Middle School Basketball Roundup: Marshall, Ford boys both close with wins

The Thurgood Marshall Middle School and Ford Middle School boys basketball teams both ended their seasons with a win, setting up a three-way tie for first place in the middle school basketball league. Both teams finish with 8-1 records, as did Marblehead.Marshall won its game against Pickering, 53-34, Thursday at Pickering. Keandre Stanton topped all scorers with 22 points. Mike Duarte and Gibron Morillo each had 12 points and Billy Oliver chipped in with five.For Pickering, it was Leo Torres leading the pack with 12 points, followed by Putney Esteridge and Kyle Gauthier with six each. Darius Woumn played well despite being hobbled by a bad ankle.In the Ford vs. Breed game, it was Ford winning 67-48 at Ford. Dayzel Love topped the ticket with 27 points and 15 assists. Omar Nyang had 10 points and Darius Miranda contributed nine points.There is a possibility that the boys will play some sort of tournament to establish an outright winner of the league, but nothing is definite at this point.In girls middle school basketball, Ford topped Breed, 23-9, to finish 3-6. Rashida Ellis scored 10 points for the Bobcats and Natasha DeJesus and Danesha Brown added four each.The Pickering girls (5-3) defeated the Marshall girls 34-14 at Pickering in their final game of the year. Courtney Butler was the high scorer for Pickering with 14. Taylor Newhall added 10 in the win. Jessica Dellazoppa and Jennie Erekson played great defense for the Tigers. Pickering ended the season undefeated in city play.