Basketball

Gravity and beyond

Force of nature affects VanLieu’s potential game winner versus Millbrook

By RICHARD A. ROSS

NEW PALTZ, NY — With their eyes red from tears that continued to flow, Tri-Valley players emerged into the lobby at SUNY New Paltz feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders.

They were reeling from a game that had been wrenched from their grasp by the whims of gravity. Down by a single point with just seconds remaining, that inexorable force had exerted itself on Dustin VanLieu’s potential game-winning swirling lay up, which rolled around the razor’s edge of the front rim before dropping into the waiting hands of Millbrook’s Michael Kahn.

With all eyes fixed on that rim in the tenuous moment that would afford Millbrook its 44-39 Section Nine championship, time seemed to stand still. And in that frozen interstice, metaphorically loomed the duality of life itself.

We live in a universe defined by opposites. It is by knowing darkness that we appreciate light, by shivering from the cold that we can delight in warmth.

So in a week when an exuberant comeback victory over Rhinebeck produced laughter, smiles and hope, life supplied the opposite counterweight of disappointment and tears.

Yin-Yang; the universal law of opposites.

It defines our existence and in its acceptance lays the potential for peace of mind and wisdom. But that takes time and, in the emotional afterlife of the loss, such a perspective was not yet visible to the saddened Bear clan.

On hand to meet those grieving Bears was an entourage of loving parents, fans and friends, who offered hugs, applause and appreciation for a wonderful season and a Herculean effort in this final game.

Final it was in one sense: especially for seniors Dustin VanLieu, Andrew Yager, Tim Martin, Dan Killian, Robert Favre, Ryan Ansboro and Dom Baggatta, who had aspirations to play on March 11 against Section One champion Valhalla.

Hoping to add a postscript to their storybook finish against Rhinebeck, these young warriors matched Millbrook’s fierce defensive intensity and nearly prevailed. As they exited the gym with their season at an end, it all seemed terribly final.

But in truth, finality is a myth. Life goes on and while photographs record frozen moments, life is not a still frame, but rather an ongoing cinema, which supplants endings with new beginnings.

Soon, some of these young men will take to the baseball diamond, the track or the golf greens and in just a few months the seniors will greet another transition as they graduate from high school.

Stepping out into the still night air after leaving the emotional scene behind, this writer sensed the tranquility of the balmy evening and anticipated the onset of spring.

Clocks move ahead. Spring forward. The present is a gift and in the end, it is all we have.

That said, our present is a product of our past moments and a prelude to our future. So it is essential to look back over the details of this epic clash to solidify its memory before moving on with whatever is to come.

This was the third straight year that Millbrook and Tri-Valley had met in sectionals and, true to the prior frays, a Class C champion would emerge. Like the past two encounters, which resulted in a 2007 Tri-Valley 60-57 championship and Millbrook’s 47-43 semifinal victory that was a prelude to its 2008 title, this game would come down to the wire.

Though they never meet in the regular season, each team fully expects a defensive battle with the other.

Defensive grit would once again prove to be the difference as Millbrook got a couple of key turnovers down the stretch and made clutch free throws to afford it the narrow margin of victory abetted by the wiles of Newton’s Law.

Millbrook controlled the tip, but Yager blocked a shot by Antony Lacativa and then drew a foul as he took it to the rim. He hit one of two for the 1-0 lead. Millbrook responded with a trio of threes, getting a pair from Evan Kessman and one from Khan to forge ahead 9-1.

This early surge was true to form. Last year, Millbrook roared out to a 17-8 first-quarter lead in Grahamsville. But like last year, this game would also be tied with two minutes to go.

Tri-Valley rode an 8-0 run to tie the game at nine all with points from VanLieu, Yager and Favre. The Blazers led 10-9 at the end of the period.

Millbrook extended the lead. Yager’s three tied it, but Lacativa answered with a trey. Great drives by VanLieu, one of which came off a steal, had the Bears crowd hyped. But Millbrook advanced to a 25-16 edge with five more points from Kessman, including his third three and a floater in the lane by Darnell Cummings.

Tim Martin and VanLieu cut the deficit to four. Then, VanLieu swiped a pass and fed it ahead to Baggatta, whose free throw closed the gap to 25-22 at the half.

VanLieu gave the Bears a 27-26 lead at 5:14 of the third quarter. He drove the baseline for another bucket. Great defense nearly forced a shot-clock violation but Hurley dropped in a bucket with one second left in the possession.

A Baggatta three made it 32-28 with 2:37 to go. Kahn answered to make it 32-30 before ending the period with a pair of free throws. The teams entered the final frame deadlocked at 32-all.

“It’s an eight-minute game,” coach Brian Tingley told his team. Later, he would say, “It’s a two-minute game,” as ties were the subject of both time-out talks.

Killian hit a free throw but miscues would define the coming minutes. Lacativa gave Millbrook a 34-33 lead. The Bears missed on their next two trips, while Kahn pushed the lead to three. The game hung precariously in the balance.

Soon Martin cut it to 36-35 as the Bears cheerleaders led the crowd in pleas for DEFENSE!

Lacativa missed and Killian rebounded. Martin zoomed down the lane and Tri-Valley led 37-36 with 3:45 remaining. Lacativa gave Millbrook a 38-37 lead but missed the free throw accorded to him on the shot. Favre drew a foul and hit one to tie it at 38-all, but a Millbrook back screen made it 40-38. Favre hit one from the stripe. Millbrook led 40-39 with 39 seconds remaining.

“We knew they had to foul us,” Millbrook coach Adam Peek would later say. Lacativa missed. VanLieu raced ahead, found a seam in Millbrook’s porous baseline and drove for that game-defining shot as the world inside the New Paltz gym froze in time.

It rolled around and out and Kahn was tripped with 4.8 seconds remaining. It was a one and one and the Bears hoped to get one more chance but the feisty senior hit both. VanLieu was fouled but missed. The Bears fouled Kessman who iced the game with two from the line.

He led Millbrook with 13 points, the same as VanLieu, who led the Bears scoring. Millbrook was nine for 13 from the line. Tri-Valley was 11 for 18. Millbrook turned it over nine times to Tri-Valley’s 14.

Both Kahn and VanLieu had played in the iconic 2007 championship game. VanLieu played a year at Liberty in between. Coming back to Tri-Valley this year meant a readjustment for him and for his teammates. That chemistry led to 11 consecutive wins that preceded this tough loss.

Peek observed, “We knew we’d have to rely on our defense. I knew we wouldn’t keep up the hot shooting of the first four minutes. It was an even match up. Kahn hit a couple of big free throws and luckily VanLieu’s shot rolled out.”

“I was happy we were able to match them defensively,” said Tingley. A little of our offensive execution came up short in big plays when we made careless passes, but it was nip and tuck all the way. It’s always a classic with Millbrook.”

Khristian Newkirk was unable to play and that was a factor for Tri-Valley, who missed his scoring potential. “Offense was at a premium tonight,” said Tingley.

“It was a wonderful season seeing the kids grow and assume their roles,” he noted. “They did a great job of coming together and making the commitment defensively.”

Tingley stated that his team never quit. “Even down by three with 4.8 seconds to go, they still believed.”

Tri-Valley finished its season at 15-6. Millbrook is now 14-7.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos.