The New York Knicks Roll Past the Competition and Win the Eastern Wheelchair Basketball Conference Championship

Written by Peter Quartuccio

CEDARHURST, NY—This past Saturday, January 22, four local wheelchair basketball squads took part in the 58^th Annual Eastern Wheelchair Basketball Conference Tournament at Lawrence High School.  The Nassau Kings, the New York Nets, the Bulova Nets, and the New York Knicks—the heavy favorite to win the title—each had their share of good moments and strong performances, but it was the Knicks that possessed the greatest sum of both.  With their vast array of offensive weapons and seemingly boundless depth, the Knicks went undefeated at the tournament, besting both of their opponents in convincing fashion to win the E.W.B.C. Championship.

            The Knicks began their dominant campaign by trouncing the game but simply overmatched Kings, 64-18.  The superior outlet passing of the Knicks and the speed of their guards scorched the Kings, who, despite losing by nearly 50 points, never gave up.  Their heart and dedication served them well in their second game, where they found themselves matched up against the tough and skilled but far less dangerous New York Nets, who were coming off a 76-31 rout at the hands of the Bulova Nets.  The Kings wound up topping the New York Nets, 39-27, and went home a respectable 1 and 1, while their opponent finished the day winless.

            Being all from the tri-state area, these teams are very familiar with each other, and with this familiarity came a not altogether subtle dose of contempt.  Nowhere was that contempt more present or perceptible than in the Championship Final between the Knicks and the Bulova Nets, where trash talk ruled the day.  The Knicks’ brash point guard David Snowden did his best to back up the talk, shooting well and distributing the ball wisely and precisely.  His teammates’ contributions were considerable, as Eddy Lopez’s presence on the glass and Kevin Grant’s accuracy from the field helped give the Knicks a balanced attack.  The Bulova Nets had their own stellar performances: Paul Ward and Jim Jeffreys shot the ball well, and bigmen Steve Yedlock, Luis Dalmau, and Denton Johnson did their best to thwart the Knicks’ offensive onslaught.  In the end, the Knicks’ myriad weapons proved too much for the tenacious but outgunned Nets, and went on to beat them by a final score of 65-52.

            For more information about this and other adapted sports and events, please visit www.WheelchairSportsFederation.org.

16th Annual Al Youakim Wheelchair Basketball Tournament was held at Hackensack Middle School (NJ) from Saturday October 29th to Sunday October 31st, 2010.  The tournament included 5 National Wheelchair Basketball Teams (NWBA) from Division 3.  It all started off with a clinic for the local Jr Nets Wheelchair Basketball Prep Team and for the next two days 12 very competitive games were played.  The New York Rollin' Knicks faced off against the Connecticut Spokebenders with the Knicks winning the Championship.  The rankings for the tournament are as follows with All-Star and other awards given.

Teams

All-Stars

Classification I - Kevin Grant - New York Rollin Knicks

Classification II - Kelly Lavoie - Connecticut Spokebenders

Classification II - Paul Ward - Bulova Nets

Classification II - Paul Cowan - New England Blazers

Classification III - Josh Levine - Connecticut Spokebenders

Classification III - Faizool Ali - New York Rollin Knicks

Freddy Jones Sportsmanship Award - Jason Salawu - Bulova Nets

Al Youakim Spirit Award - Gerry Fleming - New York Rolling Knicks

MVP - Edy Lopez - NY Rollin' Knicks 

Raffle Winner - NJ Nets Team Autographed Basketball - Darrell Ruopp - Connecticut Spokebenders

Raffle Winner - NJ Nets Team Autographed Basketball - Linas Pagano - Connecticut Spokebenders

Thanks to all our great sponsors, the NJ Nets and Wheelchair Sports Federation and all the great volunteers who made this a great success.

