Canarsie 58 – Gompers 46
Eugene Lawrence’s departure to Lincoln in September could have ended Canarsie’s season before it even began.
“When I heard he was leaving, I knew it would make it hard for us,” said junior Omar Robinson of Lawrence, who took advantage of new rules by the Department of Education to switch to defending PSAL champion Lincoln prior to this year. “I had to work even harder and become more of a leader. We didn’t want that to finish us.”
It didn’t. While Lawrence’s new team is doing well, the Chiefs haven’t let his absence ruin them. They qualified for the PSAL playoffs and yesterday, as a No. 22 seed, defeated No. 43 Gompers, 58-46.
“I’m not satisfied,” said Robinson, who led the Chiefs with 17 points in the play-in win that moved them into the first round of the playoffs, where they will face No. 11 Bayside today. “We could still have had a much better season.”
Coach Tommie Allen has similar feelings.
“I thought we would be better,” Allen said. “But our inexperience has hurt us.”
Lawrence would have helped in that department, but neither uses that as an excuse.
“If he was here, I definitely would have played differently,” Robinson said. “So who knows what would have happened?”
And Allen insists he doesn’t even think about it.
“It’s not about basketball,” said Allen, whose team lost in the first round to Sheepshead Bay a year ago. “It’s about having a personal relationship with someone. But these are the guys that are here now and who are working for me, so that’s what I’m thinking about.”
The players who were there yesterday – including football star Jamal Schulters who added six points – played a sloppy game, but they had enough to survive against an even more haggard team. The Panthers scored just 13 points in the first half.
“We’re not done yet,” Robinson said. “I think we can still go much further.”