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Destiny delivers

Newburgh wins Section Nine’s Class AA title with thrashing of number-one ranked Niagara Falls

By RICHARD A. ROSS

richardross@riverreporter.com

GLENS FALLS, NY - Some will call them a team of destiny. Others will attribute Newburgh Free Academy’s (NFA) state championship win over number-one ranked Niagara Falls as a product of immense heart and desire. But, however you choose to script it, NFA’s dominating 62-42 win in the boys New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA tournament, the first-ever in that class by a Section Nine team and only the fourth Section Nine boys team title in the history of the tourney, capped off a magic carpet ride that began on March 14 with Will Bouton’s buzzer-beating 55-foot shot. That sent perennial heavyweight Mount Vernon home trying to figure out what had justhappened in the regional finals.

By now, Bouton’s shot is the stuff of legend. Turning an imminent Mount Vernon Knights’ celebration with two seconds remaining into one of the greatest upsets in local basketball history, Bouton caught Michael McLeod’s lofty inbounds pass, turned and fired a shot that hit the backboard and went in, setting off pandemonium at Pace University. That improbable basket set the stage for the stunning events of a remarkable final-four run that ended with unbridled joy on the floor of the Glens Falls Civic Center on March 22.

Bouton’s shot catapulted the Goldbacks to Glens Falls for the first time since 1996 when the then Class A Newburgh squad lost 77-66 to Niagara LaSalle.

Getting to the final four wasn’t going to satisfy Newburgh, a team that had gone undefeated in Section Nine, and had beaten the Mighty Mount Vernon Knights. Now, it resolved to win it all. To do that, it would have to dispatch another army of Knights, namely those from Section Eight’s Uniondale, who came in at 20-2. NFA struggled in the semifinal, trailing through three quarters before Patrick Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and flipped the ball backwards with his left hand for a bucket, drawing a foul to boot. Basketball is a game of runs and momentum and that iconic moment shifted the balance of power.

A 10-0 Newburgh run, of which that sequence was an integral part, propelled the Goldbacks into the lead for the first time since the game’s early going. NFA went on to beat Uniondale 58-51 and prepared to take on the undefeated Niagara Falls Wolverines (24-0) in the finals.

Newburgh coach Frank Dinnocenzio saw in the Wolverines a team that was a mirror image of his own. Rebounding would be key to allow the Goldbacks to uncork their transition game, something they struggled to do against Uniondale.

But unlike their semifinal against Uniondale or the Class A final, in which Jamesville DeWitt eked out a 71-70 OT win over Peekskill in one of the best high school basketball games this writer has ever seen, NFA dominated its opponent in the finals. They out-rebounded the Wolverines 53-33, holding the team that has been to five of the past six Final Fours to a paltry 13 for 62 (20.9 percent) shooting. Niagara Falls was three for 18 from beyond the arc.

NFA’s Damon Cousar pulled down 20 boards, seven of them off the offensive glass, as Newburgh, led by 5-foot-6 MVP point guard Marcus Henderson, put on a show for its fans. Henderson scored 11 points and brought his remarkable skills to the forefront after a relatively quiet semifinal. Henderson drew gasps and cheers as he dished passes, rebounded, dove and drove by Niagara Falls defenders. Cousar led with 20 points, going 10 of 15. Bouton had 15.

Astonishingly, all of Newburgh starters are juniors. With the NYSPHSAA championship in hand, the team has one more hill to climb. For New York State’s ultimate bragging rights, it has to beat the semifinal winner of the Federation Tournament of Champions, either NYC Public High School Athletic League (PSAL) champion Lincoln or Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) champion Rice in the Federation Finals on March 28 at 2:45 p.m. at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

In the latest state rankings by the New York State Sportswriters Association, Rice was ranked third, Lincoln was fourth and NFA was fifth, but that was before the Goldbacks knocked out number one Niagara Falls. NFA had already moved up from eighth the week before after beating Mount Vernon, which then slipped from fourth to sixth. Uniondale had been ranked eighth prior to their loss to Newburgh.

Newburgh’s title is the first Section Nine crown since S.S. Seward won Class D in 2003. Millbrook won Class D in 1999. Early in tournament history, Spring Valley won a Class A title before moving to Section One.

You simply had to be there

Year in and year out, this writer makes the annual pilgrimage to Glens Falls to try and bring to life all the magic that transpires each March. But in truth, attempting to capture the sights and sounds of the tournament, which has taken place at the civic center since 1981, is next to impossible. Words fall far short of relaying the drama, the emotional catharses, the din, the throngs of devoted fans who travel to see their beloved teams play or the sheer electricity of the games.

Pictures contained herein offer glimpses into some of those aspects but if you truly love the game of basketball and want to see it in it all of its glory, you simply have to be there.

Jamesville-DeWitt repeats in Class A in down-to-the-wire win over Peekskill

A year ago, the eventual champion Jamesville DeWitt (J-D) Red Rams embarrassed Peekskill 74-55 and ended the Red Devils’ 37-game winning streak and sent the team home that had won three straight Class A titles. Peekskill vowed revenge this time around after beating Section Five’s Batavia in the semifinals. But J-D, which had ousted Section 11’s East Hampton, steeled itself for the challenge.

