New York State boys basketball championships

A virtual tour of the great high school tournament and its layers of atmosphere, history and melodrama

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GLENS FALLS, NY — Give us your driven, your possessed, your huddled hamlets yearning to be seen, the rabid rowdy refugees from the farthest reaches of the state. Send these, the zealots of the rock, to Glens Falls. We lift our lens and pen inside these hallowed halls.

(Written with all due respect and reverence for Emma Lazarus’ poem that adorns the Statue of Liberty.)

The atmosphere…

Step through the portals of the Glens Falls Civic Center during a magical weekend in March and you’ll never view high school basketball in quite the same way again. Beginning on Friday, March 17 with the round of semifinals, and on into Saturday and Sunday when the champions are crowned in each of the state’s five size classes, the games are played in front of packed stands of cheering, chanting crowds.

Painted faces, spirited cheerleaders, emblazoned signs and the brassy cadence of high school bands fuse into a backdrop of sights and sounds that provide the hue and tenor for the piece de resistance, the games.

For the players, who have given their all to get here by winning their sectional tournaments and the dizzying spiral of regional games that lead up to the Final Four, the intensity and emotion form moments that they will hearken back to for the rest of their lives. The same is true for their parents, friends and the communities that have wholeheartedly embraced them.

Up the steep incline of the arena’s row of seats, legions of loyal fans desperately deploy their arsenal of cheers, signs, prayers and good-luck charms in an attempt to skew the outcome in favor of their beloved home teams.

For the past 26 years, the tournament has made its home at the civic center in the small Adirondacks town. Competition has its denouement in winning or losing, and the stark contrast of these antithetical outcomes could not be more poignantly displayed than here at Glens Falls.

Ultimately, it is teamwork that forges champions. While there are countless talented athletes who play for teams across the state, it is the teams that evince special chemistry and great defense that go on to win titles.

According to Dick O’Neill, Monticello High School’s boys basketball coach, a regular at the tournament since 1980, “This is what it’s all about. When we start practice, this is my goal every year.” Although Monticello has never reached the mountaintop, O’Neill fully understands what it takes to get here. Asked what defines the teams that make it to this level, O’Neill, who is a member of the High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, said, “I see an intense form of defense. Great teams get defensive stops when they need them, and that’s the difference between winning and losing ball games, especially when teams are so closely matched at this level.

The history…

After a lapse of more than 45 years, the New York State basketball championship tournament was resumed in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, the tournament was played in Rochester. In 1981, the games were moved to Glens Falls, where they have been played since. From 1980 to 2003, there were four championship classes: A, B, C and D. A fifth class, AA, was added in 2004. Those classifications are based on the number of students in schools from grades nine through 11. The qualification this year were: 192 students or less for Class D, 193 to 324 students for Class C, 325 to 549 students for Class B, 550 to 949 students for Class A, and 950 and up students for Class AA.

The names of some of the players who have graced the court at Glens Falls read like a Who’s Who of NBA icons. Included in that list are Chris Mullin, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Sam Perkins, Christian Laettner, Elton Brand, Adonal Foyle, Jamal Mashburn, Walter Berry, Ben Gordon, Sebastian Telfair and countless others who played for Division I colleges.

While trips to Glens Falls for Section 9 teams are few and far between, S.S. Seward reached Nirvana by winning the Class D title in 2003 with a 66-42 win over Moriah. The Spartans hold a one-game tournament record for the most three-point field goals (12), and 2003 Class D tournament MVP Mike Hoyt of Seward holds the individual tournament record for the most three-point field goals (13). Fallsburg lost in the semifinals the same year to Buffalo City Honors in Class C. Millbrook won a Class D title in 1999 by defeating Fort Ann by the score of 44-31. On the girls’ side of the ledger, there is, of course, the legendary state championship won by Eldred in 1988.

Since 1978, Bridgehampton of Section 11, a Class D school, led all schools with eight titles. Mount Vernon of Section 1, which is now an AA school, has seven titles, including several in the old AAA classification and in Class A. The Mount Vernon Knights garnered their seventh crown this year with a 57-53 win over the defending champion Niagara Falls Wolverines of Section 6.

Peekskill, a Class A team from Section 1, earned the distinction in 2005 of becoming the first team to win titles in A, B and C. The Class B and C titles were won when Elton Brand was on the team. Brand went on to play Division I ball at Duke University, and now plays for the Chicago Bulls.

The Peekskill Red Devils achieved back-to-back titles this year with a 46-39 win over the Sweet Home Panthers of Amherst from Erie County’s Section 3. This was the fourth crown for the Red Devils.

Amityville of Section 11 (Suffolk County) won four consecutive Class B titles from 1999 to 2003. Amityville is now in Class A. (See accompanying map on page 36 of NYS Sections to get a better idea of where schools are located.)

