The second night of action at the New York Hoops Festival saw Aneesa Sports and the Playaz Club earn good wins over Team Odom and the Gauchos respectively.

Aneesa surged to a lead early in the first half thanks to hot outside shooting from Anderson Labe and good work around the basket from Transit Tech's Keyote Ayenii. While Team Odom would subsequently surge ahead by as many as 8 points in the second half, the early good work of these two unheralded but talented players made the game close and gave their stars, Eugene Harvey and Jermaine "Greedy" Peterson a chance to garner a win.

The second half and overtime were loaded with clutch plays from both sides. For Aneesa Harvey's passing was impeccable as always, and he demonstrated an ability to score in the clutch as well. In the closing moments he made a pretty layup spinning his way past Malik Boothe who defended him as well as anyone could. Moments later, after Team Odom had gotten what seemed like breathing room with the last of three second half treys from Larry Davis, Harvey escaped a double team to drain a long right corner trey to bring Aneesa right back and set up the final chance. With seconds remaining in the overtime, Harvey drove the lane, missed a runner, got his own miss and left another layup short. Peterson, then did what he does best, he secured the loose ball in traffic with his great hands and powered in the layup that proved to be the difference.

For Team Odom Rob Hampton was their best player from start to finish. He did his typical good work on the boards and running the floor while demonstrating improved outside shooting ability. Davis struggled early with his shooting but came up with three clutch triples in the second half, all coming off screens. Boothe was solid running the team and making Harvey work for all his points and assists. A controversial 5th foul on Boothe near the end of regulation was pivotal for Team Odom because it forced Davis to initiate their offense. With their best shooter unable to rub off screens and count on Boothe's on time and on target passes Team Odom struggled to score in crunch time. Take nothing away from Aneesa though; the efforts of both their stars and role players garnered them a well earned birth in Friday's second semi final. There, they will face the Playaz club which used a balanced perimeter attack to beat an undersized but competitive Gaucho team 86-72. The perimeter trio of Earl Clark, Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson led the way for the Playaz while Saiquan Stone was best for the 'chos.

Semi-final action takes place Friday at Baruch College beginning (hopefully) at 6:30 pm. The games will feature teams that are not only loaded with talent, but with competitiveness that makes for some of the best basketball fans will see this summer, or at any time of year.'

8/18/05 John P Miciotta: 'Opening Night at the New York Hoops Fest --

The first night at the New York Hoops festival saw the New England Playaz squeak past a tough Philly Ballers team in overtime, and the Panthers garner a decisive win over the Metro Hawks.

New England's efforts were aided by two players with ties to our region. 6'6" forward Kiwan Smith of Brooklyn by way of Schenectady and Long Island's Jonathan Han. Each overcame poor shooting starts to help the Playaz garner a win. For Philly a pair of IS8 veterans, guard Amir Ryan and center Ervin Spurrell helped forge an early lead. Spurrell, a 6'9" lefthander did an outstanding job triggering Philly's offense with solid passes from the high and mid post. Ryan, a physical backcourt player, moved well without the ball to get many of those passes and finished effectively along the baseline against the longer Playaz.

Smith's early struggles mirrored those of his team. Both he and his teammates settled for and missed many jumpers early and Philly, with their team rebounding and unselfishness took advantage, leading by as many as 14 in the first half. After the intermission, Smith began to do what he does best, attack the basket and rebound, and slowly but surely the Playaz made up ground. Smith's tough work inside not only brought his team back to force an overtime, but fouled Spurrell and one other Philly player to foul out of the game late in the 4th period.

Inexplicably the Playaz settled into a zone despite a 5 on 4 man power advantage. Philly forced overtime on two late free throws by Ryan, but from there the Smith's scoring combined with a couple of nice drives from junior Rahim Sanders and a pair of late treys by Han to secure the win for the Playaz

The Playaz will face the Panthers who hot outside shooting by Sal Patricio and a dominant effort at the rim by Lance Thomas to cruise past the Metro Hawks in last night's second game. Patricio's long range shooting opened penetration lanes for Doug Wiggins and created room inside for Thomas and Derrick Caracter and helped the Panthers forge a 20+ point advantage. For the Hawks McClancy's Stephen Wood and Bayside's Patrick Hazel had fine games, but the Panthers' balance and quickness proved to be more than the Hawks could overcome.'