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DCIAA basketball champs
Clerks edge Riders to claim spot in City Title game
(Published March 8, 2004)

By DAVID STEINBACHER
Special to The Common Denominator

The Cardozo Clerks knocked off the Roosevelt Rough Riders 54-50 to claim the 2004 DCIAA championship in the title game Feb. 27 played at Coolidge Senior High.

With the gold medal victory, Cardozo, coached by veteran Henry Lindsey, improved to 14-7 on the season and won a spot in the City Title game on March 13. With the silver medal loss, Roosevelt, coached by Jenkins Dormu, finished the season at 15-10.

"We had to play hard tonight or stay home on March 13," said Coach Lindsey.

The Cardozo boys played the part of the tortoise, whereas the Roosevelt boys played the part of the hare. After Cardozo knocked down the opening shot of the game to take a 3-0 lead early on, Roosevelt’s offense got untracked and bolted to a commanding lead of 19-8 after the first quarter.

"We wanted to execute and get the ball inside tonight. If they packed it in, we wanted to be able to knock down some jumpers," said Coach Dormu.

The Rough Riders also led 28-20 and 42-39 after the second and third quarters, respectively.

"They were playing us ‘box and one’ defensively for the most part tonight, and we had some trouble with it," said Coach Lindsey.

Offensively, Roosevelt knocked down five treys throughout the first three quarters; whereas Cardozo knocked down four. In the decisive fourth quarter, Roosevelt increased its lead to 45-39 before Cardozo awoke from slumber and the "purple and white" inched ahead 46-45, following senior guard Roland Williams’ trey. Williams’ trey was the lone trey of the fourth quarter and it electrified many of the 1,000 or so fans in attendance.

"We knew that we could play with them tonight," said Williams, playing in his third varsity year.

"I told the kids: ‘This is it - it is do or die - leave everything on the floor," said Coach Lindsey.

After Williams’ trey, Roosevelt senior forward Alonzo Scott tied the contest 46-46 with a free throw with 5:38 remaining on the clock. Two possessions later, Cardozo held the ball from the 5:04 mark until the
2:17 mark. For nearly three minutes, Roosevelt chose not to guard the Clerk ball handlers - and a number of those in attendance weren't happy with the strategy.

At the 1:53 mark however, Cardozo's Roland Williams converted a lay-up to make it Clerks 48, Rough Riders 46. Roosevelt sophomore guard Charles Wallace then knocked down two free throws to tie the contest at 48 apiece with 1:36 remaining.

Cardozo's precocious freshman guard Antonio Cooper converted a lay-up at the 1:19 mark, which proved to be the decisive bucket of the game, making it Cardozo 50, Roosevelt 48.

"Antonio and the team came through when we needed them to," said Coach Lindsey.

Twenty-one seconds later, Cardozo sophomore guard Lester Williams converted two free throws to give the Clerks a 52-48 advantage.

"Lester has really played well for us this year coming off of the bench,"
Lindsey said.

Coach Dormu said he "knew it was going to be a long game. We were hurt at the end by our inexperience. We needed to have been a little more mentally focused," he said.

Moments later, Roosevelt standout senior guard Abraham Massalley converted a lay-up for the Rough Riders’ final basket of the contest, drawing the "blue and orange" within two. Roosevelt missed its final two shots of the game from the field.

"We lost our composure late in the game and we also had some costly turnovers," said Massalley.

Sandwiched between the missed shots, Cardozo captain Roland Williams knocked down two free throws to account for the final margin of victory.

"We played real hard as a team. There is good chemistry between us players. We’ve been working hard in practice. We knew that we could play with whoever our opponent was tonight," said the Clerks’ Williams.

Leading Cardozo offensively: Roland Williams (22), Lester Williams (14), senior guard Lorenzo Lesesene (nine), Cooper (six), junior post/forward Yusef Kendall (two) and sophomore post/forward Tristian Sellers (one).

"If our kids played up to their potential, I knew that they had the ability to win this championship," said Coach Lindsey.

Lesesene was a force offensively, defensively and in transition for the
Clerks.

"We played hard. We were patient. We let the game come to us," said the senior.

Although Cardozo senior post/forward Gary Jones did not score, the 6-foot4 senior pulled down 12 rebounds in the winning effort.

"We played hard as a team. We didn't want to go home after tonight's game. It feels real good to win this," said Jones.

Pacing Roosevelt offensively: Massalley (24), sophomore forward Jeffrey Owens (11), sophomore guard Charles Wallace (six), senior guard Eugene Webb (five) and Alonzo Scott (four).

"No one expected us to get this far. Everyone on this team is like a brother to me. We've got to move on as brothers," said Massalley.

Though he didn't score, Roosevelt senior point guard William Aull ran the Rough Rider offense effectively.

"We got somewhat out of focus late in the game. They made the most of their opportunities. It still feels good to finish as DCIAA runners-up," said Aull.

"We've got some young kids. It has taken Roosevelt a long time to get to the DCIAA championship game and we plan to get back here. Our kids need to get a little stronger mentally," said Coach Dormu.

Lindsey, who’s been coaching for 40 years, said, "Winning this title is a real good feeling."

Cardozo last won the DCIAA title in 1995 and then lost to McNamara in the City Title game. Cardozo will square off with O'Connell of Arlington, Va., coached by Joe Wootten, in the 2004 City Title Game on March 13 at George Washington University’s Smith Center.

In this season’s DCIAA semi-finals on Feb. 25, Cardozo knocked off Dunbar, 65-57. Leading the Clerks: Roland Williams (25), Lesesene (18), Lester Williams (14), Cooper (five), Kendall (two) and Jones (one).

Pacing the Dunbar Crimson Tide: junior James McDonald (13), sophomore Todd Green (10), senior Randy Hampton (nine), junior Paul Wayne (nine), junior Brandon Gilbeaux (six), junior Yaqoob Thurston (six) and junior Anthony Ephraim (four).

In the other semi-final, Roosevelt knocked off Wilson 58-54. Leading the Rough Riders: Webb (20), Wallace (11), Massalley (eight), senior Jonnell Easton (six), Scott (five), Aull (four) and Owens (four).

Pacing the Wilson Tigers: senior Ayo Ohkiku (23), junior Mike Lampkin-Sayers (13), senior Jarrett Stroman (six), junior Muhammad Abdul-Ali (five), senior Joseph Flegler (four), senior William Miller (two) and senior Alimany Turay (one).

The boys played a third-place game on Feb. 27, prior to the boys and girls championship games. Dunbar defeated Wilson 66-45. Leading Dunbar: Hampton (17), Wayne (12), Green (10), Thurston (nine), McDonald (eight), sophomore Michael Craig (four), Gilbeaux (three), Ephraim (two) and senior Kevin Wiggins (one).

Leading Wilson: Okihiku (24), Abdul-Ali (five), Flegler (five), Miller (four), senior Jamie Adams (three), Lampkin-Sayers (two) and Stroman (two).

Dunbar, coached by Lorenzo Roach, completed the season with an overall record of 22-5. Wilson, coached by Orvin Wright, finished the season with an overall record of 16-10.