The Glens Falls Civic Center hosted the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team practices before the team proceeded to win the gold medal in the “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid.

Tournament highlights…

Class D Finney rides the memory of a departed friend to oust defending champion Tigers in shocker

The local angle: The Family School lost to Greenport of Section 11, who was beaten by Martin Luther King in the state quarterfinals.

Everyone in tiny Charles G. Finney High School knew Alex Soesters, a German exchange student and a three-sport athlete who became the first kid in school history to score in soccer, basketball and baseball. While riding his bike back home in his native Germany last summer, Soesters flipped his bike, hit a curb and died at the untimely age of 16. Alex’s name became the rallying cry for the Finney Falcons in their cheer, “1-2-3-Alex.” His memory gave them an extra man on the court.

Finney took on defending champions Martin Luther King in the finals after the Falcons knocked off undefeated Charlotte Valley 58-43 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, MLK was disposing of local favorite Fort Edward, who was back to the final four for the third straight year. The MLK Tigers defeated Fort Edward last year in the finals, and were the heavy favorite once Charlotte Valley was out of the picture.

Somebody forgot to tell that to the Falcons and their legion of green-painted fans. Tournament MVP Alex Marchand hit four three-pointers and his teammates Chris Verosky, Kyle Carlson and Mike Wielert added three, two and one trey respectively as the heady Falcons outplayed the bigger Tigers. Using great defense to force MLK (16-8) to the perimeter, the Falcons (24-3) trailed 22-15 at the half. The Tigers got big games from tall tree Eric Mingo (14 points) and Alfred Rock (19) to push the game into overtime. Marchand hit a huge three only 23 seconds into OT. Two minutes later, Verosky hit one as well and the rest is history. It was the first-ever state title for Finney.

Class C Campbell-Savona Panthers foils local favorite Stillwater Warriors with mighty man-to-man defense and big hearts

The local angle: Millbrook defeated Tuckahoe (Section 1), but succumbed to Southold (Section 11) in the quarterfinals. Stillwater defeated Southold to gain a berth in the finals.

The old adage says still water runs deep. Deep and abiding had been Stillwater’s run up until their most critical game of the season when they ran into Campbell-Savona in the finals. The team had scouted them well, and deployed a rarely seen man-to-man defense to shut down Stillwater’s two top scorers, seniors David Alston and Cody Daigle. During this season, Campbell-Savona was 21-0 when they held teams to under 40 points. Defense has been their trademark.

The Warriors, who hail from just up the road from Glens Falls, entered the tourney as the state’s top-ranked Class C team. They also came armed with a huge cadre of painted zealots, who occupied an entire end of the arena and the fervent desire to recapture the magic, which they had in 1988 when their team won the title.

At the other end of the arena, the self-described Rural Rowdyz of Campbell-Savona urged their team on with equal zeal, despite having far fewer numbers given the distance to their home in Stueben County. But the normally prolific Warriors were hampered by the Panthers’ in-your-face defense, and shot just 19.5 percent from the floor. Stillwater wanted an up-tempo game, but C.S. knew that if they slowed the pace down, they had a chance to win.

Tournament MVP Matt Newman led Campbell-Savona (24-3) with 12 points. The Panthers got to the finals by defeating Elmira-Notre Dame of Section 4.

Class B Lackawanna out-hustles and out-muscles luckless Kennedy

The local angle: Kennedy (23-4) easily disposed of Spackenkill in the opening round by the score of 73-41.

Two years ago, Kennedy won it all in Class B. They won the NYSPHAA championship with a 53-52 win over undefeated Malverne and the Federation title as well with an 81-61 win over McKinney of Brooklyn. Dan O’Connell and Tyrell Thompson were sophomores on that team. Last year, things went south for the Gaels when a fight-shortened game with John S. Burke resulted in a suspension of eight Kennedy players, including O’Connell. The diminished squad lost to eventual champion Carle Place. So this year was supposed to be the trip back to the mountaintop before Kennedy gets bumped up to Class A next year as part of a competitive realignment plan. Some have speculated that the Gaels could opt to play in the Catholic School League as a Class B team.

But lightning struck down the Gaels again, this time by way of a 103-degree fever, which hospitalized their best interior player Devin Brown before the final with Lackawanna (26-1). Brown was back for the game but couldn’t play, and his absence allowed the Steelers to control the glass at both ends of the floor.

Brown was key in Kennedy’s semifinal defeat of previously unbeaten Ogdensburg with 11 rebounds. In the final, Kennedy’s tough 1-3-1-zone defense slowed the Steelers down early. A late lofty hook shot by Lackawanna center Steve Kozaczka and a three-pointer by Marcus Rivers, who finished with 25 points, sent a message at the end of the first half. Things started rolling the Steelers’ way in the second half as they pulled away. Kennedy was only able to muster a feeble 16-for-55 from the field. The Kennedy squad had eight seniors, including O’Connell, Thompson and Brown. It is likely their three-year dominance in Section 1 is over.

