February 21, 2017
EDITORS: The following is for immediate release. If you have any questions contact Lisa Schultz, Associate Director of Development at
The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf at [email protected] or 215-754-4770.
The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf Boys AND Girls Basketball
Teams Win 2017 ESDAA Division II Titles at Tournament
GERMANTOWN _ 40 YEARS IN THE MAKING! Both the boys and girls basketball teams of The Pennsylvania School for the
Deaf (PSD) played in the Eastern School for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA) division II championship games and BOTH
TEAMS WON! The Boys team traveled to St. Mary's School for the Deaf in Buffalo, New York for weekend and played against the
New York State School for the Deaf. The boys played an awesome defense game and beat NYSSD 61 to 29! PSD player Nasir Ford
led the team with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 steals. Jacob Cross played his heart out with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Aquil Roane came out of nowhere with 6 points, 10 REBOUNDS, and 4 BLOCKS! The record was 3-13. The next day (2/18/17),
PSD’s defense shut St. Mary's down and won 47-43 and moved on to the ESDAA finals! Ford, once again led the team with 29
points, 13 rebounds, and 7 steals. Cross scored 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists despite a nose injury. The entire team rallied Ford
and Cross by putting on a strong defense with a total of 11 steals, 4 blocks, and 36 rebounds! The record was 4-1. On Sunday
(2/19/17), PSD went up against New Jersey School for the Deaf (NJSD) for the ESDAA Championship. A PSD Boys team hasn’t
won since 1977! Once again, Ford led the team with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals and Cross scored 18 points, 16
rebounds and 3 steals. Peter Dammer worked hard to contribute 3 points and 10 REBOUNDS! Jordan Shaw, Taheed Robinson, and
Kevin Nguyen caused confusion with NJSD’s offense achieving 8 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Aquil Roane and Hazim Haroun
helped Cross and Dammer providing a strong defense! The score was 51 to 37. The record is 5-13! PSD ALL STAR STATUS to
Nasir Ford, Jacob Cross, and Jordan Shaw! MVP of ESDAA tournament for amazing performance and leadership goes to
Nasir Ford!
37 YEARS IN THE MAKING! The Girls team traveled to New Jersey School for the Deaf in West Trenton, New Jersey where
they lost by one point to the Stem Clinic. Yasmean Evans led with 29 points, and Gia DiGiacomo had 14 points. The score was 4243. The record was 7-6. The next day (2/18/17), the girls played against Rochester School for the Deaf in the Semi-finals. Our girls
had four fouls in the 3rd and 4th quarters but managed to pull it together and led by 6 points- then by 10 points. Again, Evans led the
team and achieved 29 points and 10 rebounds. Id-deen, a newcomer to the team scored 2 points and 8 rebounds and played
aggressive defensive, preventing the opposing team from scoring. DiGiacomo produced 7 points and the final score was 35-25. The
record was 8-6. On Sunday (2/19/17), PSD faced off with NJSD for the ESDAA Championship. A PSD girls team hasn’t won
since 1980! The team surprised the coaches and the entire fan base with their amazing coordination! Evans and Id-deen led the team,
with Id-deen impressively playing defense and scoring 8 points in the first quarter.. Evans played aggressively with 12 points and 10
rebounds. Id-deen’s final results ended with 12 points with 15 rebounds and 4 steals. The final score was 28-19. The record is 9-6.
PSD ALL STAR STATUS to Yasmean Evans, Briona Hayes and Maysan Id-deen! MVP of ESDAA tournament for amazing
performance and leadership goes to Yasmean Evans!
Head of School, Peter L. Bailey -“What a great victory for our basketball teams. They played fiercely representing
PSD and our entire community with teamwork and leadership. I am so proud of their sportsmanship and for their
dedication. Through these efforts they have brought home the Division II title to PSD! Our entire community is beyond
thrilled and joins me in congratulating our wonderful teams. Thank you to our coaches for making sure that the values of
teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership are instilled in our athletes. I am very proud of our teams and our school! We are
living the motto… I CAN, YOU CAN, WE CAN, PSD CAN!”
Philadelphia Mayor’s Office - “The City of Philadelphia is so very proud of the student athletes of the PSD boys’ and girls’
basketball teams and congratulate them for winning the Division II Championships of the Eastern School for the Deaf Athletic
Association games. This is a historic win for PSD and we salute the teams, coaches, and PSD faculty for their determination,
dedication and the winning spirit that made this victory possible.” Sheila Hess, City Representative.
A PEP RALLY CELEBRATION WILL BE HELD IN THE PSD GYMNASIUM TODAY AT 2:15!
The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf was founded in 1820 by Philadelphia merchant David Seixas and is the third oldest school of its kind in the
United States. The school educates students to succeed by recognizing and developing individual strengths, building confidence, collaborating with
families and communities in a nurturing, dynamic, and language-rich environment steeped in cultural awareness of Deaf, Hearing, and worldwide
diversity. For more information see www.psd.org.