Wings Academy will not be satisfied with anything less than a championship this season.
“We have all the pieces in place to win the city title,” Georgetown-bound center
Jessie Govan said.
The time is now for coach Billy Turnage and his team. They want a title more than ever, especially after the way last season ended. Wings won PSAL Bronx borough championship and went into the city playoffs as the second seed. Brooklyn Collegiate cut Wings’ post season run short in the quarterfinals. This Wings squad has a roster filled with talented upperclassman, who want to erase that from their memories.
“The experience factor helps us tremendously,” Turnage said. “These guys play together all spring, summer, and fall. We have talented players that can play multiple positions on the court and that makes us hard to defend.”
Wings is again led by 6-foot-10 center Govan and Hofstra-commit Desure Buie, one of the city’s top point guards. Last season Govan averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Buie averaged 16 points and 10 assists a contest. While Buie and Govan are getting all the attention, Turnage says that senior guard Randy Corporan is under recruited and will show he deserves some attention too.
“Randy Corporan brings so much to the table as a four-year varsity player and a ball handler,” Turnage said. ”He’s got a ton of heart, experience and intensity. He is the guy that has the ability to pick the guys up when they are down.
Wings got their second win of the season on the road at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS) with a dominant, 86-64, performance last Friday night. Turnage, who is looking to make his first trip the finals as coach, knows his club is still capable of playing a more complete game.
“I was pleased with our intensity,” he said. “But we struggled at times with our defensive rotation. But it’s only our second game.”
The Wings defense and its full court press were still a factor as WHEELS, who was moved up from the PSAL ‘A’ division this season, seemed to be outmatched dealing with it.
“We wanted to make sure we controlled the tempo,” Govan said. “We made sure we kept constant pressure on the ball handler and that helped us to control the game.”
Wings also pushed the tempo on the offensive side of things as its guards raced down the court and in the paint WHEELS had no answer for Govan’s size. Wings led from start to finish. It went into halftime leading 44-23. Buie scored 17 of his 23 points at the break. Govan netted 18 of his 26 points after halftime, including a thunderous dunk that bent the rim slightly. Sophomore guard Boubacar Komissoko added eight points. WHEELS leading scorer was senior Emile Lewis with 21 points.
