Boys basketball

Poise and passion define Panthers’ comeback over Eagles

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — Sportswriters and basketball zealots live for games like this one.

No, the January 25 rematch of Class B John S. Burke Catholic and Class A Monticello wasn’t a state championship final at Glens Falls, a sectional final at West Point or a make-or-break game for a league title.

On the contrary, it was a regular season crossover match up that some people might regard as just another game. But anyone who knows the history of this rivalry wouldn’t need a crystal ball to figure that this one was going to be a dogfight. The details of the game are compelling, but the background leading up to it is equally poignant.

Monticello was a Class B school up until two years ago, and its High School Hall of Fame coach Dick O’ Neill formerly coached at Burke for 12-and-one-half years. For decades, epic battles between the two schools have been the rule, not the exception.

In the Section 9 Class B wars from 1985 (the year O’Neill came to coach the Monticello Panthers) through 2002, each school nailed down four sectional titles. Burke won in 1985, 1987, 1988, and most recently in 1997. Monticello won in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. Each team’s history is rife with division titles as well.

The January 25, 2005 game surpassed the ramped up expectations and will no doubt go down as another one for the ages. From the noisy player introductions, the opening tip controlled by Monticello’s Sinan Tertimez, to the nail-biting final seconds, the game crackled with intensity, dramatic runs and sparkling defense. Both teams wanted this one badly, but in the end the Panthers’ victory that coach O’Neill characterized as “our biggest win to date” was won by what he referred to as his team’s belated “passion” during the final eight minutes.

While he acknowledged Monticello’s clutch fourth-quarter play, Burke coach Chris Neidig’s operative words for his team’s defeat were “ loss of poise” in the face of Monticello’s remarkable late upsurge. Yet in the world of high school basketball, losses can be catalysts for future positives. “This will make us better,” Neidig added.

Burke defeated Monticello 62-54 on December 14 in the teams’ first encounter this season. This time around, the Panthers had the home-court advantage but were missing Devan Jackson and Jermaine Davis, who were nursing turned ankles.

Two weeks ago this reporter had a chance meeting with Panther point guard Luis Paredes. He talked about his team’s loss in the Burke Eagles’ aerie down in Goshen. “They’re tough down there but we almost had them. We’ll be ready for them on our floor,” he said.

The Panthers’ den can be daunting to visiting teams with its deafening din and backdrop of championship banners, but for much of the night Burke seemed unfazed by the atmosphere.

Still, the disciplined, well-coached and athletic Eagles got off to a slow start, netting only four points in the opening quarter while the Panthers got scoring from Brad Cooper, Matt Goodin and Tertimez to take a 10-4 lead by the end of the frame.

As the second quarter began, Burke’s poise and razor-sharp execution came into play. Jason Green found a cutting Dan Burke for a lay-up and Andrew Jackson made his free throws and later dropped a shot into the cylinder at the last gasp of the shot clock to tie the game at 13. Jackson continued to move brilliantly without the ball. His scoring, plus a momentary Monticello defensive lapse that allowed Green to score off an uncontested inbounds pass, gave Burke a 23-19 halftime lead.

Both teams showed the ability to generate intense defensive pressure. In the third quarter Burke turned up the heat and Monticello’s game began to falter. “In order to be successful or have a sense of self-worth, we need to come and play as hard as we can,” said O’Neill. “We lost our poise. We’re a team, not individuals,” he added by way of explaining his team’s breakdown that put Burke in the driver’s seat.

After tying the game at 27 all, Monticello hit a flat spot, netting only two more points for the last four minutes of the quarter. Using an aggressive help defense that at times trapped the Panthers, thus forcing turnovers, Burke penetrated the paint and got scoring from Green that included a quick slash to the basket and a nice jump shot. Burke led 39-29 at the end of the third quarter.

O’Neill called for his team to extend its defense, but Burke managed to score first, pushing the lead to 12. Credit Monticello’s great defense that forced turnovers and the timely ascension of Brad Cooper, who scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter for the dramatic turnaround. After Jackson hit the first three pointer of the game midway through the quarter, Cooper answered right back with a three of his own. Burke turned it over and Tertimez edged a shot in over the rim to bring the game close at 49-46.

Tying up Burke resulted in a Monticello possession arrow. Following what might have been a disastrous Panther turnover, Monticello got a needed stop and Tertimez brought his team within one at 49-48 with 33 seconds left. Burke couldn’t convert and the Panthers had the ball with 22 seconds to go. Figuring Burke would commit a foul the Panthers got the ball into Cooper’s hands. He went to the line and made both ends of a one and one to give the Panthers a 50-49 lead.

After losing the ball out of bounds, Burke fouled Cooper again and he completed another pair of one and ones to stretch the lead to 52-49. The Panthers (9-4) stole the inbounds pass to ice the game.

“We need to be mentally and physically tougher,” said coach Neidig after the Burke loss. “They upped the pressure and we lost our poise. I give them credit. They made the plays at the end of the game and we didn’t. That’s the bottom line. If we won a game like this it would give us a great amount of confidence.”

Coach O’Neill knows how to keep a big win in perspective. “We’ve got to keep up the intensity,” he said. Good idea: Cornwall’s coach Tom Howe was scouting the game as was Sullivan West’s Rick Ellison and Bob Menges. Though the Panthers and Eagles won’t meet again this year, both teams are apt to emerge from this clash better than they were when it began.

Green led Burke (8-5) with 16 points. Jackson had 15.