmen team 62-26 behind 11 points apiece from Hugo Bolumar and Victor DeLeon, and 10 each for Shane Sebastian-Smalls and Mario Espinoza.
Shepel had 19 points and 15 rebounds in Thursday’s 69-60 loss to Get Better Academy, a team out of the Czech Republic.
“We played well,” said coach Nick Schmidt. “We executed well offensively and rebounded well for being outsized. We competed hard and I was proud of them for that.
The Mustangs also lost Friday, 55-36 at Fessenden, before rebounding Saturday with a 51-23 victory at St. Andrew’s. DeLeon led the way with 10 points in that one.
Elite Boys’ Team
The week started well for the Elite boys’ team, grabbing a 75-51 win over Rectory on Monday. Pop Wadang had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Thierry Lokrou finished with a team-high 15 points for the Mustangs. But they lost a tough back-and forth game Wednesday to Winchendon, 91-85, in which Lokrou scored 29, Jalen Claude had 17 points, Travis Upchurch 15, and Yhali Steinhauer 10 for the Mustangs, who had their seven-game winning streak snapped. The week ended with a 71-67 loss at New York Military Academy Saturday, despite 24 points from Claude.
Prep Girls’ Team
It was a tough week on the girls’ side as well, as the Prep team – playing without its top two scorers Ines Goryanova and Janeya Grant – fell 65-47 to Life Center (N.J.). Genevive Wedemeyer had 13 points, Brianna Mead had 10, and KC Cedano finished with four points and 13 rebounds for the Mustangs.
The Select girls team dressed just seven Saturday for its game at NYMA and came up just short in a 56-53 overtime loss. Mead had 17 points in that one, Hailey Johnson had a season-high 12 points, Keyani Jackson added 11, and Zuzanna Komor added 10 for the Mustangs.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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