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Guard Dashaun Wiggins scored 34 points to lead Wings Academy past South Bronx, 103-84, in the Bronx borough semifinals

Dashaun Wiggins was still licking his wounds days after one of the worst losses of his young career, when his spirits were suddenly lifted.

He was heading back to his apartment in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx when he ran into Julio Gonzalez, a local boxing trainer Wiggins spars with during the summer to stay in shape. Gonzalez heard of the lopsided defeat, a 23-point blowout to John F. Kennedy on Jan. 22, and offered his advice.

“Sometimes a good boxer needs to get knocked out,” Gonzalez said. Read more..

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             No. 1 John F. Kennedy and guard Jeffrey Arzu have won 11 straight entering the Bronx borough playoffs

   You can call this the John F. Kennedy Invitational. The top-seeded Knights are the clear-cut favorite. Of any of the four borough tournaments, them not winning would be the biggest surprise.

That’s not an indictment of the other seven participants; it’s praise for Kennedy.

No. 2 Wings Academy has righted the ship recently, playing better on the defensive end. No. 3 Truman got better as the year went on and No. 4 Lehman has a dynamic inside-out duo in center Armand (Big Baby) Thomas and guard Aaron Barnes. Class A high-scoring entrants South Bronx, Evander Childs and Taft could make trouble for the higher seeds as well.

Favorite: No. 1 John F. Kennedy Read more..

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Wings Academy guard Dashaun Wiggins scored 15 points, but it was his big rebound late that clinched the 80-78 victory over JFK. Photos by Damion Reid

SLOW-STARTING JFK FALLS SHORT, EYES WINGS REMATCH

Dashaun Wiggins saw the ball come out of James Blue’s fingertips and immediately thought rebound. Blue, Wiggins said, has a tendency to shoot long, and he twisted his right wrist, another sign the junior said, that it would come off the back rim.

He slightly nudged Kelvin Dixon, John F. Kennedy’s 6-foot-6 forward, and out-leaped him. Wiggins came away with the rebound, but in essence the game. He knocked down two free throws, sealing Wings Academy’s 80-78 victory over Kennedy at Bronx Regional HS. The win moves the Wings into first place in Bronx AA by their lonesome.

“This gives us a lot of confidence,” said junior forward Krystian Foriest, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. “It lets everybody know we’re back and we’re here to rule the Bronx.” Read more..

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It isn’t much of a secret, at least not to coach Tricia Palotti. She knows her Bayside girls’ volleyball team has a tendency to play to the level of its opponent. She saw its bad side in a two-set loss against middling PSAL Queens 6-A opponent Townsend Harris on Oct. 15.

“We definitely shouldn’t have lost,” Palotti said.

But when the Commodores are playing against high level of competition, they’re quite formidable. On Sunday, they were very good. Bayside beat Kennedy, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, in the final of JFK’s host tournament in the Bronx. Kennedy was ranked No. 2 in the PSAL in last week’s FiveBoroSports.com top 10.

The Commodores had two second-place finishes in tournaments this season: one at Cardozo and the other at the first Seward Park tourney.

“They were tired of coming in second place,” Palotti said with a laugh.

Bayside, which is 6-3 in Queens 6-A, swept Kennedy and Hillcrest in pool play and defeated Lehman in the tournament’s semifinals.

“They played a very consistent game,” JFK coach Iris Bromfield. Read more..

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For the past three seasons, JFK-Lehman was the biggest game in the Bronx.

Kennedy’s still around, but this year Clinton’s emergence as a contender makes this Saturday’s Knights-Governors showdown a battle for borough supremacy.

“I really respect what coach Langley has done this year,” JFK coach Alex Vega said. I’m looking forward to a tough game from them.”

Both teams enter the game at 5-1. Kennedy routed Lincoln, 32-8, on Saturday with a strong ground game. Ryan Bosolet started and ran for 62 yards. Stephen Obeng-Agyapong ran for 95 yards and a touchdown on four carries and Bryan Calcano and Jamel Lane added rushing touchdowns. Read more..

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