Roberto Perez has coached high school basketball for 13 years and the Columbus coach can’t ever remember a game quite like Friday’s tense tilt. He watched the third-seeded Sharks fall behind early, rally late and outlast No. 9 Port Richmond, 70-67, in double overtime in a PSAL Class A second round contest.
Columbus now moves on to the quarterfinals – the furthest it has gone since Perez took the job in 2004 – where it will host defending ‘A’ champion Bedford Academy March 10 at 5 p.m.
“This is all new to us, I’m very happy we won. I don’t think it has hit me yet,” Perez said. “I’m extremely proud of my team. Port Richmond is a very good team. We just hung in there, kept on fightning and hustling. It paid off for us.”
Jamail Stanely led the Sharks (20-2) with 26 points, Donivan Gray added 15 points and Vernon Henderson had 12.
No. 2 Long Island City 46, No. 18 New Dorp 36: Aaron Williams made three 3-pointers and scored 30 points and Xavier Jones added seven points for LIC (24-2). The Bulldogs host seventh-seeded Acorn in the quarterfinals March 10 at 5 p.m. Aaron Morton scored 10 points for New Dorp (12-16).
No. 6 Bedford Academy 62, No. 11 HS For Construction 56: Malik Brown scored 16 points, Neil Veira had 15 points, Darien Best 14 and Sean Snagg 10 for Bedford (23-5), which meets No. 3 Columbus March 10 at 5 p.m. Ehiavekhan Eromoselle paced Construction (15-7) with 24 points.
No. 7 Acorn 63, No. 23 Banneker 43: Ibra Toure had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Deandre Harris added 10 points and 20 rebounds and Jamal Rankin followed with 11 points and eight assists for Acorn (19-7), which meets No. 2 Long Island City in the quarterfinals March 10 at 5 p.m. Banneker is 16-9.
PSAL Class B
No. 2 Pathways 66, No. 15 JKO 39: The Trailblazers (18-1) host No. 26 Brooklyn College Academy March 10 at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals. JKO is 13-5.
No. 3 Eleanor Roosevelt 71, No. 19 Metropolitan 58: Eleanor Roosevelt (18-1) advances to the quarterfinals, where it will host No. 11 Network Technology March 10 at 5 p.m. Metropolitan is 15-7.
No. 11 Network Technology 46, No. 6 Cobble Hill 42: The Panthers (17-3) face third-seeded Eleanor Roosevelt in the quarterfinals March 10 at 5 p.m. Cobble Hill is 13-4.
No. 26 Brooklyn College Academy 71, No. 10 Newcomers 50: Kristian Moreno sank five 3-pointers, scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Alex Pages had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Jonathan Chisolm tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for BCA (11-7), which faces No. 2 Pathways March 10 at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals. John Patri Villamin scored 18 points for Newcomers (16-1).