TODT HILL, SI-A good season came to a screeching halt today for the Berkeley Carroll JV Lions, who were ousted by top seeded Packer 67-30 in the ACIS semifinals at Staten Island Academy in Westerleigh. The Lions fell for the third time to their close Brooklyn rival, who advanced to the championship game where they’ll meet UNIS, who earlier held off Friends Seminary 47-44. It along with the winners of the two Varsity semis still going on will be played Monday at Poly Tech.
Unfortunately, Coach Walter Paller’s Lions will not be continuing their season due to a well balanced Packer attack that proved too much to overcome at the Tigers’ gym. It didn’t start out that way with freshman Jasper Kitchen doing all he could to give his team a chance, scoring nine of a team high 18 in the opening stanza. Kitchen beat Packer to the hoop three times for nice finishes, helping Berkeley Carroll go up by one.
But top seeded Packer closed the quarter on a 8-0 run to take an 18-11 lead. They did it by taking advantage of the Lions’ aggressive full court defense, transitioning down the floor for quick buckets. On a much bigger floor than their home turf back in Park Slope, the pressure D backfired. Instead, Packer moved the ball efficiently and used their size edge to score inside. In particular, they hurt them in the paint and on the glass, converting second and third chances.
With Kitchen trying his best to keep Coach Paller’s club aflaot by scoring seven more in an identical second period (18-11 Packer), the Lions found themselves in a 14-point hole (36-22) at the half. Complicating matters, Thursday’s hero Will Reagan struggled all day to find his shot while blowing several chippies that could’ve prevented Packer from pushing the margin into double digits. With Reagan unable to get untracked, it allowed the No.1 seed to focus on blanketing Kitchen, who eventually cooled considerably in a frustrating second half.
Josiah Murrell played a strong game finishing with eight but simply wasn’t enough to keep a smart Packer squad from getting the shots they wanted. In particular, the play of their starting point guard No.3 was pivotal due to his ability to penetrate and dish to open teammates. The unselfish guard also scored when necessary, hitting a couple of daggers from deep. While the Lions struggled to get consistent scoring, that wasn’t an issue for Packer who had four players with at least eight by intermission.
Another factor was the officiating, which allowed both teams to play, giving the longer and more physical top seeds a decisive advantage. In fact, they weren’t called for a foul until the fourth quarter. Something which infuriated Coach Paller who made it a point to ask the refs to at least call it even. Instead, the fouls were five-zip at halftime and six-zero through 24 minutes. While he and Varsity coach Carmine Giovino had a point about how it was being called, the Lions never got the kind of overall effort needed to get back in the game.
They tried but committed too many turnovers and were particularly undisciplined in the first part of the third when Packer gave them opportunities to get back in it, by taking bad shots and turning the ball over. However, Berkeley Carroll didn’t take its chance finding it difficult to score with Kitchen locked up. Eventually, Packer settled down, outscoring BC 13-6 in building a 21-point cushion after three.
The final stanza turned ugly when starting point guard Robert Graham was called for a questionable technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. The play in question was an in-bounds which saw the heart of the team throw the ball off No.11′s legs out of bounds. Normally, you maintain possession but in this instance, the referee indicated that he intentionally did it, further aggravating Paller who stuck up for Graham and got T’d up- handing Packer four free throws.
Though they only made one, the psychological damage was done. The Lions simply were unable to recover from a tough finish to the first half that allowed Packer to gain more confidence. If they were going to come back, it would’ve come in the third when their opponent took its foot off the gas pedal.
It only got worse when Graham was ejected for a flagrant foul with the ref saying he punched No.11 in the back. The situation nearly became ugly with the players almost coming to blows before being separated. At least cooler heads prevailed, allowing both benches to get in at the end with Packer putting the finishing touches on a convincing 37-point win to make the league final. They’ll try to complete an unbeaten season against UNIS Monday in the first of the double dip in Brooklyn Heights.
For the Lions, Kitchen finished with 18 while Murrell played inspired, finishing with eight. Reagan scored only four in a forgettable afternoon. They were the only three who scored with Matteo Heilbrun unable to get going and Graham shut out.
Certainly a disappointing conclusion to a good season that saw the JV Lions come together under Coach Paller after an 0-3 start. They played great down the stretch and finished 11-7 overall,, including a memorable quarterfinal rally edging Staten Island Academy in a fun game that was good for the program.
These young men should be proud of the effort they gave and take the positive experience with them for next Fall.
