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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
The newly formatted Mayor’s Cup basketball should become something special.
For the first time in 50 years, the best boys and girls seniors from the Public School Athletic League and Catholic High School league squared off in a sanctioned game against each other. The first two years of the Mayor’s Cup event saw just public school players competing against each other, until the mayor’s office got both leagues on board.
It was something that was long overdue, needed, and will only get bigger.
“It definitely creates some type of rivalry,” said Mike Moore, the Midwood and public school’s girls team coach. “They talk amongst themselves, like who is the best. As this moves forward it will build momentum.”
The event got off to a good start last Friday night at Baruch College with nearly all of the city’s top seniors suited up on both sides in front of a large crowd. The Catholic school girls team won 100–66 and the public school boys claimed a 148–136 overtime victory, which had a special intensity late.
“It did feel like a playoff game, even though it’s an all-star game,” Thomas Jefferson guard Rachard Moody said.
That is what gave the games a meaning and credibility that can only grow. The players bought into its importance so everyone else involved should too. It was for bragging rights on Facebook, Twitter and in the gyms with their counterparts and a chance to prove exactly who was best.
“You hear all this stuff, that PSAL is just as good as catholic, [but] they’re not,” Tate said. “We knew that we had to prove to everybody else they weren’t.”
There are plenty of offseason All-Star games including the upcoming Wheelchair Classic, which groups players by borough. The Metro Classic in the fall pits the city against its Long Island and upstate counterparts. The Mayor’s Cup will be unique as likely the only place the two leagues will square off.
The format was attempted at last spring’s Battle 4, the city event run by the FunSports organization, but the Catholic League discouraged their players from participating because either league did not sanction the event.
Friday night was only a start. Playing the game consistently and continually getting the top talent involved will make it a must-watch and must-attend event. Only then will the kids remember what happened the year before and either want to keep their league winning or put a victory in their column after a loss the previous year.
For one night at least, all involved were winners.
Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.