Smartball Classic opening day finished with an intense nightcap game between Cardinal Hayes and Eagle Academy Brooklyn on Monday.

The Hayesmen featured No.16 PG in the nation in the class of 2026 Jermel “Magic Mel” Thomas along with top returning senior guard Kaelan Destin and Junior Malik Fields. This night cap game also was the debut of top incoming freshman Hector Almodovar Jr. and Sophomore big man Amadou Barry.

The 2X PSAL 4A City Champion Eagle Academy Brooklyn featured Jeremiah Jacobs a 6-8 forward which put him in the convo of best big man in the city along with returning players such as Hunter Frazier, Amir Dockery (2027) and the newest addition to the squad Rich Jackson a 2026 PG who transferred in from Bishop Loughlin.

Hayes had a slight edge early in the game as they led by as much as eight in the first half. Eagle BK behind the stellar play of Jackson, Dockery and Frazier were able to close the gap, but Freshman Hector Almodvar Jr.hit a midrange jumper to give Hayes a 28-26 lead at the half.

From that point the intensity of the game only got bigger Eagle Brooklyn had a big third quarter outscoring Hayes 19-14 to take a 45-42 lead going into the 4th quarter.

From that point the intensity continued to grow as Hayes was able to answer back to anything that Eagle gave them.

This game had all of the spectators at Abraham Lincoln Playground at the edge of their seats as the back and forth battle ended with a defensive play by Thomas which forced Eagle BK to turnover the ball to seal the 59-58 win.

Reactions

Magic Mel Continues to Mature:

Jermel Thomas’s 22 points and 10 assist performance showed how much his game has grown this summer. His unselfish play and his defense in the final seconds is one thing that sealed the win for Hayes last night. You gotta like their chances of being a CHSAA contender if we see this every night from Hayes.

The Supporting Cast is Intriguing

Aside from the core trio of Thomas, Destin and Fields, Sophmore Big man Amadou Barry and Nazier Campbell came up huge at times for the Hayesmen. This Hayes team definitely sticked together and never backed down when they lost the lead to Eagle in the third quarter.

Amadou Barry’s inside presence helped Hayes a lot and it showed how much he is needed going forward if Hayes looks to win this tournament that will give them some momentum going into the fall ball season and HS hoops season.

Eagle Brooklyn was still impressive

Even though it’s a brand new team with the amount of players that have graduated the returnees on this team made it seem that they have not lost a step. Dockery will look to make the leap as a sophomore and the addition of Rich Jackson will help them. Credit to the coaching of this Eagle squad who kept them disciplined.