OVERTIME
Tilden 78
Roosevelt 69
Andre King stands about 6-4 and is big enough to take up most of the lane when he’s under the hoop. The senior is one of the most productive players in the PSAL.
That’s why Tilden coach Eric “Rock” Eisenberg was so surprised to discover King in a gym class at the Brooklyn school.
“The gym teacher told me to come look at this kid in his class,” Eisenberg said. “All of a sudden, I walked in and saw Charles Barkley.”
That was last April and in the months since, King has become the Crown Heights version of the Round Mound of Rebound. And he knows as well as anyone that he probably should have made a name for himself in the city before this season- but he never played.
“I just wasn’t into it,” the soft-spoken King said after he scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Tilden overcame a bad ending to the fourth quarter to beat Theodore Roosevelt (11-4) in overtime, 78-69, in the Bronx Winter Classic at Lehman College. “Coach watched me and asked why I wasn’t playing and then some other friends of mine tried out, so I decided to.”
It’s paid dividends for King, as well as Tilden. The 9-7 Blue Devils are fighting for a playoff spot and he is the team’s leading scorer.
“We always have to get him the ball,” said junior captain John King, who added 16. “He’s clearly hard to stop.”
Particularly when he plants himself in the low post.
“He’s so strong,” said Roosevelt coach Mark Morse, whose team was led by Edward Berrios’ 30 points. “We had him under control, but I guess he (Andre) wore us down.”
King hasn’t played much AAU ball or any other kind of organized ball and he has developed second thoughts about his prior indifference toward the sport, which will likely cause him to go to prep school or a junior college next season.
“I do have regrets,” King said. “I feel bad about that. I’m one of the top scorers and rebounders on the team now, but I wonder how good I could have been if I played more.”
Now he’s trying to make up for lost time.
“I think I play harder because of that,” King said.
Eisenberg doesn’t think it’s too late.
“He’s got such quick hands and feet,” Eisenberg said. “He can still do some really good things.”
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Sam Jenkins led Bergtraum with 24 points in the Blazers’ 60-52 win over Gompers. Bergtraum improved to 16-1 Gompers fell to 10-4.
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Bergtraum is once again proving to be the class of girls basketball in the city. The Lady Blazers knocked off JFK in another Classic matchup yesterday, 67-34 behind Shannon Bobbitt’s 14 points. The team’s most impressive feat this season, though, was a 3-0 record at the Tournament of Champions in Tempe during the holiday break.
“That’s where we found out how good we can really be,” said coach Ed Grezinsky, whose team is 14-0 after capturing the PSAL and state titles a year ago.