Lincoln Beats Boys & Girls; An Assistant Coach Ends up in Handcuffs

Coach Ruth Lovelace received bad news before Tuesday's high-stakes game against rival Abraham Lincoln:

Students received their grades from the previous quarter and Mike Taylor, Lovelace's starting guard and a leading scorer, learned he failed his first period class, an automatic suspension under the school's new academic policy.

For Lovelace and the rest of Boys & Girls High School, it must have felt like Deja Vu.

The Kangaroos lost to Lincoln 62-60 on Dec. 16 under similar circumstances, when starter Antione Slaughter and sixth man Anthony Hemingway were out because of the same policy.   

For the second time this season the Kangaroos couldn't give Lincoln its 'A' game, and with the regular season championship on the line,  lost 61-56, its second strait.

"I'm not disappointed in the principal's decision," Lovelace said. "Mike understood. He clearly knew the rules."

Behind Jeffland Neverson's eight first half points and its usual stingy defense, the Kangaroos led 22-18 at halftime.

But the second half presented a new reality. As Lovelace ran out of options on the bench to match up against Lincoln's bigger lineup, the Railsplitters caught fire. Shaquille Stokes and Isaiah Whitehead combined to score 24 of Lincoln's 43 second half points.

Taylor's absence was a clear void on both sides of the ball.

"You know he would have had an effect on this game," said Lovelace. "He's a potential player of the year."

Slaughter and Leroy Fludd kept the Kangaroos in it until the end, scoring a combined 22 points in the second half. Slaughter finished with 17 points; Fludd finished with 11 points and Neverson added 12.

It's not known when Taylor will return, but Slaughter, who was reinstated after he showed progress in his class last quarter, hopes Taylor can return soon.

"He's got to just keep his head up and work hard in class," Slaughter said. "We need him back."

Boys & Girls play its season finale at home against Thomas Jefferson, which won the first  match up. The Kangaroos have locked up a No. 2 seed for Brooklyn borough playoffs, which begin next week.

Boys & Girls Crying Foul over Pregame Incident: Boys & Girls coaches and team members were furious with how an assistant coach, Jeff Wiggins, was treated outside the basketball court at Long Island University, where the game was played. Several witnesses say that Wiggins was attacked by a school safety agent after the two engaged in a verbal disagreement about letting the team inside to escape the blustery conditions.

"Jeff was not the aggressor," said assistant coach Gene Carroll, who witnessed the events. "All Jeff did was defend him[self] from getting hit."

Wiggins and the officer began fighting before other security guards broke it up, witnesses say. After one more scuffle, Wiggins was placed in handcuffs and put into security car. He was later released.

"That guy should lose his job," Lovelace said.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said it is investigating the incident.