Bedford Academy missed an opportunity to show it was the top Class A team in the Public School Athletic League.
The Panthers fell short against a motivated Springfield Gardens team, losing 80–69 in the main event of the league’s Class A showcase at Benjamin Cardozo last Sunday.
Bedford coach Robert Phelps gave credit to the Golden Eagles squad, which wanted to give its coach his first-ever win over Bedford.
“That team wanted that game and they played like it,” Phelps said. “I was really impressed with what they did.”
The Panthers’ downfall started at the tail end of the first half. Springfield Gardens (18–2) put together a 9–1 run, led by seven points from Daniel Kisson, to cut the Bedford Academy lead to 32–31. Phelps felt his players’ heads weren’t in the game from the start.
“It didn’t deflate us, but I don’t think we were there mentally to play.” Phelps said.
The Panthers ended the run with a three from Anthony Munson, but Joel Boyce made a layup to end the half to make it 35–33 Springfield Gardens at the break.
Bedford Academy (17–3) went right back ahead in the beginning of the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Munson before the Golden Eagles scored five straight to take its first lead of the contest at 38–37 late in the frame.
Munson responded with a three-point play to put the Panthers back up. Munson had 14 of his team’s 17 points in the third quarter. Phelps said Munson, who had a game-high 29 points, was just doing his job.
“Munson played hard,” he said. “He battled and he did what he was supposed to do.”
Springfield scored back-to-back baskets and took a 53–52 lead at the end of three quarters. Bedford jumped ahead to begin the fourth on a pair of foul shots from Anthony Gibbs, but the Golden Eagles responded again with a three-point play from Joel Boyce to go back ahead 56–54, and didn’t look back.
Then Springfield switched to a zone defense and held Munson to two points in the fourth quarter.
On the other end, the Panthers, which defended well early, was able to keep the game close, but struggled on the defensive end in the fourth quarter. Bedford allowed Springfield to get to the foul line, where it shot 23 of 27 in the final frame to put the game away.
“We stopped defending,” Phelps said. “If we want to win, we have to defend better.”
