Boys basketball

Cooper paces Panthers in The Pit over Burke

Eagles’ fast start nixed by great defense and Cooper’s 34

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — There are plenty of high school gyms to see great basketball in this winter, but if you want to immerse yourself in the genuine fervor of the hardwood, a trip to “The Pit” in Monticello is a must. That is especially true when long-time rival John S. Burke comes to play.

The history of the rivalry dates back decades, but is of no concern to the current roster of players, although they undoubtedly sense the heightened significance of their clashes. You could tell that, from the instant the teams burst onto the floor for their pre-game warm-ups on December 13.

The crowd sensed it too, even though many of the students are too young to know about the epic battles waged by these schools in years gone by.

For Monticello coach Dick O’Neill, history is very much alive when it comes to Burke. The High School Hall of Fame headman coached there for 12-and-a-half years before coming to Monticello in 1985. Until three years ago, Monticello was a Class B school, just like Burke, and the epic hoop wars during that era are still on O’Neill’s mind, as well as others with long memories for iconic basketball moments.

During those years of league rivalry from 1985 to 2002, each school garnered four sectional titles. Burke won in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1997. Last year, Burke won again, but the two schools were no longer in the same class.

Burke’s 2004 run was cut short by a fight-shortened game against Section One’s John F. Kennedy. When the game resumed days later, Burke came out cold and lost its bid to get to Glens Falls.

Monticello captured titles in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. Each team has a plethora of division titles as well.

While all of that is ancient history, last year’s game at Monticello is not. After losing to Burke down there, Panthers players circled the January 25 rematch as one of the team’s most significant games. Roaring back from a 12-point deficit to beat Burke 52-49 was one of last season’s shining moments for the Panthers, and there was nothing that would delight O’Neill and his senior standout guard Brad Cooper more than to beat Burke again.

This time out, Burke did not come in at full strength. With the loss of power forward Andrew Jackson to broken bones from an early season football injury, and the absence of standout point guard Johnny LaFrance to a broken foot, the Eagles were not supposed to be in full flying mode yet. Jason Green stood on the sidelines, not yet in the mix. A recent ruling allowing the 19 year old to play is still unresolved. Green is also nursing a sore knee.

So, one might have expected to see Burke firing on only a couple of cylinders.

O’Neill knew better. He anticipated that the Eagles would come right at his team and they certainly did.

From the opening tip, which was controlled by Monticello, the first quarter was a hoop version of “The Fast and the Furious.” Burke came to offer Monticello the hospitality of its own version of B and B. No, that’s not bed and breakfast; it is Byrons (Kyle) and Behan (Mark): Byrons in the post and Behan everywhere else on the court. They created early havoc for the Panthers. While the big man did his damage in the paint, Behan ran off of screens and found open spaces to launch his shots, including a trio of threes. Behan scored 15 points in the first half. Once Monticello adjusted its defense in the second half, he scored two.

Monticello might have been run out of this game early but for two major advantages. First, the Panthers’ rebounds. With Mike Norman ruling the inside domain, the glass mostly belonged to Monticello. Norman had numerous tip opportunities, but on this night someone put an invisible shield on the rim and the majority of them never made it through the cylinder.

And then there was Brad Cooper.

Burke came out in a man defense, but within five minutes it was obvious they couldn’t handle the scoring phenom. Running off of screens, Cooper got looks outside and in. Each time the Eagles seemed to build a lead, Cooper was there to chop it down.

Burke got the first points of the night on a three pointer from Jim Smith. Cooper answered with a bucket, and Norman got one put back to go down to give the Panthers a brief lead of 4-3. Behan and Byrons accounted for nearly all of Burke’s 20 points in the first quarter. Although Cooper kept Monticello in it, the Panthers still trailed 20-14 after one frame.

