Shukurah Washington can be, at times, her team’s harshest critic. The Murry Bergtraum senior forward isn’t afraid to speak her mind when she feels like the Lady Blazers aren’t playing up to their potential.
But Sunday she did something she doesn’t do often: smile. Washington was actually pleased with the effort.
“We came out with intensity and energy,” the DePaul-bound rebounding machine said. “We started off how we wanted and didn’t let them back in the game.”
Bergtraum beat rival Manhattan Center, 57-34, at the PSAL Mid-Winter Classic at Long Island University in a complete performance – something that hasn’t always been a constant with the 11-time defending city champion this year. The Lady Blazers were coming off a game Friday against John F. Kennedy in which they were ahead by only one point at the half and actually trailed by seven in the second quarter.
“Maybe the Kennedy game woke us up a little,” Bergtraum coach Ed Grezinsky said.
The thing asleep was Manhattan Center’s offense. Bergtraum (12-0, 8-0 Manhattan AA) started the game on a 28-4 run and didn’t really look back. Center (9-4, 4-2) was stuck on four points for what felt like an eternity. Yen Pham knocked down a baseline jumper to put the Rams up, 2-0, seven seconds into the game and their next field goal didn’t come until Sonata Mallory scored with 1:05 left in the half – a span of 8:53.
“They scored 28 points, so our defense wasn’t that bad,” Manhattan Center coach Jaywana Bradley said. “We just couldn’t hit a thing. We were getting there, but we just didn’t want it as much as they did.”
The Rams, who lost the first time against the Lady Blazers by just 10, never really made it competitive. Bergtraum had a 40-18 lead going into the fourth quarter with its bench in the game. Grezinsky was able to rest Washington, who is nursing a left foot injury, midway through the second.
“That’s what was great about it,” he said.
The reserves stepped up big for Bergtraum, none bigger than Dionne Coe. The sophomore sharpshooter had 11 points and three 3-pointers in the second half. Coe had not been playing a lot of minutes and said, on a team like the Lady Blazers, getting a chance is tough.
“I know I’m a really good shooter,” she said. “But it doesn’t always show up in the game.”
It did Sunday. Coe really seized the situation she was given.
“This was a good opportunity for her,” said Grezinsky, who also said backup forward Monae Abrams will continue to see more minutes. “She’s going to play more now.”
Ortega had 10 points, Cori Coleman had nine points and Washington added seven for Bergtraum. Kyale Waters had eight points and Kiarah Dunlap added seven for Manhattan Center.
“We set the tone,” Ortega said, “especially since we only beat them the last time by 10.”
There have been games this season where Bergtraum has started slow and turned it on in the second half. There have been times this year that Bergtraum has gotten a big lead in the first half and let teams come back. On Sunday, neither of those things happened.
“This is the way we play,” Grezinsky said. “This is the way we played against the team from D.C. (St. John’s College). We played our ‘A’ game today.”
