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PSA Prep
takes Power 5
Conference
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Putnam Science Academy’s Prep basketball coach Tom Espinosa encourages his teams to always enjoy any championship they may win. Whether it’s the New England Basketball League, the Power 5 Conference, or the National Tournament, he doesn’t want them to take anything for granted.
So it was then that the Mustangs were all smiles and hugs Saturday afternoon after beating Bridgeport Prep 103-76 to win the Power 5 Conference Tournament title for the third straight year. The National Tournament, which PSA has won twice in a row and four times overall, was played this week from March 5-7.
“You never know if you’ll get another one,” Espinosa said. “You don’t even know if you’ll play for one again. Going into college, a lot of these guys’ teams won’t be in a championship game, so I want them to appreciate this and enjoy it.
“And people can say what they want about the Power 5, but it’s a gritty league, it’s filled with tough, hard-nosed teams, and we had to be those things too to beat a really good Bridgeport Prep team. Give credit to the kids.”
Fallou Gueye had a team-leading 23 points, eight assists, and four steals, while Que Duncan had 15 points, Cris McElveen and Justin Johnson added 13 apiece, and Tony Williams finished with 12 in the win.
PSA advanced to the final by drubbing Redemption Christian Academy 105-69 on Friday.
Amdy Ndiaye had 11 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
“The coaches gave me a lot of confidence, they let me go, they let me rock,” Ndiaye said. “I feel like my game is just like that, so when you give me that confidence and let me hoop, the sky is the limit.
“I’m in a situation where I’m just trying to help the team by any means possible. Right now we don’t have Oswin (Erhunmwunse) so I’m trying to fill a role and get rebound, play as hard as I can, and be here to do the winning plays.”
Ben Ahmed finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks, Johnson had 12 points, five rebounds, and three steals, and Duncan and Imahri Wooten added 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Gueye and Williams both handed out five assists, Derrick Morris chipped in with seven points, Grant Randall had six rebounds and three blocks, as PSA got something from everybody.
“I was so happy with the starters,” Espinosa said. “They had great energy, they defended at a high level, they were unselfish, pushed the ball. Everything we talked about, they did. We came to play and I’m proud of our guys.”
PSA’s boys’ Varsity team came up just short in its bid to win its Power 5 Conference tourney title, falling 58-47 to Redemption in Saturday’s final.
Amyas Hall-Chiari had a game-high 25 points but it wasn’t enough as PSA fell just short of winning the tournament championship. Julien Ville finished with 15 points in the loss.
“We played them as tough as we did all season,” said coach Andrew Robinson, whose Mustangs lost the two previous meetings between the teams this season by an average of 21 points. “That was a tough loss for sure. I really wanted to win that one for the guys. They left it all on the court.”
PSA got 13 points from Martyn Poliuchovic and 10 points from both Ville and Vlad Vetrov in beating St. Thomas More 52-45 in a semifinal Saturday. Hall-Chiari added seven for the Mustangs. PSA beat Commonwealth 84-74 in a Thursday quarterfinal, getting 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists from Ville. The Mustangs struggled offensively in the first half but went on a 29-9 run in the early part of the second half to take control of the game. Poliuchovic had 21 points, while Vetrov finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and three steals for PSA, which finished the season at 15-10.
Carter Mungin dominated play in the post Thursday, finishing with 27 points and nine rebounds, and Octavius Wheeler scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half in leading PSA’s Elite team to an 88-78 win over St. Thomas More in a quarterfinal game of their Power 5 Tournament. Jalen Claude had a hard time getting untracked offensively through much of the game, but he drilled two huge 3-pointers late and finished with 13 points and five assists for PSA.
Their season ended Friday in an 84-59 loss at top-seeded Winchendon, despite 19 points from Mungin and 15 from Wheeler.
The girls’ team ended its regular season with a win, handling Hoosac 55-30, as Carlota Lopez had 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Helin Yoztyurk finished with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals, while Kate Lipatova added seven points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three blocks for PSA (12-18), which has a first-round game against Western Reserve March 7 in its national tournament, held at Clark University.
“I think this was a good way for us to end the regular season and head into the tournament,” coach Greg Canzater said. “We needed that win. Hoosac is a tough place to play, it’s a long ride…it’s easy to buckle there. We didn’t. We did what we needed to do and we’ve got ourselves a little momentum for what we hope will be a fun run at nationals. We’ve shown up in big games, so If we play the way we’re capable of, I like our chances.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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