It was a year of tragedy and heartache in New York City girls basketball.
Two of the community’s most beloved figures, Nazareth coach Apache Paschall and Murry Bergtraum guard Tayshana (Chicken) Murphy, succumbed to untimely deaths. Murphy was shot and killed in September in a dispute between rival housing projects in Harlem. Paschall died of cardiac arrest Jan. 3 after battling skin cancer for four months.
Their teams, though, were inspired by their great lives. Nazareth won a second straight CHSAA Class AA state title, Bergtraum took home a 14th straight PSAL city championship and Bishop Loughlin, where Murphy started her career, won the New York State Federation Class A crown.
Denis Gostev
Murry Bergtraum's Shequana Harris is The Post's All-City girls basketball Player of the Year.
Denis Gostev
Murry Bergtraum's Ed Grezinsky (l.), here with Taylon Murphy, Tayshana Murphy's father, is The Post's All-City girls basketball Coach of the Year.
All-City girls basketball Player of the Year: Shequana Harris, Murry Bergtraum
Before every free throw Shequana Harris took in the PSAL Class AA city championship game at Madison Square Garden, she looked over to the scorer’s table near her team’s bench. Propped up there was a large framed picture of her close friend and former teammate Tayshana (Chicken) Murphy, who was tragically murdered in September.
“Winning this one was so special,” the Murry Bergtraum senior said after Bergtraum beat McKee/Staten Island Tech for its 14th straight title. “I knew she was there with me.”
The UNC Charlotte-bound Harris had eight of her 22 points in the pivotal fourth quarter at the Garden, putting the Lady Blazers on her back and making one big play after another.
“She just keeps coming at you and coming at you,” MSIT coach Peter LaMarca said. “She’s such a great athlete. I really appreciated watching her today as much as she made me sick. Some shots she hit, I was just like wow.”
Added Bergtraum coach Ed Grezinsky: “[She played like] an all-city player. Like an MVP.”
The 5-foot-7 Harris did it all year for Bergtraum. She thought she’d come into her senior season sharing leadership and scoring duties with Murphy. Instead, she carried the burden of trying to help the Lady Blazers extend their championship streak to 14 largely on her own shoulders – all while still grieving her friend’s death.
Not once did she falter or show her teammates any weakness. They followed her to a championship – and then on a victory lap around the Garden floor with Murphy’s picture en tow.
“She’s been the leader, she’s our big scorer and she’s also our big defensive player,” Grezinsky added of Harris. “She’s the straw that stirs the drink.”
All-City girls basketball Coach of the Year: Ed Grezinsky, Murry Bergtraum
Before the last two years, Grezinsky was already the most successful girls basketball coach in the history of the PSAL. His legacy has reached stratospheric heights now.
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Murry Bergtraum, Tayshana Murphy, Shequana Harris, Ed Grezinsky, Taylon Murphy, Murphy, GostevMurry Bergtraum, Apache Paschall, Bergtraum, PSAL, PSAL Class AA city championship, CHSAA Class AA state, Lady Blazers, championship, basketball
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