Freshman Helps Seniors Go Out Winners
by Ray Floriani
TEANECK, N.J. – It was senior night Tuesday at Rothman Center. The night, though, seemingly belonged to a freshman, as Jordan Sykes scored a game-high 24 points and the Fairleigh Dickinson women stopped Monmouth 74-59 in the Northeast Conference regular season finale.
Sykes was 9-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line. The 5’7″ FDU guard also grabbed five rebounds and handed out seven assists in a complete game which brought up the question: is her number 23 a coincidence?
“Not really,” she said with a laugh. As she also pointed out her choice of shoes were signature Jordans. “I idolize Michael Jordan because he is such a complete player. I really try to emulate him on the court.”
Sykes had no SportsCenter highlight dunks, but did make her presence known. She penetrated and got in the lane and hit two of three beyond the arc to keep the defense honest. When Monmouth tightened up the defense on her in the stretch, Sykes found open teammates with pinpoint passes. “I would love to be respected,” Sykes added, “as a player by the opponents as he (Jordan) was.”
The win was quite a reversal of fortune for FDU. Six days earlier, the Lady Knights were dominated by a 73-47 count when the two teams met in West Long Branch, N.J. That score remained fresh in the minds of the FDU players.
“Whenever we broke the huddle after a time out we said ‘revenge’,” Sykes said. “That last game was on our mind. Plus we wanted to win this so bad for Gayle (Coats).”
A senior guard, Coats would not play a minute. She spent the evening on the FDU bench in jeans wearing a knee brace. Coats suffered a torn ACL several weeks ago, ending her season and FDU career. On this senior night the banners near the bleachers celebrated her career. Her teammates gave their best tribute with a nice victory.
FDU finished the regular season at 11-17 (8-10 NEC). Monmouth, led by Jennifer Bender’s 14 points, fell to 17-12 (10-8 NEC).
High School News
The big story in New Jersey early in the week centered on the high school girls state tournament. One day after the tournament started, Shabazz, the top-rated school, was out. The reigning Tournament of Champions team did not get upset by a lower seed holding the ball, nor was it a ‘hail Mary’ prayer at the buzzer that did them in. Shabazz was not even beaten on the 94′ by 47′ hardwood. This loss came from a smaller area: the athletic director’s office.
The Newark-based power simply played too many games and was disqualified. State rules clearly say if you play in three tournaments during the regular season, your game limit is 26. Shabazz played 28. The Athletic Director at a school is in charge of ensuring his institution is eligible. State regulations are on notices, flyers and the forms an athletic director submits to apply for the tournament. They are spelled out. Exceed the maximum and you are done.
Shabazz AD Yakik Rumley naturally took the heat for this unfortunate scenario. Some say coach Vanessa Watson is equally at fault, but that’s not really the case. The coach could suggest and ask about playing certain in-season tournaments and non-league games. Ultimately, the AD has to sign off and make certain the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed.
Pointing fingers or doling out blame isn’t the issue here. The losers of this entire scenario are the girls who represent Shabazz. They are a talented group that was shooting for a fourth TOC title in five years. They are a group that is talented, plays hard and represents their school and community in an exemplary manner on and off the floor. Sadly, any opportunity to add to that outstanding record is gone for this season, and none of it was their doing. The Shabazz girls carry themselves as champions. Unfortunately an awful set of circumstances forces them to come out as the ones on the losing end in this whole mess.
