Postgame podcast
-
- March
- 4
Following tonight’s Class B state regional semifinal between North Salem and Section 9 champ Red Hook, I recorded a podcast on my thoughts of the game, as well as some looking forward.
North Salem won the game, 59-52, at SUNY New Paltz. It’s the Tigers’ 23rd straight win and puts them in Saturday’s regional final. Another win and they’re headed to Glens Falls for the first time ever.
Hope you enjoy the podcast. I had a little fun with it.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 12:59 am by Kevin Devaney Jr..
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Kevin – nice job on the podcast. I guess it is now "fashionable" to pick against NS.
I'm pretty sure that there will be more NS fans on Saturday than last night!
Go Tigers!
Kevin Devaney Jr,
Any chance you will ever answer the question,
Why didnt you ask Joe Lombardi about taking off his jersey and throwing it on the court??? The hard foul was nothing compared to the tossing of the shirt like it was garbage.
Step it up Kev
This north salem team is truly a dream season, I hope ot goes on for as long as possible, lets go tigers
Kevin, Josh O'neill is a junior not a senior. You keep saying in all your articles that he's a senior.
NS Student,
Thank you for pointing that out. It occurred to me this morning while reading the paper that he was only a sophomore last year. I'll make sure not to make the same mistake again.
Wow… only a junior and he's doing all this. Incredible.
As a NS fan…it has been a fantastic season watching this group of young men play! Kudos to Coach Sassone who must have taught these guys that there is no "I" in "TEAM"! They play like a true team…no hot shots…no ball hogs…all team play. Very exciting to see. GO TIGERS!
Excellent summary in the podcast, Kevin. I think Red Hook learned last night what Briarcliff learned on Saturday: North Salem is more than a two-man team. On Saturday, Karl Miras did a terrific job on Lombardi in the first half before getting into foul trouble, Tom Kruze played an excellent two-way game Saturday, and arguably the decisive run against Briarcliff came in the first half when both Miller (foul trouble) and O'Neill (chill session) were on the bench. It turned out they needed every one of those first-half points on Saturday in order to force overtime.
On Monday, crucial contributions came from Spillane and Budetti, as you pointed out. And Sassone was quick to recognize his team getting victimized in the 2-3 by Hall (who may have eventually gotten Miller into foul trouble) and by over-the-top cross court passes to the weakside rim for easy layups. The Spillane substitution magically seemed to solve all of that.
One small insight into the strong fan support this team has gotten: You have correctly pointed out that there are no egos on this team. They all have also continued to be prominent as volunteer coaches and officials in the town's youth basketball program as part of a school mandated community service program. These last couple of years, the Tiger players have, without exception, acted with a maturity and kindness beyond their years in dealing with the younger boys and girls in town who look up to them. It is all a credit to the school, to the varsity coaching staff, to the boys' parents, and most of all, to the boys themselves, and I think it at least partially explains the very strong bond the town feels to this team.
Can we also point out that this is in fact a dream run for the Tigers, but their success is not a fluke. North Salem was 17-4 last year and 15-7 the year before, making them 40-5 over the past two seasons, and 55-12 over the past 3. A pretty impressive program all around, this year being their crowning achievement.
North Salem worked hard to get where they are. Dedicated coaches, including a volunteer community member spent long hard hours with these boys teaching them and showing them the meaning of "TEAM".
We also understand as a town the meaning of "loss" and know that the Red Hook community was in a state of mourning. We didn't want to ignore their pain but it's very hard to not want to support the hard work and effort that our boys showed on Monday night. All of us in North Salem feel your pain and are sorry for your loss.
Looks like Malverne is next up.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/highschool/
Do not be fooled by Malverne's rather unimpressive record of 11-9. They won the Class B State and Federation Championship last year. They are Class B in size, but their league this year contained some of the top A teams in Long Island, particularly 20-1 Jericho. (Leagues there are formed not by school size but by perceived pre-season strength.)
According to the clippings they are quick and love the full court press. They are led by junior small forward Justin Williams (6'1') who scored 32 against Center Moriches and senior point guard Dashiem Cherry (5'10") who hit nine three pointers in a game earlier this year and is also a leaper who helps out in the rebounding department from the backcourt. Cherry quoted in Newsday that they will go back to Glens Falls and repeat this year.
Should be a stern test for the Tigers. Fan support in New Paltz will be key once again.
Sixmoreouts – thanks for the info on Malverne. I was trying to get some info on them, and found this article on last night's game against Center Moriches:
http://www.longislandbasketball.com/index.html
Their record doesn't seem indicative of the team's capabilities.
I'm feeling that there will be a very large contingent of NS fans at the game. Looking forward to it.
Go Tigers!
Tigers,
Take NOTHING for granted. Remember to bring everything and leave everything on the court. The stands WILL be a sea of blue and gold for you, believe in yourselves for we already do!!
"Believe that you will succeed, and you will" – Dale Carnegie
GO TIGERS!!!!!!
Newsday article on the Malverne/Center Moriches game.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/highschool/basketball/ny-skcent055602122mar05,0,1223480.story?track=rss
Hey Kevin, given North Salem's success in the past decade – 5 League Championships, 5 trips to the County Center, 1 Sectional title, and a bunch of quality wins over A and AA schools, is it safe to call them a "small school power"?
NS guy…
Take it easy. I'm as big a NS supporter as there is, but this is the 1st section title for them since '91. Let's see what they do during the rest of this tourney then discuss their place amongst the other small schools in W'chester.