Section Nine Basketball Tournament

Journey’s end

Heart-rending losses terminate fine runs; exit wounds suffered by all 10 county teams prior to finals

By RICHARD A. ROSS

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Crowds came in droves to SUNY Orange and SUNY New Paltz this past weekend to cheer on their teams in the Section Nine basketball championships, but not one of the 10 Sullivan County teams who had entered the 2008 sectional tournament was still among those vying for a title.

Each and every one had fallen in the rounds leading up to the finals, many against teams that would go on to become this year’s champions.

Tournament losses notwithstanding, great kudos go out to the Sullivan County players and their coaches, who marshaled their forces to compile successful seasons that got them into postseason bids for glory. Success is ultimately measured by effort and perseverance. While only one boys and girls team from each of Section Nine’s size classes gets to hold a championship trophy, there are far more victors as the crucible of basketball forges character, teamwork, leadership and self-discipline that live on long after anyone remembers who won or lost.

That said, prior to the tourney’s start, hopes were running high for county teams.

But with the heart-rending 52-41 semi-final loss of the Sullivan West girls to nemesis Burke on February 28, a game played not on a neutral floor but in the Eagles’ aerie, the last, and best, hope of a Sullivan County team advancing to the finals faded.

After watching their team easily defeat Pine Plains 59-37 at home in the quarterfinals (see “Bombs Away” on riverreportersports.com ), hundreds of Bulldogs fans made the pilgrimage to Goshen hoping to see their team upset Burke on its home floor to earn a long-awaited trip the finals. A 2005 regular-season win over the Lady Eagles in their nest was a rare precedent, but Burke had never lost a sectional game at home. Bulldog hopes were fueled by Sullivan West’s 45-39 victory over Burke in Lake Huntington two weeks prior.

Sullivan West quickly found itself down 7-0 to the Lady Eagles, but the gritty team, paced by a stalwart effort from senior Sarah Lander, who would lead all scorers with 20 points, kept the Lady Bulldogs in the game. Sullivan West trailed Burke by two at the half. The game stayed tight but began to shift in Burke’s favor as the third quarter expired with a pair of back-to-back three pointers by reserve guards Kaitlin Fitzgibbons and Tara Fogarty. Burke led 36-28 heading into the fourth quarter

Still within four as the final two minutes approached, Sullivan West was forced to foul and the rest is history. Out rebounded by Burke and victimized not only by Marist-bound Emily Stalllings but also by the timely shooting of Katie Grahn, Sullivan West’s stellar 18-3 season ended in the treacherous waters of the semis for the fifth straight year.

Burke went on to defeat Highland 40-32 for its third title in four years and its 10th title since the 1994-95 season. Its access to top players from across the region and Section Nine’s reluctance to moving Burke up a class like other Sections have done with private schools playing against publics, has led to Burke’s Class B stranglehold.

Burke’s immense talent has created a glass ceiling for Sullivan West coach Ron Bernhardt and his small troupes of contenders over the past five years. Burke has also hampered Highland, which succumbed to the Lady Eagles for the second straight year. Highland won the crown in 2005-06 after beating Burke in the semifinals.

Sullivan West’s only losses this year were to Class B champion Burke and Class A champion Cornwall.

Bears go dry in last five minutes in tough semifinal Class C loss to Millbrook

Earlier the same night, Tri-Valley (12-9) lost a noble 47-43 comeback bid against Millbrook, the team it bested in last year’s Class C final by the score of 60-57. A year ago, the Bears’ 22-2 record was the best in Section Nine. They also got further than any other team, losing in the regional finals to Long Island’s Friends Academy just one game shy of Glens Falls. As graduation saw the exit of its starting five, few expected the Bears to be on the brink of glory again.

Coach Brian Tingley, who was the 2006-07 Times-Herald Record Coach of the Year, took a group of players with little experience and rebuilt a fine team that went 4-2 in Division V.

Tri-Valley came back from a nine-point, first-quarter deficit to tie the game at 39-all at the end of the third quarter. The two teams were deadlocked again at 41 and 43 but Tri-Valley didn’t score again for the final 5:10, while Millbrook managed a bucket and a pair of free throws.

The Bears committed 22 turnovers on the night to Millbrook’s five. Bo Murphy led all scorers with 19 points. For more details, visit www.riverreportersports.com and read “Almost Paradise.” Millbrook would go on to defeat S.S. Seward 56-38 in the finals. Tri-Valley beat Seward in one of its two games against the Spartans this season. Seward and Millbrook are the only Section Nine boys teams to have ever won state titles. Millbrook defeated Fort Anne in 1999 and Seward beat Moriah in 2003. Both teams won in Class D.