JETS SOAR PAST GIANTS IN LONG ISLAND

Gang Green Staves Off Big Blue to Win the 4^th Annual Wheelchair Football Championship

 BROOKHAVEN, NY—In the height of football season, the New York Giants and New York Jets wheelchair football teams took to the gridiron this past Saturday, November 6 at Diamond in the Pines Field in Brookhaven, New York for the 4^th Annual Wheelchair Football game.  The contest was close throughout, and went down to the final whistle, but when the smoke cleared, it was the Jets who were victorious.

            The first few possessions gave a good indication of how tight a game this would be.  The Jets appeared to be the more skilled unit from the onset, but the Giants refused to go away quietly.  Never was this more apparent than early in the second half of play.  The Jets had finally broken through near the end of the second quarter when quarterback Jason Soricelli connected with wide receiver Eddie Lopez for the first touchdown of the game.  This could have demoralized the Giants, who had squandered several scoring opportunities early in the game, but Big Blue instead responded with a touchdown of their own shortly into the third quarter, a coast-to-coast score between Mark James and Luis Dalmau that tied the game at 6.  In the fourth, the Jets methodically marched down the field with a 10+ play drive that ended in yet another Soricelli-Lopez touchdown, putting them up 12-6 with only minutes to play.  The Giants once again refused to back down, but their comeback tries were consistently squelched by the fierce Jets’ defense.  Their swarming fourth quarter pass rush completely overwhelmed the Giants, who were sacked several times in the final few minutes of the game, and helped the Jets hold on for the 12-6 victory.  Eddie Lopez was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his excellence on both sides of the ball; in addition to his two touchdown catches, Lopez also collected two first-half interceptions that killed Giants’ drives.  George Taborsky, with his two second-half sacks, also came up big for the Jets. 

           Thanks to all the volunteers who came to help, NYGFL for refereeing the game and Chili's for donating the food & drink and cooking for over 100 people.  We could not have don it without their help.

 For more information about this and other adapted sports and events, please visit www.WheelchairSportsFederation.org.

CELTICS GO BACK-TO-BACK AT THE MAYOR’S CUP

NEPVA Celtics Finish On Top for the Second Consecutive Year

BRONX, NY—They faced long odds and a strong field, but the NEPVA Celtics extended their reign as champs, beating the Connecticut Spokebenders in the Championship Game at the 10^th Annual Mayor’s Cup Wheelchair Basketball Tournament at Manhattan College.  They finished first in a field of ten teams, eight of which stood in the way of a Celtics’ repeat (the New York Rollin’ Knicks participated, but due to their decision to become a Class 3 team, they are in a probationary year and are thus ineligible to play in title games; the Junior National Team from Canada participated as well, trouncing all of the teams they faced, but they were not eligible to play for the championship).  The Celtics proved to be the class of the event by beating all the opponents they faced, including convincing victories over the Bay State Clippers and Connecticut Spokebenders on the final day of competition.

            The Connecticut Spokebenders, the Bulova Nets, and the Bay State Clippers, who featured former Celtic and last year’s Mayor’s Cup Most Valuable Player Omar Benitez, represented the largest obstacles in the Celtics’ quest for another title.  Not surprisingly, all four teams found themselves competing in the playoffs on the final day of competition.  The Celtics bested the Clippers in the first matchup, and the Spokebenders took out the Nets in the second game, setting up a Connecticut-NEPVA final. The Spokebenders fought hard, aided in large part to the play of this year’s Mayor’s Cup MVP Josh Levine, but they ultimately fell to the Celtics, 46-27.  Though it was a well-rounded effort by the champions, Steven Davis was a stand-out performer, and was acknowledged as such by being named to the 2010 Mayor’s Cup All-Tournament team.  Despite the best efforts of All-Tournament center Steve Yedlock and star guard Paul Ward, the Bulova Nets stumbled in the second half of their Consolation game against the Clippers, missing easy shots and committing costly turnovers.  In the end, Bay State and their All-Tournament forward Omar Benitez made the Nets pay for their ill-timed errors, eking out a 52-43 win.

            For information on this and other adapted sports and events, please visit www.WheelchairSportsFederation.org.