The second quarter started out with a Burke run. Monticello turnovers, a number of which were the product of Cooper passes with too much mustard on them, gave Burke a chance to make profitable trips up the floor. Behan was active on steals, as was Eric Melendez. Midway through the quarter, the Eagles led 26-14 but O’Neill decided to see how his team would respond. Behan blocked a Cooper three and then raced up the floor for a layup. Another Monticello turnover followed and it looked like the Panthers were in trouble.

O’Neill’s instincts were right though. This team, though heavy with juniors, has poise and skills. Shots by Mike Washington, a tip by Norman and a buzzer -beating three by Cooper pulled Monticello within two ,at 30-28 at the half.

Burke inbounded the ball to start the third, but O’Neill had already instituted a plan to shut Burke’s scorers down: deny them the ball. When a shooter came off a screen in the second half, there was someone there to meet him. Passing lanes were cut down and help defense abounded.

The results soon became evident.

A Cooper three followed a Norman miss to give the Panthers their first lead of the night at 31-30. That lead seesawed a bit for a while, as Burke showed some extra moxie. A couple of baskets by Byrons off of inbounds passes were impressive.

Meanwhile, Monticello kept the heat on. Shane Jones made a pair of free-throws, but Melendez hit one of two from the stripe to tie it later at 35-all. After Byrons was called for traveling, Cooper hit a jumper to give the Panthers the lead they would not relinquish. As the third quarter wound down, Monticello’s Omar Diaz got into the flow assisted by passes in the paint from both Cooper and Norman.

When the third quarter ended, Monticello led 41-36.

Monticello inbounded to start the last frame, but turned the ball over. An easy lay-up by Byrons cut the lead to three, and Kyle Grahn slimmed it to one after Norman missed one in the paint.

Monticello was in need of a bucket big time and they got it from Diaz on a put back of a Cooper miss. Cooper made amends with a three and the lead swelled back to six.

Anyone who has seen Burke play over the years understands that the Eagles never quit. Melendez slashed to the basket for two as Monticello started to draw fouls with their penetration. Diaz grabbed a Norman pass and Burke traveled. Continuing his fourth quarter flurry, Diaz would go on to score several more baskets on his way to a total of 14.

Burke resorted to fouling as time wound down, including some that sent Cooper spilling to the floor. “That’s okay,” said Cooper after the game. “At least they helped me up.”

Cooper’s final pair of free-throws gave him a night’s total of 34. That scoring total represented a career-high for the premiere guard. Norman had eight for the Panthers, while Behan led the Eagles with 17. Melendez had 16 and Byrons had 10. Monticello went eight-for-11 from the charity stripe, while Burke notched eight-for-12.

Cooper was sore but smiling after the game. “They’re tough,” he said. “I’ve played on the same team with these guys in the summer. They came out fast and we had to play some zone, something we’re not that used to doing.”

Burke’s coach, Doug Janezeko, summed up the difference in the game in one word: rebounding. “They killed us on the glass.”

Asked about his defensive strategy, Janezeko said, “We came out in a man defense but we couldn’t handle Cooper. They ran him off of screens and he was hitting everything, so we went to a one-two-two zone and it slowed him down a bit.”

As to the plusses of the game, he said, “We adjusted well. We’re not a zone team but we identified Cooper in the zone. After that, he didn’t get a lot of easy looks.”

O’Neill said the difference in the game was stopping the threes. “We let Behan get away from us early on,” he noted. “The best way to stop a scorer is to not let him get the ball. We cut down the passing lanes, got help on him and, when he came off of a screen, we had people jump out at him.”

O’Neill was visibly pleased with the win, but would have preferred to beat Burke with their full compliment of players. “I want to play everyone at full strength,” he said. O’Neill was impressed with Diaz and Norman. “If Norman had gotten half of those shots to go down, we would have won by an even bigger margin,” O’Neill said.

Monticello improved to 2-1 while Burke fell to 0-2. They previously lost to Marlboro 48-46 on December 7. When Monticello and Burke meet again in January, it is likely that Burke will have its full team back. Monticello hosts Sullivan West on December 23. Look for another barnburner.