BASKETBALL; Brooklyn's Last Hope Is Lost in Manhattan
BASKETBALL; Brooklyn's Last Hope Is Lost in Manhattan
By HARVEY ARATON
Published: March 15, 1992
For a few hours yesterday afternoon, the Cinderella run of Lafayette High School in the Public Schools Athletic League basketball playoffs reached unimagined heights. But then came the fall, crash and burn.
The Frenchies were eliminated by small but quick Brandeis High School, 56-50, last night at Manhattan Community College. Their dream of going to Madison Squre Garden for the championship game next Saturday died at the free-throw line, where they missed 12 of 21 attempts.
"Our old nemesis," said the disappointed coach, Ira Levine, who had never come this far in his 11-year coaching career.
Al Burt led Brandeis with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Antonio Carrasquillo had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Frenchies.
Lincoln High School, ruler of Brooklyn, defending champion of the city, had been wishing Lafayette the best, after losing earlier in the day to Manhattan Center, 69-51.
"They're the only ones left and I hope they do it," said Don Marbury Sr., who has sent four basketball-playing sons to Lincoln from his home in Coney Island, including 14-year-old Stephon, Lincoln's freshman point guard. Manhattan Center Wins
He was standing in the corridor at Manhattan Community, trying to make some sense of the loss at the hands of smaller, less-heralded Manhattan Center with the Lincoln coach, Bobby Hartstein. Lincoln had come into the game with 22 victories in 24 tries, 16-0 in the strong Brooklyn Division I, but Manhattan Center's Running Rams blew Lincoln away with a mixture of slashing drives and jump shots, with a pair of 5-foot-10-inch guards,
Cameron Giles and Sherman Jones, combining for 35 points.