City Title Preview

Uh oh, its time for the Boston City Championships. On ThursdayFebruary 24th, I encourage you to come out to a doubleheader of epic proportions featuring the 4 toughest teams in the city. Representing the South division are the West Roxbury Raiders and the New Mission Titans. And representing the North is the East Boston Jets and the Charlestown Townies. The way the bracket is set up is the top seed faces the 2nd seed of the opposite division. That will be your semifinal setup. And then the championship is the second matchup of the city title doubleheader the following day. So on Thursday the games will be at 4:00 and 5:30 pm. And the boys Boston City basketball championship is at 6:30 on Friday. (Sidenote: Unfortunately for me, I have a shift to work on Thursday from 2-8 that doesn't allow me to show up for the semifinals. I will be there on Friday for the championship.) This is why I want to toss out my prediction and give you just a little depth on what to expect for this tournament.

CHARLESTOWN VS WEST ROXBURY

The Raiders return 3 all stars this year in Givaughn Jones, Roger Paul and Jason Hall. Expect their somewhat deep lineup to spread out for mid range shots. The style of Westie usually shows 2 bigs including Jason Hall to attack the boards at all times and they rely on 2 shooters including Roger Paul to hit the outside shots. If he gets started, don't expect to shut him down. They have maybe one key ball handler and one key mid range threat off the bench. This matchup is going to be scary for them. They come into the tourney having lost a plethra of games but sweeping the 3rd ranked team in the conference. So because the only team in the division they couldnt beat was Mission twice, they are the South #2 seed and earned the spot to play the Townies. Charlestown is going to run it hard tomorrow. They come into this game having lost once in the city, they are too strong and they only lost by 4. Keep in mind it was on the road and in the tougher division. And it was the second of two tough games in two days. Which only occured because of snow day makeup games. Charlestown is too deep. The return one all star in Akosa Maduegbunam. He is apart of a duo who likes to play around with every team they face. Both him and Rony Fernandez average over 10 pts a piece. They both are deadly from the outside. Rony is an insult to anyone playing zone defense because his shot is better the farther you force him out of the paint and please understand that if you let him inside the paint hes going to score or be fouled. You have to foul him. There is no other option. Then you have Tyrik Jackson who at 6'5 is an excellent shot blocker and his hook shot which he uses for putbacks is consistent most of the time. Also they have 2 point guards in Iser Barnes and Tyerese Hoxter who if you sleep on them will drop an easy 20 on you in addition to the sixth man who is Omar Orriols. If you leave him open he will drop a 3 from the corner on demand. They average about 8o+ points a game. They beat St Johns Prep by 12 or more and they were the late season 1 seed in the state.

Projection: Charlestown in a blowout...94-71

NEW MISSION VS EAST BOSTON

The Titans and Jets did the same thing last year, playing once in the season and facing off in the semifinals. The Jets are all shooters. They return one all star in Jeff Amazan and his tandem with Stan Greene and Stan Winn will score like crazy. If you let any of them start they will not stop. Jeff Amazan and Stan Winn can easily drop 20 a game. They have alot of scorers off the bench too. But they rely way too much on the 3 ball and so if for any reason it doesnt drop consistently they will lose. A tough coach in Malcolm Smith is not going to help this one in the books. They just finished losing to the Titans the other day. Now they gotta face them again. Here is whats funny. They played zone against the Jets and barely beat them. If they play straight up, they are going to toast them. There is simply too much height and strength in the Titans. They start all 6 footers and all of the starters are returning all stars except for the center and hes just a sophomore. Two of them are McDonalds All American nominees for the state. That means their caliber is not to be messed with. They play way too hard inside and will dominate the boards. Their full court and half court trap will scare you into plenty of turnovers. So again I believe the Jets will lose.

Projection: New Mission in a sizeable one...75-63

I won't even begin to preview what will take place in the city title. If it turns out the way I saw it, Charlestown and New Mission in the city final will be the best game all year and rightfully so seeing as the championship should include the best teams. I don't know about you but I am ready and since I can't come tomorrow, I fully expect to see what I want in a beautiful game. Boston City are you ready...see you at the Madison Park Community Center in the heart of the city. It's gametime.