Bayside thought Cantrell Barker had tied the game in the waning seconds with a rainbow 3-pointer, completing an epic comeback. Head referee Derek Maddrey, the only opinion that matterered, thought he was out of bounds.
The shot was waived off and Queens A West champion Long Island City, the fifth seed, escaped with a 59-55 upset of No. 1 Bayside in the PSAL Queens borough boys basketball semifinals Thursday, becoming the first ‘A’ team since Edison won it all in 2007 to reach the Queens final.
With five seconds remaining on the clock and a 21-point Long Island City lead cut to just three, Barker caught the inbounds pass off a screen and hoisted up the seemingly game-tying trey. As the Bayside bench erupted in unison with the rowdy crowd, Maddrey blew his whistle and ruled Barker had his foot on the line, denying the completion of Bayside’s wild comeback.
“We were definitely nervous; we had flashbacks of last year when we lost on a buzzer beater. But it looked like he was out of bounds and a win is a win,” said Long Island City guard Xavier Jones, who scored a game-high 18 points. “It’s a crazy feeling. This is a day and a game to remember for sure.”
Just across the hallway from a relieved locker room filled with singing Long Island City (23-2) players sat a dejected Bayside team, which entered play winners of 11 straight. It fell a few shots short of playing rival second-seeded Cardozo, a 65-52 winnver over No. 3 Campus Magnet, in the PSAL Queens final on Saturday at 5 p.m. at York College.
“Barker plays hard and he scores; it just wasn’t enough to win,” Bayside coach Cory Semper said. “They wanted it more than we did. I expect the team to come back regardless of the score and we picked up the pace in the second half. We showed we’re tough and we can come back from any deficit.”
With 6:00 minutes remaining, it seemed like a Bayside’s comeback was just a pipe dream. That was until Barker, who scored a team-high 16 points, came off the bench. A steal, layup, and a foul shot began the one-man onslaught, propelling Bayside (19-5) to a 19-6 run over the next five minutes, in which Barker scored seven points. With the lead cut to just seven in the final two minutes, Barker put the team on his back, scoring nine of Bayside’s final 10 points and setting up the controversial game-tying play that wasn’t.
“If this isn’t surviving, I don’t know what is,” Long Island City coach Harley Watstein said. “In the playoffs, your bench shrinks and it’s easier to run out of gas on the court. That, combined with some mental mistakes and the loud crowd, let them get back in the game.”
“They’re a good team, they are in the ‘AA’ division for a reason,” Long Island City senior Arthur Santanna added. “But we kept our composure, we were patient, and we won. We’re hungry to win the whole tournament.”
