Ed Grezinsky was loose — as loose as you’ll see the intense Murry Bergtraum girls basketball coach. He was ribbing people at the scorer’s table and kidding around with referees in the second half.
“They took care of business,” Grezinsky said of his players. “There’s no reason for me not to be relaxed when they’re playing well.”
In the third quarter Thursday, Bergtraum gave a glimpse into what makes it the No. 7 team in the country according to USA Today. Doris Ortega and Cori Coleman took turns knocking down 20-foot jumpers, leaving the Kennedy defense looking helpless in an eventual 60-43 Bergtraum win in PSAL Class AA girls basketball in Lower Manhattan.
“When we’re going like that, we’re very hard to beat,” Grezinsky said.
Coleman had eight of her 15 points in the third quarter as Bergtraum (20-0, 13-0 Manhattan AA) opened up a 46-25 lead with 42 seconds left before the fourth. Kennedy (19-6, 12-3 Bronx A) got within 46-30 on a Chelsea Custodio basket with 7:36 remaining in the game. But Shequana Harris scored back-to-back baskets, Coleman drained a 3 and Ortega made a free throw to complete a 12-0 run and expand the lead to 54-30.
The Lady Blazers never let the Knights make a run. That wasn’t the case last week in a win against Manhattan Center. The Lady Rams crept within four points late. Grezinsky and his players were not pleased after that game. The coach said they were out to re-establish themselves as a dominant force.
“That was a game we needed to learn a lesson from,” Ortega said.
Opposing teams should be learning that they can’t leave Ortega open from behind the arc. She had 17 points, including four 3-pointers, as Kennedy tried to zone Bergtraum at the outset. The senior guard says she has been labeled a slasher her entire career – and she even thinks of herself as one – but there aren’t many better long-range shooters in the city.
“When she starts shooting, there ain’t no stopping her,” Bergtraum senior forward Shukurah Washington said.
Washington got things started for the Lady Blazers. Angry about the team’s performance last week, she said she wanted to come out even more aggressive than usual against Kennedy. The DePaul-bound banger had five of her team’s first nine points.
“She made it known that [inside] was her territory and that was it,” Grezinsky said.
And the best part of Washington’s game? She wasn’t in foul trouble – “that’s a first,” she joked – like she was against Manhattan Center. Washington said she’s trying to find a happy medium between her trademark physical play and not getting stuck on the bench with too many fouls.
“Play hard,” she said, “but also think of how you’re gonna do it.”
Kennedy coach O’Neil Glenn felt his players stopped playing hard in the second half. Never satisfied after games, Glenn was more exasperated and befuddled Thursday especially after the Knights beat Manhattan Center last week.
“That was embarrassing,” he said. “The effort was horrible.”
While Glenn was fuming, Grezinsky was all smiles. Bergtraum, The Post’s top team in New York City, is one win away from an undefeated regular season. The Lady Blazers meet Maryland-bound star Alyssa Thomas and Pennsylvania powerhouse Central Dauphin at home Saturday. If they play like they did throughout the game Thursday, the visitors could be in for a long afternoon.
“We can be almost unstoppable,” Ortega said.