Wings guard Desure Buie had the game of his life.
Buie, the Hofstra-bound guard, was simply unstoppable against Construction. He scored a career-high 42 points and made nine three-pointers. Fourth-seed Wings is heading to the semifinals with a 85-58 win over No. 5 Construction last Saturday in the PSAL Class AA boy’s basketball quarterfinals at Lehman College. Buie was seemingly able to do whatever he wanted on the floor.
“This is most definitely the best game I have had in high school,” Buie said. “I played aggressive and made a lot of shots as a result. My role is also to be a leader on the court. I think I came out and executed today.”
Buie and Wings were locked in from the get go. They came out of the gate on a 10-2 run. A Buie three-pointer capped the spurt, which would be common occurrence. By the time only the first quarter was over, Buie had made five threes and already had 17 points. Wings led 25-9 at the end of the first quarter.
“He’s a young man in my opinion who doesn’t shoot the ball enough,” Wings coach Billy Turnage said. “But tonight he was locked in. He’s a senior and we lost early on last year, so he stepped up and told the guys that we weren’t going to lose early like last year. The seniors know that this is their last year to win the whole thing,”
The Buie show continued on into the second quarter. By half time he was 7-for-7 from beyond the arc with 27 points and led his team to a 48-23 lead.
“He does this everyday in practice and today he brought it into the game,” Wings senior center Jessie Govan said. “I think some people forget he’s a Division I point guard and how good he actually is. Today he proved that.”
Construction (23-5) was able to slow Buie down somewhat in the second half. He only scored 15 points. Even with Buie being quelled a bit, Wings still led 71-34 at the end of the third and cruised to victory.
“We executed well today,” Turnage said. “I know coaches look good when players make plays. But the way Buie and the guys played tonight was phenomenal.”
The Georgetown-bound Govan was also a big part of the Wings Academy victory. He finished with 20 points. The victory earns Wings a place in the PSAL semifinals against top-seed Thomas Jefferson 5 p.m. March 8 at a site to be determined.
“We’re focused on winning the whole thing,” Turnage said. “We’re going to get back in the lab this week and we’re going to work, build and construct to try and move on.”
