See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Sisters Destiny and Selena Philoxy didn’t always play this well together.
The South Shore girls’ basketball pair, who are a year apart, used to bicker on the court growing up and were counter-productive to their team’s success. Selena, a center, spent her first two high-school seasons playing at Academy for Careers in Television and Film in Queens even though the family moved to Brooklyn, and Destiny entered South Shore as a freshman a year ago.
“We usually never had fun, because we argued on the court,” said Selena, a junior. “We never had fun with each other.”
Their contentious relationship changed last summer — the two realized how much better they were together, and now they want to play for the same team even after their time with the Vikings is up.
“We stopped arguing,” Destiny said. “It’s childish now. We are trying to be the best sisters to go to college together. We want to be the best two.”
The duo formed a perfect pair in a 64–44 win over rival and host Francis Lewis in Public School Athletic League girls’ Class AA basketball on Jan. 8. Selena scored 21 points — including seven in the first quarter — and grabbed 17 rebounds. Destiny added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The game reminded coach Anwar Gladden of how the two played to open the year.
“Early on, they had a good connection and then they kind of lost it at some point,” he said. “I don’t know. They are sisters. Maybe someone stole socks or something, but who knows. They have gotten it back.”
The two shared control of the first half, with Selena dominating the first quarter and Destiny controlling the second. South Shore adapted its game to a smaller unit with Selena on the bench in the second and grabbed the advantage behind Destiny’s driving ability.
The Vikings, the defending city champions, closed the frame on an 8–0 run and took a 29–17 lead into the break. Dominique Williams scored 18 points to lead Francis Lewis (9–2, 8–1).
The momentum continued after halftime with Selena back in the game and Destiny continuing to shut down Lewis star Sierra Green on the defensive end. The senior scored five of her 12 points in the first half.
“My coach just told me to keep my eyes on her and forget about the ball,” the younger Philoxy said.
The Vikings (10–1, 8–0) scored the first seven points of the third quarter and never looked back. When Lewis tried to rally, Selena quickly put an end to it with a three-point play along the baseline that gave South Shore a 40–24 lead with 4:02 to play in the frame.
The team started out a little sloppy, but it settled and exceeded Gladden’s expectations, he said.
“Teams don’t have the talent that we have — there is no reason why games should be as close,” Gladden said. “We want to start to build some type of dominance now that we got over the hump of winning a championship.”