Thursday, March 5, 2009

PSAL 2nd Round Preview

1 Lincoln vs. #16 Thurgood Marshall Academy
Lincoln is on a mission to repeat as PSAL champions. This season they had an ambitious non-league schedule if nothing else, and struggled mightily. The Railsplitters lost almost every single non-league game they played this year. However, it was status quo when it came to Lincoln’s league games, with the team going 13-1 and their lone loss being on the road at Boys & Girls. Thurgood Marshall came in second place in Manhattan AA with an 8-7 record. In contrast, they also struggled this season, but they struggled in league games.This game will be played at Lincoln and will be the last time that Lance Stephenson and Darwin “Buddah” Ellis play on that court. They have been on the Lincoln varsity since they were both freshmen. Both players are essential to Lincoln being able to win another championship. Lance Stephenson is widely regarded as possibly the best player in the city. Ellis can nail shots from long range and can explode when he gets hot. Jason Givens is the best player on Thurgood Marshall, averaging 20 pts and 10 rebounds a game. He will need to play a big game in order for his team to pull off the upset. I seriously doubt that Givens or anybody else on Thurgood Marshall will have big enough games to derail Lincoln this season. Lincoln has James Padgett inside in addition to the two aforementioned seniors and they shouldn’t have any problem knocking off Thurgood Marshall this season. Pick: Lincoln

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