Bra’Shey Ali started her incredible day before 7 a.m. to take the SAT. She ended it with the biggest basket of her high-school career.
When St. Anthony’s Rebecca Musgrove missed a free throw with 9.8 seconds left and the Friars up two points, Ali put those fatigued legs in motion. Nazareth’s Taylor Ford corralled the rebound and fired to point guard Darius Faulk, who found Ali streaking to the basket for the tying layup.
“Yeah, I was tired,” she said with a smile. “It didn’t matter.”
A Tiffany Jones steal and two Faulk free throws later and Nazareth’s season was saved in a 46-44 win over St. Anthony’s in the CHSAA Class AA state semifinals Saturday afternoon at St. Dominic in Oyster Bay, L.I.
“It was incredible,” Ali said. “Seriously. That was the biggest play ever.”
Just a few days ago, the 6-foot-1 West Virginia commit had no idea how she would be getting to the Long Island school from Campus Magnet in Cambria Heights, Queens. Ali, a New Jersey native who lives with teammate Brianna Sidney’s family in Queens on weekdays, had no ride to get to the 2:30 p.m. game after the three-hour long test.
Kerri Mulqueen, Ali’s English and homeroom teacher, bailed her out. The Queens resident was going to the game anyway, so why not pick up one of her favorite students?
“She’s a fantastic kid and I’m more than happy to do anything I can,” Mulqueen said. “She was really stressing about getting out here for it.”
The teacher called Ali the hardest working student she’s had in 10 years. Ali will be on the honor roll for the third semester and has been taking SAT prep courses with Mulqueen and another teacher in between school and practice most days. A day before the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I tiebreaker with Christ the King, Ali handed in a five-page paper – two days early.
So helping her out was a no-brainer for Mulqueen. Naz coach Apache Paschall said that was just the epitome of how he and his kids have been treated at the East Flatbush school in their first year.
“They’re really, really just behind the program, each kid,” he said. “I’ve never been in a school that’s so supportive. The football coaches are here. The boys [basketball] coaches are here. The baseball coaches are here. We had about seven to eight teachers here. They see those kids five times a week, they don’t have to come here an extra two days. We’re happy to have their support, no question.”
Especially Ali. And the Lady Kingsmen needed her badly. There’s no harder layup to make than when your season is on the line. Two years ago, when St. Michael Academy won the state Federation Class AA title, Ali couldn’t play due to a torn ACL. She’s determined to get upstate this time.
“This is the best game of my high-school career,” Ali said.
Partly because of her, there are more to go.
