Sports

Scholastic Roundup: Brooklyn Tech fencers are tops

December 13, 2024 Andy Furman

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When Brooklyn Tech grad Anne Cebula was selected as a member of the 12-person U.S. Olympic Women’s Fencing Team this year – competing in the epee event — people started to look at the fencing talent the Fort Greene school has produced.

It was not a fluke.

Teams throughout the city traveled to the Armory last month to compete in the Nike Track and Field Center for the Public Schools Athletic League Boys Fencing Team Championship. Twelve schools competed in the event, with — you guessed it — Brooklyn Tech on top of the overall standings with 196 points.

The Engineers’ dominant foil squad of upperclassmen — Conrad Seib-Levinson, Dillion Miller, Jonah Batra-Bang and Andrew DeCorleto — moved decisively through the second round against Bronx Science after receiving a first-round bye.

Francis Lewis and Hunter, led by strong foilists Austyn Cheng (Lewis) and Brian Wang (Hunter) fenced competitive matches against McKee/Staten Island Tech and Stuyvesant respectively, and both fell to the top-two seeds – Brooklyn Tech and John Jay.
In foil, John Jay overtook Tech, 45-38; Hunter finished with the bronze and Francis Lewis took fourth place.

In epee, top-seed Francis Lewis was upset in a well-fought match by LaGuardia, led by anchor Eugene Rim. LaGuardia then fell to Brooklyn Tech, 45-39. Third-seed Townsend Harris was also upset in epee by sixth-seed Hunter, 45-34. Top-seed Stuyvesant dominated the competition with seniors Andy Xian and Majkx Borisov and junior James Clare, beating Tech in the gold-medal match. Hunter finished with the bronze and LaGuardia placed fourth in epee.

Tech won the 2024-25 Boys Fencing City title with a total of 196 points for a second-place finish in foil and epee. Hunter finished second (180) and Stuyvesant took the bronze (169).
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The PSAL 2024-25 Girls Volleyball Championships saw No.1 seed Gregorio Luperon High meet the No. 2 seed, Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill Jaguars at Borough of Manhattan Community College, last Wednesday in the 1A title match.

Up 24-23 Boerum Hill had match point — Zia Lefebvre came up with a dig to keep the ball alive with the ball set up for Hanna Goldman, who hit it between a pair of Luperon players as the Jaguars celebrated with the championship, winning the third set 25-23 for the title.

The Jaguars of John Jay Campus won their third consecutive PSAL Girls Volleyball title defeating Fort Hamilton for the 3A championship.

Number-one seed John Jay had not lost a set in league play during its ten-game schedule. Nina Wolter Vaz of John Jay Campus did an excellent job setting up shots for both Maya Ruiz and Ella Moore, who were strong early on with five opening-set aces to give the Jaguars a 25-19 first-set win.

John Jay Campus was able to use great sets and finish shots, with Lexi Moore also rising to the challenge at the net, lifting the Jaguars to a 25-24 second-set win, and the title.

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A victory for Medgar Evers College Prep just was not in the cards, as they suffered through a 75-39 loss to Banneker Academy last week. Despite the loss, Medgar Evers College Prep still got an impressive performance from Noah Scobie, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds.

New Dorp High from Staten Island entered the 2024-25 PSAL Girls’ Bowling Championships as defending champions — and left with the trophy once again; but not after a tough battle with Brooklyn’s Midwood Hornets.

The A match was first to finish as Chloe Liu tossed strikes in three of her last four frames to put up a 198 for Midwood, but Leah Mazzoni led a balanced New Dorp attack as the four Cougar bowlers put up scores between 151 and 160. This was enough to give them a 625-613 win.
A couple of late strikes from Sophia Lou allowed Midwood to go from a six-pin deficit after the eighth frame to a 498-483 win in the B match – forcing a C match for the title.

Samantha Litrell and Katherine Dugan got New Dorp off to a strong start in the C match, while Liu again had three strikes in the middle frames to keep the Hornets close. Mazzoni threw a 201 game for New Dorp, including strikes on three of her last five balls, to allow her team to pull away for a 643-578 C match victory — and give New Dorp High back-to-back city titles.

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The 2024 ECAC Winter Championships concluded three days of swimming and the men from Iona University cruised to a convincing team title, while the women placed third.

Senior co-captain from Brooklyn (Xavier High School), Brian Baldwin took silver in the men’s 200-yard individual Medley (1:52.32). He finished sixth in the final individual event, the 200-yard butterfly (1:45.47).

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The Medgar Evers College men’s basketball team pulled off an impressive comeback victory last Sunday afternoon, rallying from a 13-point deficit with 12:15 remaining to defeat the Valiants of Manhattanville University, 65-57. Senior guard Andre Evans Jr. scored a game-high 17 points and tied for game-highs of eight rebounds and four assists. Newcomer Joash Beaton added 16. The Cougars return to action on Dec. 28 at home, hosting the College of Old Westbury.

The Medgar Evers women opened City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) play, blowing out the Beavers of the City College of New York, 75-32 Friday evening at the Cougar Cave in Brooklyn. Jennifer Metra had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds for the winners. The women return to action Friday (Dec. 13) hosting Houghton University.

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The LIU basketball Sharks set a new season-high in points, defeating York College, 103-53, last Wednesday. Basketball royalty was in the house as Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier was honored during a special halftime presentation at the Brooklyn gym. He, fellow Knicks alum Allan Houston and others were on hand as LIU put on an absolute show. Receiving his third start of the season, Jalen “Roc” Lee scored 12 of his season-high 23 points in the first half.

The LIU men’s hockey team is off to its best start in program history. The Sharks (8-5-1) defeated Vermont (Hockey East), 3-2 Friday night, earning their fifth road win of the 2024-25 season and the program’s first-ever victory against the Catamounts.

Josh Zary, who has goals in four consecutive games, opened the scoring for the Sharks with a first-period power-play goal.

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In a rematch of the last three CUNYAC Championships, the Brooklyn College women’s basketball team rolled to a 66-37 win over John Jay at home, Friday. Anna Kitch led a balanced BC scoring attack with 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds; senior guard Alina Estrella added 11 points and five rebounds.

The Brooklyn College men dropped their first CUNYAC conference game of the season to John Jay, 84-68, last Friday. David McFadden led the way for Brooklyn with 14 points; Serge Thraysbule added 12.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] ; Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR