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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: The Courier’s Top 10 Brooklyn high school teams of 2013

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See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The Brooklyn high school sports season produced numerous champions and historic runs. There were great players, great games and exceptional teams. Who had the best year of them all?

Courier Sports Editor Joseph Staszewski ranks the top 10 Brooklyn high school teams for the 2012-2013 season. The squads are selected based on their level of dominance in their sport, the level and difficulty of any title won, the historic nature of its season and the quality of their overall year. Here is the list for 2013:

1. Bishop Ford girls basketball (26–7)

It’s hard to top what the Falcons did, especially under the circumstances. Ford won the school’s first diocesan, Catholic state and State Federation Class AA titles all with Head Coach Mike Toro suspended as the school investigated potential inappropriate financial benefits to members of the team. The Falcons title stood and junior guard Aaliyah Jones emerged as a star, winning the Federation tournament MVP award.

2. Erasmus Hall football (12–0)

If anyone came close to Ford it was Erasmus. The Dutchman overcame losing the title game a year ago. They went unbeaten and topped Tottenville 15–14 at Yankee Stadium behind Curtis Samuel for the elusive crown. It was Erasmus’ first city title at the highest classification. The championship was even sweeter for Coach Danny Landberg, who saw his home severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

3. Telecommunications baseball (25–0)

The Telecom, led by Josh Palacios and Chris Lee, claimed the school’s first ever PSAL Class A crown by beating Norman Thomas at MCU Park. The unbeaten campaign for Coach Ed D’Alessio’s club solidified Telecom as one of the city top programs.

4. Lincoln boys basketball (26–5)

The Railsplitters claimed the PSAL Class AA city title for the first time in three years by beating rival Thomas Jefferson at Madison Square Garden. Star guard Isaiah Whitehead officially put his name with the Lincoln greats by claiming his first crown. He and his top-seeded squad wouldn’t have done it without stellar performances in the final from Elijah Davis and Desi Rodriguez.

5. Fontbonne Hall softball (20–12)

The little school on the Shore Road hill reached new heights. Fontbonne fought back from a game down to win its first Brooklyn-Queens diocesan title. The arm of Nicolette Trapani and bat of Maria Serrantino pushed them all the way to the Catholic state title game, where they fell to Kellenberg. All the hard work of the last two years came together for a magical season.

6. Poly Prep baseball (16–8–1)

Poly didn’t look like its same dominant self in the regular season and never truly found an offensive groove. When you have pitching like the Blue Devils did that doesn’t seem to matter. Andrew Zapata, Morgan Gray and Phil Maldari were dominant in the post season and pitched Poly to a historic third straight private school baseball title.

7. Brooklyn Tech wrestling (14–0)

Two out of three isn’t bad and that’s exactly what No. 11-seeded Brooklyn Tech did. It erased the taste of last year’s lost in the final and took down No. 1 Cardozo to claim its second PSAL city title in the last three years. Senior star Shaquille Williams put together another dominant season on the mat to help the program reach an elite status in New York City.

8. Bishop Loughlin boys basketball (21–8)

Despite being the lone team on this list without some form a championship, you can’t take away what the Lions accomplished. Four of their losses were to state champion Christ the King and two of those games were absolute thrillers. Khadeen Carrington and Mike Williams helped Loughlin reach the Catholic intersectional ‘AA’ title game for the first time since 2010.

9. Nazareth boy’s basketball (24–5)

Naz nation claimed its second straight Catholic city title, this time in the ‘A’ after being moved up this season. The Kingsman became the first Catholic boys team to win a crown at a higher classification the year after claiming a title at a lower one. Star wing Samson Usilo returns next season, so there is no reason why his team won’t be in the mix again next year

10. Thomas Jefferson boys track

The Orange Wave took their dominance of PSAL track to a different level this year. Jefferson used its superiority in the field events and more balanced running performance to claim a third straight outdoor city title. It added to that by also winning the program’s first indoor crown in the last 10 years behind Sidgie Green and Lesley Clervil.

Honorable mention: Brooklyn Tech boys swimming (12–0), Thomas Jefferson basketball (26–6), South Shore girls basketball (22–5), Abraham Lincoln football (8–3), Grand Street baseball (18–3), and Berkeley Carroll baseball (20–1)

Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.

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