IN-Tech, RKA pull off wins

This past week high school basketball in the Northwest Bronx had two other notable matchups. IN-Tech and Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy were victorious.

On Monday, Jan. 30, the Bronx Leadership Academy Wolves came to play the IN-Tech Academy Panthers in Kingsbridge.

The first half saw IN-Tech Senior guard Angel Martes — who scored 16 points — and Junior guard Isaiah Wilson — who scored 14 points — set the pace on offense by drawing fouls, hitting jumpers, and driving to the basket.

The Panthers got out to an early lead of 21-11 in the first quarter, and when they started getting beat on rebounds, they brought in senior center Jorman Ruiz  — scoring 16 points — to clean up under the basket. The big man had a clear size advantage over everyone by keeping the Wolves out of the paint and putting back missed shots with ease.

The most interesting player to watch, however, was young sophomore Janlet Perez — with 21 points — who cruised through the Wolves’ defense in the second half.

Having the size of a forward with the ball handling skills of a guard, he could weave through defenders and either make a layup off contact, or step back and make the jumper.

All-in-all, IN-Tech was in full control the whole game, beating Bronx Leadership Academy 76-37.

Bronx Leadership Academy had another game this past week against one of Northwest’s teams, hosting Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy’s Tigers on Thursday, Feb. 2.

The Tigers won a back-and-forth game 80-68, with incredible plays and scoring everywhere on the court from Senior Darius Ringling and Junior Erjon Asanaj.

In the second quarter Asanaj made 3 contested layups on back-to-back possessions, and then finished with a corner three-point shot.

When the score started to even out in the last minutes of the final quarter, Ringling made a crucial three-pointer to swing momentum back to the Tigers. Up 9 points in the final minute, young sophomore Daniel Laino gets subbed in and chucks a shot from his hip at half court that actually goes in, clearing the bench.

That ended the game with a little electricity.

Even the Bronx Leadership Academy students couldn’t help but jump out of their seats with their hands over their mouths.