Class B boys’ quarterfinals

Undying valor

Dawgs’ valiant quest ends as Burke marches on

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GOSHEN, NY — In the maelstroms known as sectional basketball tournaments, there are apt to be stories of glorious victories and shattering defeats.

It is part and parcel of the process that will eventually produce a championship team, a group that can survive the trials and tribulations that are a given when the best teams play for the right to advance.

And so it was that, once again, Sullivan West and John S. Burke encountered each other at the crossroads. By the time the last state championship game is played in Glens Falls on March 19, only one team from each size class from the tiny D schools to the mammoth double AA’s will be left standing. All the others will have gone home to ponder how it was that they never reached the mountaintop.

But since only the tiniest percentage of teams ever reaches the state final four, many teams eye their sectional tournaments as Nirvana.

Meeting on March 1 in a Class B quarterfinal on Burke’s home court, the Sullivan West Bulldogs arrived without their centerpiece Derek Hahn. Despite giving it every ounce of heart and determination, Burke’s depth and experience proved to be just a little too much. In the end, the Bulldogs came up short against their nemesis yet again, this time by the margin of 52-46.

The hallmarks of victory and defeat stand in sharp contrast to one another. The old saying goes, “To the victor belongs the spoils,” and in this case, victorious Burke dutifully earned the right to advance to take on James I. O’Neill on March 3 at Orange County Community College in the semifinals and to continue their quest to recapture the sectional title, which they recently forfeited over the Jason Green affair.

By contrast, at game’s end, Sullivan West was left to ponder yet another close loss to a team they so desperately wanted to beat. “I really wanted to win this game,” said a choked-up Rick Ellison, Sullivan West’s battle-worn coach. “It came down to turnovers, as well as their edge in experience and athleticism. I don’t know what else I could ask of my kids,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Ellison, along with his assistants, Bob Menges and Cliff Kelly, have just emerged from one of their most challenging seasons. To have even gotten their team to this point was monumental, given the hardships that have befallen them along the way.

But here they were and they didn’t come to just play. They came to win.

The Bulldogs got out to an early lead when Brett Youmans cut to the basket for the night’s first deuce. But Burke’s defensive pressure was daunting. The Eagles’ intensity resulted in a spate of steals and a significant number of points-off turnovers.

Even so, Sullivan West played its best defensive game of the year, containing Burke’s cadre of gunslingers to manageable numbers. The turnovers, however, really hurt.

Sullivan West led 5-2 behind points from Kevin Cappiello. Burke forced a total of eight first-quarter turnovers and ripped off a 10-0 run along their way to a 14-9 lead by the end of the frame. Burke’s points came from all sides.

The good news for the Bulldogs was Burke’s foul tally, but Burke coach Doug Janeczco had ample reserves. Early in the year when Andrew Jackson and John LaFrance were sidelined, players such as Kyle Grahn, Dan VanHouten and Tyler Locatell logged minutes and honed their skills. Their availability was a huge factor against a much thinner Bulldog platoon.

In the early part of the second quarter, Burke’s lead swelled to 19-10.

When Burke’s Eric Melendez picked up the Eagles’ eighth foul of the half at 4:42, Sullivan West’s defense amped up and the Dawgs began to chip away. As the half advanced, Burke turned it over five times and the Bulldog fans were being heard, despite being outnumbered by eager Eagle evangelists.

Burke led 23-20 at the half, but Ellison and company were delighted with what they had witnessed. To put it in the lexicon of boxing, their team had just won the second round.

Ackermann picked up his second and third fouls within the opening two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter. Now the Bulldogs would have to go small, with him on the bench.

A Kevin Brewer three had the Dawgs trailing by one at 24-23, but they couldn’t get the lead. Four turnovers and the missing of crucial lay-ups factored in.

The Eagles recaptured the momentum with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter off of the amped up play of Kyle Byrons, Behan and LaFrance. Burke led 36-28 after three quarters.

The Dawgs needed to get it going as the fourth quarter got underway. Instead, they missed a pair of lay-ups, which Ellison said after the game, constituted a huge turning point. “That really hurt us,” he whispered.

Fouls were mounting on both sides, and Burke got to the line nine times to Sullivan West’s four. The Eagles made four of those free throws.

A three by Pitz got the Bulldog crowd yelling, but Behan canned a trey to answer on the next possession.

Sullivan West got within four at 2:38 to go, but Locatell hit an uncontested layup underneath. Shots by Ackermann and Cappiello had the Dawgs again within four with 57 seconds to go, and Burke spread the floor and went into a stall. Free throws accounted for the game’s final points as Burke survived their close encounter of the third kind against the school that plays them the toughest.

Sullivan West’s season ended at 10-10, probably a few wins shy of what the coaches anticipated at the outset, given the loss of its four fine scorers from last season. Burke (11-10) was propelled by its balanced scoring attack. Behan and LaFrance had 10 each and Jackson netted nine.

Cappiello led the Dawgs with 13, Youmans had 12 and Ackermann added eight. The Bulldogs were 12-for-17 from the line. Burke was 11-for-19.

Jackson expressed compassion for the injured Hahn. “I know what he is going through,” said the stalwart veteran. “Sullivan West always plays us tough, but we’re working for a sectional title,” he said. Jackson noted that O’Neill, the Eagles’ next opponent, could be dangerous. As it turned out, he was right. The Eagles needed a last-second put-back to defeat the Raiders in the semifinals.

Ellison emerged from the locker room visibly shaken. “Their pressure and our turnovers really made the difference. You can’t simulate that intensity in practice.

“I thought we played great defense tonight,” he said. Citing Ackermann’s role, Ellison said, “I couldn’t have asked for more from him. He did a great job boxing out.” In the notes that he had prepared before the game were two items: 1) take care of the ball and avoid turnovers and 2) show poise.

Burke’s athleticism and experience stymied the first item, but the Bulldogs never lost their poise. They played to the last second with uncommon valor.

For Youmans, Brewer, Pitz and benchman Jonah LaGrutta, this was the last battle. Their disappointment was great to be sure, but these kids went out like champions.

Cappiello, a refurbished Hahn and Ackermann will return for the 2006-07 campaign, along with others who will vie for slots in the next battalion. “We’ll be okay,” said Ellison.

Janeczco cited his team’s rigorous practice regimen as key in preparing for this game and those that will follow. “Kids who have come off the bench this year have killed themselves in practice to make this team better,” he said.

“Sullivan West is a tough team and we told our kids that if we didn’t play our best that they could beat us,” he said.

Class B finals

Cinderella Spackenkill shocks mighty Burke

After Burke escaped from their semifinal against O’Neill with a two-point win, they encountered fifth-seeded Spackenkill, a team nobody took too seriously at the tourney’s outset. But by the time Burke faced them, Spackenkill had already knocked out number-four Highland and top-seeded Pine Plains.

Before the night was over on March 5, they added mighty Burke to their list of victims. Spackenkill, comprised of a blend of seniors and kids, shot the ball well and fought off Burke’s attempt to trap them on defense.

Abetted by officiating that whistled Burke early on, Spackenkill held the lead for the entire game until a three-pointer by Locatell gave the Eagles a brief lead in the fourth quarter. The score was tied repeatedly, but key free throws by Spackenkill and four missed shots in the final 24 seconds from Burke fueled the improbable win. Spackenkill advances to play John F. Kennedy Somers from Section 1 at the Westchester Community Center in the opening round of the state tourney. Burke finished its season at 12-11.

For more details on both of these games and albums of pictures from each, visit www.riverreportersports.com.