First of all, thanks for filling in the gaps and correcting my mistakes .. yes, it was Stu London who coached Fencor and I guess Mike Flynn stopped coaching and is just running the organization.
I coached AAU against Mike & Stu & Rennie Pierangeli who coached the Comets in the mid-90s.
When Chamique graduated from Christ the King in 1995, it gave hope to a lot of teams that they could finally take down CTK and become #1 in the country. One of those teams was Cardinal O'Hara, a team stocked with Philly AAU kids including Mike Flynn's protégé, point guard Ace Clement [Tennessee]. Also on O'Hara were the Halpin twins, Brandi Batch and Rennie's daughter, Jackie. The BIG game was played in Queens and everyone [it seems] from Philly came up to Middle Village to see the changing of the guard. O'Hara was ranked #2 in the nation at the time, was averaging more than 90 ppg, and was heavily favoured. Even legendary scout&journalist Joe Smith picked O'Hara to finally defeat CTK after many years of frustration.
However, it was not to be. The pundits were wrong. CTK prevailed, 49-46, holding O'Hara to more than 40 points below their per-game-average. Ironically, my no-name daughter, who led CTK most of the night, wound up playing her college ball in Philly, at the Palestra, for the Quakers at the University of Pennsylvania. CTK wound up their season undefeated, NY State champions [as usual] and #2 in the country.
The game was ultra exxxciting from start-to-finish. I would have to rank it up there with Boys High [Connie Hawkins] vs Wingate [Roger Brown] at MSG in 1960 for the PSAL title and 2) Bishop Loughlin [Mark Jackson/Wheeler Bros] vs Archbishop Molloy [Kenny Smith/Steve Kratzer] for the 1983 CHSAA title. And for more excitement, let's throw in a coupla Pearl Washington games! haha