Liberty’s fine run ends in semifinal loss to eventual champion Red Hook

With the longest drought among this year’s field of Sullivan County teams, Liberty ended its eight-year absence from the sectionals with a stunning 73-61 victory over O’Neill, a team they beat in overtime at home in February. They had lost to the Raiders twice prior. Great play by Dustin VanLieu and Dashawn Williamson helped the Indians advance to play Red Hook in the semifinals. Red Hook, which would go on to shock Burke 62-49 in the Class B final, handled a feisty but young Liberty team 69-48, ending Jason Semo’s first season of coaching Liberty at 10-12. In league play, Liberty had posted an impressive 5-3 mark, losing to Burke twice and O’Neill once.

Liberty will be returning the nucleus of its team in 2008-09 and will certainly be a force to be reckoned with. Liberty was Section Nine champion in 1999-2000. The 1992-93 Liberty team lost in the state semifinals.

Manor boys and girls exit in semifinals; Roscoe girls and Eldred boys also lose in semis

For the Livingston Manor’s girls team, hopes of adding to the glory of its fall Class D soccer title faded as they lost 50-34 to top-seeded John A. Coleman Catholic in the semifinals. Marissa Diescher scored 14 in the loss for the Lady Wildcats (11-12). Manor had beaten The Family School 63-51 in the quarterfinals behind Diescher’s career-high 33-point effort. Coleman went on to defeat Chapel Field for the Class D title won in a year when Seward had moved up to take the Class C crown. Manor was Section Nine champion in 1998-99 and 1997-98 and 1996-97.

For the Livingston Manor boys, the 71-62 tough loss to Chapel Field was due in part to the untimely incarceration of senior guard James Baker, arrested on burglary charges just prior to the Wildcats’ fray with the Lions. Even without Baker, third-seeded Manor (13-7) fought a valiant battle, but Chapel Field’s Matt Pooley, Section Nine’s leading points-per-game scorer, singed them with 22.

A similar semifinal demise awaited Roscoe’s girls, who lost to Chapel Field 71-31 in the semifinals. The Lady Blue Devils didn’t play in the quarterfinals. Third-seeded Roscoe (12-9) didn’t field a varsity team in 2006-07 and were back in the playoffs after a hiatus of a few years. Roscoe was the Section Nine Class D champion in 2002-03, 2001-02 and 1999-00.

After a seven-year absence, the Eldred boys got back in the sectionals and added to their joy with a 72-48 quarterfinal win over Roscoe, before losing to eventual champion John A. Coleman Catholic 58-41 in the semifinals. Eldred (9-10) was the fourth seed in the tournament. Coleman was the defending Class D title holder. Eldred’s last crown came in 1991-92, when they won under the tutelage of coach Charlie Donnelly. His return to coaching last year has a great deal to do with Eldred’s revival from the doldrums of losing in recent years.

Roscoe (9-11) last won a title in 1997-98. It had been six years since Roscoe’s last appearance in the Class D tournament. Roscoe was the Class D boys champion in 1997-98. The Blue Devils won three titles in the ‘80s.

Quarterfinal exit for Monticello boys and Family School girls

Monticello fell 46-30 to Rondout Valley in a quarterfinal match up in coach Dick O’Neill’s last game at the helm. As he passed his whistle over to his likely successor, Chris Russo, O’Neill ended his 36-year run with a mark of 406-186. Monticello made it to the sectionals in each of O’Neill’s 23 seasons there and for several years prior to that, giving them more than a quarter century streak of participation. The Panthers were Class B champions in 2001-02, 1997-98, 1993-94, 1991-92 and 1989-90 during the O’Neill era. O’Neill came to Monticello after a 13-year tenure at John S. Burke that included Section Nine titles and a loss in a state final.

And the 2007-8 champions are…

Boys

Class AA: Minisink Valley (defeated NFA 60-57)

Class A: New Paltz (defeated Cornwall 56-39)

Class B: Red Hook (defeated John S. Burke 62-49)

Class C: Millbrook (defeated S.S. Seward 56-38)

Class D: John A. Coleman Catholic (defeated Chapel Field 75-61)

Girls

Class AA: Kingston (defeated Minisink Valley 53-46)

Class A: Cornwall (defeated Rondout Valley 63-22)

Class B: John S. Burke (defeated Highland 40-32)

Class C: S.S. Seward defeated Tuxedo 58-46)

Class D: John A. Coleman Catholic (defeated Chapel Field 54-24)

Visit riverreportersports.com for albums of photos from Tri-Valley’s semifinal and Sullivan West’s quarterfinal games.