NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Quade Green and the PSA Cardinals found themselves down by as many as 20 points in the first half of their Peach Jam semifinal Saturday night against Team Penny.
It didn’t look good when the New York team trudged into halftime down by 18 points.
In fact, it looked over.
But Green and his teammates felt otherwise.
“Comeback time, comeback time. Like ‘Space Jam,’ we had gut check time,” the 6-foot Green out of Philadelphia (PA) Neumann-Goretti said after scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as the New York outfit outscored Team Penny 44-24 in the second half to rally for an epic 66-64 victory before a jam-packed crowd at the Riverview Activities Center.
“We drunk our Michael Jordan water so that made us come back,” Green added with a smile.
Quade Green ������ brings @PSACardinals back from 18 down for the win! @q_green1 #PeachJam pic.twitter.com/9xDKRJQKwE
– Overtime (@overtime) July 10, 2016
Brandon Randolph added 16 points and 3 rebounds in the win and Mohamed Bamba had a limited game with 7 points and 6 rebounds.
Earlier Saturday, Green went for 17 points, 10 assists and 3 steals as he out-played fellow 2017 point guard Tremont Waters in a 53-45 win over Expressions Elite in the quarterfinals.
Green’s MVP-type performance came in front of a Who’s Who of college coaches and programs, including John Calipari and three Kentucky assistants and two Duke assistants.
Both schools recently offered Green on his visits, but Duke is perceived by many as the leader for his services beginning in 2017.
“It was just an offer,” he said. “Now I can lay all my offers on the table and see where I want to go.”
He added: “I mean Duke is Duke. They are going to try to recruit the best, make the best of their program.”
Asked if he could see himself there, he said, “I don’t know yet. I don’t know yet.”
Green said he may cut his list sometime soon. After Peach Jam, he and Bamba head to the USA U18 training camp in Houston and then to the FIBA Americas Championship in Chile.
“Probably after USA,” he said of cutting his list.
Meantime, teammate Hasahn French said anyone who gets Green is going to be lucky.
“Quade is always ice in his veins,” said French, who came up huge with 8 points, including a second-half dunk on P..J. Washington (13 points, 10 rebounds) that put the Cardinals up 61-58 and a critical steal of Washington in the final seconds that led to Green making 1-of-2 free throws for the game’s final point.
“That’s my guy. He’s a great player, he’s great point guard. If you’re looking for a pure point guard, that’s Quade Green. He can take over the game and he can also be effective passing the ball and doing other things.”
The PSA Cardinals will meet Mokan Elite for the Peach Jam championship at 2 p.m. on Sunday (ESPNU). Led by Trae Young’s 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Michael Porter Jr.’s 25 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists MoKan Elite crushed DeAndre Ayton and Cal Supreme 83-61 in the first semifinal.
Neither team has won the most prestigious event of the summer. Two years ago as Team Scan, what’s now the PSA Cardinals lost in the semifinals.
“Definitely we need one for New York,” French said. “We worked too hard to go home with nothing. We’ve been waiting too long for this.”
The NY Rens — the other New York City team in the quarterfinals — earlier lost in the quarterfinals to Team Penny 74-63.
Green dominated in the second half, hitting two 3-pointers, including one that tied the game at 56-all. He furthered his case as Peach Jam MVP and the top point guard in the Class of 2017. He will go toe-to-toe with Young in Sunday’s final.
“Munch told me, ‘Put us on your back'” Green said of PSA Cardinals director Terrance “Munch” Williams. “That’s what I did.”
French also played huge down the stretch, getting a steal of Washington and poking the ball loose to Walter Whyte, who hit two foul shots to put the Cardinals up for good, 65-64, with 15.6 seconds left.
“Really, Walt should be up here because he did all that,” Green said.
Green said he thrives on big crowds and has played before them at the Palestra and other spots with Neumann-Goretti.
“This was crazy, though,” he said. “I was nervous a little bit.”
FRENCH SAYS SEVERAL WORKING HARDEST
As for his recruitment, Hasahn French said several schools are working the hardest, including St. John’s.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re definitely coming after me pretty hard,” French said. “I like them. They’re a pretty good school.. The coaching staff is pretty good and I like what they’re doing right now.”
St. John’s doesn’t technically have a scholarship for French in 2017, but would certainly make one available for him (or Bamba or Hamidou Diallo) if he chose to go there.
“They showed me the board and what they were doing and who’s their top priority and I was one of those guys,” he said.
Asked who else was on the board he said, “A couple guys from New York, I’ll give you that.”
French also listed Providence, Temple, Seton Hall, Marquette, Kansas State and Arizona State
“Those guys are pushing very hard,” he said.
