New York…… What makes IS8 games so good is the saying on the jersey which reads “Bring your game not your name”!The Playaz 19s had to bring their game in an exciting IS8 quarterfinal against the New York Panthers beating them 75-73! Rutgers recruit Myles Mack(right), who has become an IS8 legend again displayed the talent that has him as one of the top players in the New York/New Jersey area! The Panthers lead by 13 points 58-45 going into the 4th quarter before Mack and his IS8 teammates took over! Georgetown bound Jabril Trawick and Chuck Oliver helped Mack put together the deciding run! Trawick attacked the rim for buckets while Oliver(bottom right) hit two “triples” late to open up the lane for Mack and allow him to go to work! Oliver tied the game at 69, then Mack completed a three point play to give the Playaz their first lead since early in the 1st quarter 72-71! The Panthers, who had an awful lot of talent on the floor cut the lead to one 74-73 with 13 seconds left when Fordham bound Jeff Short who shot the lights out made two of three free throws after being fouled on a three point shot attempt, but Mack’s free throw finished off the scoring! Mack led the scoring with 26 points, while Trawick added 25! Oliver finished with 12 as the Playaz also got strong efforts from North Carolina bound Desmond Hubert, Rutgers football recruit Keith Lumpkin and point guard David Burgos! Short led the Panthers with 24 points, Amir Garrett added 10 points while Mike Taylor added 9! The Playaz will meet Real Scouts in a semifinal as they destroyed Nia Prep 74-48! St.Johns recruit Jekorr Sampson led Real Scouts with 18 points while Terry Brutus added 15! Iowa State bound Tavon Sledge chipped in 12 points for Scout! Cincinnati recruit Shaquille Thomas led Nia with 16 points!

Bergen Catholic basketball coach Joe Dionisio resigned his position and the Crusaders are now in search of the next person to lead this prestigious program! While many names have been mentioned, it’s believed the leading candidate is assistant coach and former Bergen Catholic player Billy Armstrong! Armstrong has a great reputation in the area and would make a great choice for Bergen Catholic! Let’s see how it plays out! Good luck to Coach Dionisio, who had a strong 13 year career at the school, including winning a Parochial State Championship, among other titles in his tenure!

Hampton, Virginia,,,,,,,,,The Playaz 14u squad spent the Easter Holiday down in Virginia, participating in the first Nike sponsored Easter Invitational Tournament at the Boo Williams Sportsplex! After an opening day loss, The Playaz got their feet wet and ran off with the”CHIP”! The Playaz went 5-1 in the Tournament, concluding with a 61-57 win over Nike’s own Team Final! Isaiah Briscoe did the damage in the final, as he had all weekend, leading the scoring with 18 points! Briscoe(bottom right) averaged 25 points a game for the Tournament! Nassir Barrino added 12 in the”chip” while Alphonso Gee chipped in with 10! The game was in doubt until Playaz bigman Jordan Duncan went 3 for 4 from the freethrow line to ice it! Duncan was clutch down the stretch! The Playaz got to this point during the weekend by first losing a tough 73-70 game to Virginia’s Slam City! They wasted a 33 point effort by Briscoe and 16 from Barrino! Must be noted Slam City has one of the top 14’s in the country by the name of Marquis Cole! Cole finished with 30! After the loss, The Playaz shook it off by defeating a team from Georgia 56-47 behind Briscoe’s 22 and a great floor game by Barrino who finished with 11 points and played a strong floor game by handling the full court press! After getting their first win, they took on Team Takeover from D.C. where they won 62 -46 as Gee was the key player adding 14 points to Briscoe’s 17 and Barrino’s 16! This gave them the opportunity to advance to the Championship rounds! In the Quarters, they blew out Philadelphia’s Gym Rats Team 82-58 as Briscoe went nuts, scoring 36 points! In the Semifinals they met up with Virgina Run n Gun team and beat them 79 -65 as Briscoe finished with 25, Barrino had 17 and Gee added 17! That set the stage for The Playaz to take care of business in the”CHIP”! Coach Jamal Slappy and his hard nosed talented team should be commended for giving themselves and The Playaz Basketball Club a Happy Holiday!!!!!!