Basketball sectionals: Class A boys

Monticello shocked by Wallkill namesakes

League winners never ignite in stultifying defeat

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — It wasn’t supposed to end this way for the Monticello Panthers. After winning their league title with an emotional 63-59 victory over Cornwall on February 16, Monticello drew the three seed in the Class A tournament and a home game to boot. Despite such advantages, Monticello succumbed to the Wallkill Panthers 61-58 in one of the tournament’s first upsets.

The big crowd that packed the Pit was ready to roll, but the Panthers never really got them going. Six-seeded Wallkill was an unknown commodity at 10-10 and Monticello took their warm-ups with confidence and pride.

It’s possible that Monticello was looking past this game to an anticipated semifinal meeting with athletic Rondout Valley. As Monticello coach Dick O’Neill put it in his game postmortem, “At this time of the year, you’ve got to play well, not necessarily great, but good enough to advance.”

Monticello had a few sparkling moments, but O’Neill said his team never displayed the passion necessary to garner the win.

Meanwhile, Wallkill, coached by Kevin Bach, formerly of John S. Burke, was well prepared. Though Bach described his team as “up and down this season,” they were clearly up for this one. Wallkill out-rebounded and out-hustled their Panther namesakes and never let Monticello get that big run everyone in that home crowd was waiting for.

Following the devastating loss, the Monticello locker room was a somber place, especially for seniors Brad Cooper, Mike Washington and Eric Walker.

Cooper, one of Section 9’s premium players, never got on track. He was scoreless for the entire first half and ended up with 13, a season low.

“We wanted to keep the ball away from him as much as possible,” said Bach. “V.J. Ponese did a great job keeping him in check,” he added.

Cooper had plenty of touches; it just wasn’t his night.

Still, this game was Monticello’s to win. After letting the visiting Panthers get out to a 14-6 early lead, Monticello showed its strength by ripping off a 9-0 run to end the first quarter with a 15-14 lead. That came from the athleticism of Mike Normann, who scored seven points, and Washington, who added five including a trey. Normann looked really strong down low, spinning and elevating.

Wallkill was in early foul trouble with two on R.J. Ponese, but Monticello mysteriously abandoned its strategy of attacking the rim, and settled instead for low-percentage shots from the perimeter.

Although Cooper’s shots wouldn’t drop through the cylinder, Monticello stayed in the flow. The teams battled into halftime, knotted at 25.

“We’ve got to come out the first three minutes and play with passion,” O’Neill told his team at the break.

Instead, Monticello drew two quick fouls and Wallkill did what Monticello wasn’t doing. They took it to the rack and got to the line. Wallkill shot 27 free throws and made 15. By comparison, Monticello was nine-for-15. That disparity alone tells the tale of this upset.

Cooper finally broke through with a pair of three- pointers in the third quarter. Recent transfer Tyrone White added four points and Walker tacked on two as Monticello outscored Wallkill 14-12 to take a 38-37 lead into the final frame.

Although Cooper was coming alive, Monticello’s defense just couldn’t get a stop, granting Wallkill slashers a key first step. Result: lay-ups and foul shots aplenty.

Monticello finally displayed some late fire in their passing and shooting. Cooper drove the lane to give Monticello a 49-48 lead, but a shot and one gave it right back. Normann had a great block and White had a pair of steals and scored eight points in the final frame. After Monticello turned it over, trailing by two at 55-53, the game began to slip away. Monticello got within three with one second left, but the clock expired as Cooper’s Hail Mary floor-length shot drifted wide.

Normann led Monticello (13-8) with 18 points. White had 17. Wiegmann had 16 for Wallkill (11-10), while R.J. Ponese had 14 and Rob Gomez scored 12. Wallkill advances to play second-seeded Rondout Valley at 5:00 p.m. on March 3 at SUNY New Paltz.

Referring to his seniors, O’Neill noted after the game, “I’m glad I had these kids in my life. These kids gave me quality minutes every day and they anchored this team.”

The high school Hall of Fame coach exited this season’s campaign with his usual class, poise and incisive view of the game. “If you want to win, you’ve got to play with passion and although we had some moments late in the game, mostly we didn’t do that tonight.”

Despite the despondency on the part of his players in the face of the crushing defeat, years from now they will mostly remember what a privilege it was to play for Monticello and, in particular, their one-of-a-kind coach, Dick O’Neill.

For more details and an album of pictures visit www.riverreportersports.com

ACCORD, NY — Second-seeded Rondout Valley (14-3) made short work of Port Jervis with a convincing 88-60 win on February 27. Dustin Priest scored 29 points to lead the Ganders to the quarterfinal win. Port Jervis (10-11) was led by Vinnie Maltzahn’s 25 points. John Grogan added 19.

Class C boys quarterfinals

CHESTER, NY — Tri-Valley’s magical season came to an abrupt halt on February 27 as the Bears lost for the third time this season to the Hambletonians. In the game’s final 20 seconds, Chester’s Kevin Jones scored five points, including a three-pointer to seal the 49-48 win, but there is much more to tell. For additional details, visit www.riverreportersports.com. Tri-Valley’s John Merchant and Dustin VanLieu each netted 18 points for the Bears, who ended their season at 13-8. Chester (12-9) will move on to face top seed Millbrook at 6:40 p.m. on March 2 at SUNY New Paltz.

TUXEDO, NY — S.S. Seward’s dynasty of Section 9 titles ended with a 50-48 loss to third-seeded Tuxedo on February 27. Seward, the defending Class D champs, moved up to Class C this year by virtue of having seven students too many to stay in the smaller grouping. Seward (10-11) got 15 points from Brendan Myers and 13 from Bryan Folkl, but came up short. Steve Zubroski led Tuxedo (13-8) with 16 points. Tuxedo moves on to face second-seeded Webutuck at 6:45 p.m. on March 2 at SUNY Ulster.