Class A Peekskill repeats as champs with win over Sweet Home

The local angle: Section 9’s dynamo Red Hook was eliminated by the Red Devils for the second straight year in the quarterfinals, this time by the score of 69-54.

After Sweet Home (21-6) defeated Section 8’s Jericho in the semifinals, Monticello coach Dick O’Neill looked into his crystal ball and predicted that Peekskills’ guards would be too much for the Sweet Home Panthers. When Peekskill (26-1) applied its full-court press, the entire disposition of the game was altered. O’Neill was right. Despite trailing late in the fourth quarter, mighty Peekskill was able to come back and win its fourth NYSPHAA championship. The revival followed a six-minute scoreless stretch by Peekskill that extended from the end of the third quarter to midway through the fourth. Five Peekskill players had at least two steals. The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter. Peekskill’s Mookie Jones, tournament MVP, scored 13 points. Sweet Home trailed Peekskill by six at the half, and took the lead with a three-pointer by Quentin Hudson with just 2:49 left in the game.

The Red Devils answered with a slash to the basket by Andre Jacobs with 1:48 to go, which gave the Red Devils a one-point lead. Peekskill led the rest of the way as the game was iced by Tyrone Murphy’s three-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer went off. So did the entire scoreboard, which technicians were able to revive. Peekskill’s second Class A title was added to the school’s B and C titles of the past.

Class AA Mount Vernon returns to the mountaintop by defeating defending champion Niagara Falls

The local angle: Powerhouse Mount Vernon just squeaked by Newburgh Free Academy 62-60 in the quarterfinals.

Niagara Falls returned to the big stage where it claimed the Class AA title last year with a two-fold mission: repeat as champions and dedicate themselves to the memory of Miguel Respress, a six-foot, seven-inch senior who died of an apparent heart attack after an AAU game played at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles last summer. Several of his teammates were there when it happened. Respress might well have been the difference had he been there this weekend, but it was Mount Vernon that got to celebrate instead. And they did it with some valiant efforts of their own.

Sheer heroics by a hobbled Danilo Hutchinson and the school-record breaking performance by Jonathan Mitchell, New York State’s Mr. Basketball, helped Mount Vernon to prevail over a tough defending champion Niagara Falls. Despite a nagging pain in the knee that left him virtually on one leg, Hutchinson re-entered the game with 2:08 to go and the Knights trailing by two. With 1:37 to go, he scored the game-tying basket and then got a crucial steal to secure the win.

Mitchell, who is bound for the University of Florida, broke Ben Gordon’s all-time school scoring record by dropping in 32 points in Mount Vernon’s win, its seventh title, just one behind all-time tournament winner Class D Bridgehampton. Gordon, who now plays for the Chicago Bulls, was the Glens Falls tournament MVP in 2000. He went on to win an NCAA championship with Connecticut. The six-foot, seven-inch Mitchell seems to be following in his footsteps. Mitchell scored all 14 of Mount Vernon’s third-quarter points as well as the winning free throws with 41.5 left. Niagara Falls has been blessed by the stellar play of junior Jonathan Flynn, who has already signed a letter of intent with Syracuse. Flynn led the Wolverines with 20 points.

At a crucial time in the third quarter, with an ailing Hutchinson on the bench, Niagara Falls roared back from a 45-34 late third-quarter deficit to score eight points in a row in the early going of the fourth quarter, garnering a 51-47 lead. That’s when Mt. Vernon coach Bob Cimmino opted to put Hutchinson back in the game. It turned out to be a most fortuitous decision. The ailing knee turned out to be just a sprain. Good news for the Knights in their upcoming Federation game, which is a chance for the Knights to earn New York State’s ultimate bragging rights as the state’s best big-school team.

Up next, the Federation Games

The Class AA and Class A winners of the NYSPHAA tourney take on the champions of New York City’s Public School Athletic League (PSAL), and the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA). The competition in Class B, includes those two league winners plus the Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association (AISAA). The games are slated for March 24 and 25 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Class B winners, Nichols of Buffalo (CHSAA), will take on Lackawanna on March 24 at 3:15 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the High School of Global and International Studies (PSAL) and the champion of the AISAA at 2:00 p.m. on March 25.

Class A Peekskill will face St. Joseph’s Collegiate of Buffalo (CHSAA) at 6:45 p.m. on March 24. The winner will take on the AISAA champion on March 25 at 3:45 p.m.

Class AA Mount Vernon will face the winner of Rice (CHSAA) and Lincoln (PSAL) for the championship on March 25 at 7:30 p.m.