Mike Taylor scored a team-high 19 points in the win. (Damion Reid)
As the only female coach in the PSAL’s Class AA boys division, Ruth Lovelace elicits a warm aura. She can intimidate, too. Just ask guards Mike Taylor and Antione Slaughter.
Lovelace let the two have it after Boys & Girls’ loss Friday night to Rice, coming nose to nose with the two.
“She was barking at us like crazy,” Taylor recalled.
Whether they played better out of fear of motivation, the ploy worked. Slaughter and Taylor led Boys & Girls past Long Island Lutheran, 65-62, in the consolation game of the SNY Invitational Saturday afternoon.
A 5-foot-7 jitterbug of a point guard, Slaughter had 15 points and three assists, but more importantly led the team, was patient and got his teammates involved, as Lovelace had requested. Taylor led the Kangaroos with 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Leroy Isler followed with 16 points and nine rebounds and Jeffland Neverson had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Although Taylor’s jumpshot is still wayward – he made just 5-of-18 shots, including 2-of-11 from 3-point range – he was a better defender and rebounder, and also didn’t force shots.
“They had something to prove – to me,” Lovelace said. “I challenged them after yesterday’s game.”
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means for The High (18-5), The Post’s No. 3 team in its New York City boys basketball rankings. It led 28-12 after one quarter, but quickly fell asleep. LuHi, led by Villanova-bound guard Achraf Yacoubou (24 points), outscored the Kangaroos 35-17 over the next two quarters. Fortunately for Boys & Girls, its backcourt didn’t sleep through the alarm.
Taylor started a 7-0 run late in the third quarter to erase a seven-point deficit, Slaughter knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:13 to go, and Taylor added three clutch free throws down the stretch.
“We let our team down and our coach down yesterday,” Slaughter said. “We had to respond today.”
Lovelace and Taylor both said the talented guard’s shooting woes are directly tied to his desire to become a complete player. He’s spending more time inside of the arc, working on his ball handling and playmaking, then his rainbow jump shot. Taylor said he plays to spend more time in the gym before the playoffs working on his jumper. He doesn’t feel comfortable with it right now.
“That might be my fault,” Lovelace said. She later added: “Believe me, he can still shoot it.”
The Kangaroos will need that shot on Tuesday when the Brooklyn AA crown is likely to be decided as Lincoln pays a visit to Bed Stuy. The two teams are both 10-2 in the division and have a game left not counting the head-to-head showdown. Boys & Girls is looking for its first outright division title since 2004.
“We’re really ready for Lincoln,” Slaughter promised. “We have to beat them.”
