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Massaley's layup delivers Public League title to Imhotep

02/23/2013, 10:00pm EST

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

Abraham Massaley had always dreamed of winning a Public League championship.

What that dream didn’t usually include, however, was him hitting the big shot.

The senior guard outdid his own fantasy on Sunday evening, getting to the hoop for the game-winning layup as Imhotep Charter won a 67-66 thriller over Roberts Vaux.

“I always wanted to win a Public League championship,” an exuberant Massaley said afterwards. “That’s what you dream of, winning a championship, and I’m finally a part of a championship team. I just thank God, thank the man above.”

When Rysheed Jordan’s free-throws put Vaux up 66-65 with under 20 seconds to play, and the Panthers were in a little bit of a bind. Leading scorer Brandon Austin, a Providence signee, had fouled out with 49 seconds to play after a 25-point game, leaving Imhotep without their only D-I senior and their best shot creator.

So instead it was Masseley who had the ball in his hands with 19 seconds remaining, who Austin and head coach Andre Noble and the rest of the program trusted to make it four titles in five years.

“Brandon’s out, the next guy we’re going to get on the ball screen is Abe,” Noble said. “Yeah, Brandon’s a really good player but we’re a good team and it’s not just him. Abe can play, Basil (Thompson) can play, our guys can play.”

And boy, did Massaley deliver. With the clock under 15 seconds, he rejected a high screen and instead drove baseline, getting to the front of the rim and hitting a tough shot to give his team the lead.

“It was a high-action ball screen-and-roll for me and I was designed to go in the middle but I didn’t want to wait for the screen, to wait for them to collapse the double-team on me,” said Massaley, who would finish with seven points. “I felt like I could take my man anytime off the dribble, so I went left, saw light and thank God that ball went in.”

He then came up with a big play on the other end, stripping Jordan of the ball and knocking it out-of-bounds with 1.1 seconds remaining; Jordan’s contested 18-foot fadeaway went off the rim and the Panthers’ celebration began.

Massaley transferred from Math, Civics & Sciences this offseason to Imhotep Charter, winners of three of the previous four city titles. MCS was seen as the favorite to win the city title entering the postseason, but Vaux upset the Mighty Elephants in the quarterfinals thanks to a 29-point outing by Jordan.

The 6-4 senior point guard outdid himself in the title game, scoring 45 points and nearly willing his Cougars to the title by his lonesome.

“Incredible,” Noble said about Jordan’s performance. “He was incredible tonight. I don’t know if I’ve seen a kid on a bigger stage play like that before.”

Jordan had 24 points the first time Vaux and Imhotep played this season, a 73-51 Vaux win on Imhotep’s home court that ended with Jordan handing Austin the ball along with the words “this is my city.”

“They came in our house and just dominated us so we just wanted to come out here and set the mark that we were the better team,” Austin said. “(Jordan and I) didn’t exchange any words–just ‘good game, good luck’ and that was it.”

“We felt like they disrespected us last time and we were out for it, so this game was really big for us to get them back, especially in the championship, on the biggest stage,” Massaley said.

The championship was the third of Austin’s high school career, and though he admitted it was “very tough” to sit out the final 49 seconds, it didn’t take anything away from the feeling afterwards.

“It feels very different,” he said. “Now it’s me, I’m the next step. I was the leader of this ‘ship, and I don’t even know what to feel like."