To win this year’s title, J-D survived two last-second missed Peekskill shots in the paint to garner a 77-75 OT win and repeat as champions. The game was akin to the 1975 Ali-Frazier heavyweight bout in Manilla.

Punch-counterpunch was the modus operandi for this classic, with Peekskill out in front early and J-D taking its first lead with 3:24 to go in the second quarter. But that lead would change hands numerous times before all was said and done as the dramatic intensity ratcheted up to an uncanny level as time wound down.

Peekskill led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter and 37-35 at the half, as each team countered with runs to keep it close. The Red Devils had a 51-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter as all-tournament team-standout point guard Daquan Brickhouse played one of the best games of his career. By game’s end, he had 22 points and tied a tournament record with 11 assists. His 16 assists in the tourney was a new Class A record.

But J-D countered with a great game from senior Aishwan Hymes, with 21 points and six assists, and a monstrous game from 6-foot-8-inch freshman center Dajuan Coleman, who had 18 points and 18 rebounds. Junior Lamar Kearse had 16 points and was key in the Red Rams’ gritty finish.

The Red Rams held the lead until Peekskill’s Jayme Gooding’s three-pointer gave the Red Devils a 66-65 lead with 1:11 left in regulation. A Hymes’ jumper, with :45 seconds left, put J-D back on top, but Brickhouse made one of two free throws with 20 seconds left to tie it. J-D missed a pair of three pointers and the game went into OT with the teams tied at 67-all.

Kearse dished to Coleman for the 69-67 lead and then got a put back on a Coleman free throw miss. Brickhouse answered with a bucket but was then called on a blocking foul. That sent MVP Brandon Triche to the line where he made both to make it 73-69. Brickhouse was fouled and made both. It was 73-71. Coleman was fouled and hit both with 1:48 remaining. Brickhouse was tied up and the possession arrow favored J-D. Triche missed and Watts quickly scored to make it 75-73 with 1:09 to go. J-D senior Steve Thompson hit what was to be the game winner from the corner with 51.3 seconds to go.

Watts was fouled and hit two from the stripe with 45.3 seconds to go. In the ultimate drama, Watts then stole the inbounds pass, missed a lay up and failed to put the rebound back in. Coleman was fouled underneath and missed the front end of a one and one. A final Brickhouse shot, with .5 remaining, propelled J-D (26-1) to the federation semifinals on March 27 against CHSAAA champion Iona Prep.

South Kortright wins Class D, Avon takes Class C and Bishop Kearney triumphs in Class B

On March 21, the arena was filled with row upon row of painted, sign-bearing screaming fans, as the undefeated number three-ranked South Kortright Rams took on the number-two ranked Greenport Porters in the Class D final. Using a two-three zone, the Rams forced Greenport to the outside while countering with strong rebounding to fuel their offense. The result was a 47-43 win for the team’s first-ever title. South Kortright, which hails from Delaware County in Section IV, doesn’t get the kind of challenging games during the regular season that would usually prepare a team for a state title.

They had also never encountered a player like Greenport’s Ryan Creighton, who was vying to break the state scoring title. Creighton scored 31 of his team’s 43 points and did everything in his power to win it for the Porters, who had been to the final four but never reached the finals. It took a double OT 73-68 winner over Maple Grove-Beamus Point, last year’s Class C champ, to get there. Greenport finished at 22-4.

South Kortright matched that by ousting reigning Class D champ Chateaugay 48-38 in its semifinal. After defeating Greenport, the team was swarmed with fans who rushed to the civic center floor in an epic moment of unbridled delight.

In Class C, the top-ranked Avon Brave (26-1) from Section Five defeated number-two ranked Maple Hill from Section Two 61-55. Maple Hill cut a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to three but just couldn’t close the gap, despite fouling Avon reserve guard Charlie Passarell twice in the waning minutes in hopes of extending the game. Passarell hit three of four from the stripe amid the deafening din.

An avalanche of green-clad and painted Avon fans swarmed the floor for a hug fest following the win.

In Class B, number-two ranked Bishop Kearney from Section 5 soundly beat Section Four’s Seton Catholic High School from Binghamton 65-48. Seton Catholic had edged Malverne 50-49 in the semifinals. Malverne, the reigning Class B champion, had previously ousted John S. Burke in a regional final for the second time in three years.

Section Nine glory goes on with Ahart Hall of Fame Induction and NFA Federation title quest

Now, there are two good reasons to head back to Glens Falls this coming weekend. Aside from seeing Newburgh vie for the Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA title, local fans can revel in the shared glory of seeing Roscoe’s Fred Ahart inducted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame on March 28. With upward of 400 wins and having coached over 800 high school games, Ahart, who has nearly four decades of coaching experience under his belt, will get his just deserve as the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) inducts the local legend into the NYS Basketball Hall of Fame. Ahart’s plaque, which will adorn the wall in the Glens Falls Civic Center, will join that of Monticello’s Dick O’Neill, along with other Section Nine Hall of Famers Rod Chando from Red Hook, Jerry Kaplan from James I. O’Neill, John Kuhn from Red Hook and Paul Zintel from Jeffersonville-Youngsville.