The dust settles
I like to take a little time after a night of games like this to sit back and digest the results. There were seven games tonight in the Section 1 tournament, all of which either had a huge pregame lead-up or tense finish. Some had both.
There’s only one spot left at the County Center after tonight — which will be decided by tonight’s Pearl River-Lourdes game. Here’s how the next seven got there:
Class B
Croton-Harmon 42, Pawling 39: Happy Birthday Bobby Dusconi. The senior forward picked a good time for a career night, scoring 17 points and 10 rebounds on his 17th birthday as the Tigers won a tight game.
Pawling definitely stood up to the challenge, answering those who doubted whether they were deserving of a top three seed. Just because the Tigers lost doesn’t mean they weren’t. You could have made a better case had Croton blown them out. But it was a close game throughout, and a sixth seed beating a three isn’t that big of a deal.
Croton is back at the County Center, and to have any shot of winning a title it needs Dusconi to have his birthday every day. A consistent post presence was something Croton has been searching for all season to complement Alex Judge, Brandon Sileck and a slew of quick guards. Sileck had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Lincoln Hall 73, Nanuet 59: Shockingly, this one was never really that close. Lincoln Hall raced to a double-digit lead and, even though the Golden Knights were within 10 at the half, the game was never really in doubt.
The United actually led by as many as 27 in the third quarter as Tysean Saigo and Sir Aaron Taylor dominated the boards, especially on the offensive end. The duo combined for 50 points and 31 rebounds. When they do that, nobody is going to beat them. Nobody.
Saigo has been incredible of late. He had 28 points and 13 rebounds, all of which came around the basket. At 6-5, Saigo has the ability to step out and knock down mid-range jumpers and even 3s. But tonight he camped out in the paint against Nanuet’s zone and took control.
Jamie Wrenn had 23 points, including a pair of 3-points in the third to keep the game close. But Lincoln Hall cruised and is back at the County Center for a rematch with top-seeded Albertus Magnus.
Albertus Magnus 55, Hastings 29: Yikes. I knew Albertus had a chance to run away with this. But I didn’t think it would be quite this ugly.
The Falcons overwhelmed Hastings in all aspects, beating their league rival for the third time this season. Floyd Leroy had 22 points and 10 rebounds and did a great job defending in the post. Amazingly, Albertus didn’t need to make a 3-pointer.
Talk about a statement victory. Albertus has been the consensus title favorite all season, and just when Lincoln Hall and Pleasantville made legitimate cases as contenders, the Falcons squash a very good Hastings team. The title goes through Albertus.
Pleasantville 44, Dobbs Ferry 38: It’s so easy to sit back now and assume that Dobbs isn’t good, and it never was. Be careful, though. Don’t judge a 19-win team on one night, especially not when they’re facing the best defensive team in the conference.
This was a terrible match-up for the Eagles. Not only had they not played anybody as good talent-wise Pleasantville all season, they hadn’t faced a team this disciplined or as well-prepared all season. There’s no way to prepare for that, not when you’re schedule was loaded with teams that chucked up 3-pointers and was reckless on defense. Pleasantville was the complete opposite of almost every team Dobbs Ferry played since December.
It also hurts that Dobbs hadn’t been challenged by an opponent in well over a month. The worst that happened to the Eagles was getting a bye. They could have really benefited from a game against a Westlake or Briarcliff or Irvington. They needed a team that closer to its talent level that would come in prepared and eager to pull off an upset. To play Pleasantville right out of the playoff chute was a recipe for disaster.
Pleasantville milked the clock and played sound defense, holding the Eagles to 14 second-half points. Fourteen! This is a team that had been averaging nearly 80 points per game. Yet suddenly the Eagles couldn’t hit from 3-point range — going 1-for-what-seemed-like-100 from behind the arc — and struggled to get the ball in good spots to Kevin Dahill and Ryan Riefenhauser, their two stars.
Jack Bramswig had 13 points and Nolan Robinson added 12 for Pleasantville, which is suddenly the chic pick to win the championship.
Class A
Peekskill 78, Spring Valley 61: This wasn’t your typical Peekskill blowout. Spring Valley led this game by two at halftime before the four-time sectional champs stormed to 32 third-quarter points to take an 18-point lead into the fourth.
It was tough to watch at some points of the third as Spring Valley completely abandoned all the things it did in the first half. It was impatient on offense and stopped making the extra pass. It couldn’t buy a rebound, and it struggled against Peekskill’s switch to man-to-man.
Daquan Brickhouse had 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter and Ralph Watts scored nine of his 20. With Kenny Bradshaw (14 points and 11 rebounds) and Malcolm McDonald (nine rebounds off the bench) playing well inside, Spring Valley had answers.
Great line by Tigers coach Willie Worsley after the game when I asked him about ‘stopping the bleeding’ in the third quarter:
“You can’t stop the bleeding if you don’t have a band-aid. When you don’t have the personnel to stop the bleeding, you’re going to keep bleeding.”
Worsley is always the most honest guy in the building. He even mentioned how “Peekskill took us lightly” and that they didn’t play their A-game until they needed to in the third. That’s an indictment on Peekskill, which we’re used to seeing coming out and taking no mercy (see: Panas and Port Chester at the County Center last year).
Peekskill will move on and be just fine, I’m sure. They’ll find out their semifinal when Pearl River travels to Lourdes on Thursday at 7.
Lakeland 72, Pelham 52: No Greg Bratone meant no chance for Pelham.
Even if the Pelicans had Bratone, who was sick, it’s hard to imagine how they would have stopped all of Lakeland’s options. Gary Austin had 22 points, including three 3s, and Chris Fazio added 21 as the Hornets got out in transition and scored 72 points on one of the better defensive teams in the conference.
Pelham is a team that has good depth, especially inside. But I’m sure the loss of Bratone had a psychological impact more than anything. He’s a gifted athlete, and all-section player, and their unquestioned leader. Not having him put them in a 10-point hole before the game even started.
Rye 51, Ardsley 49: I saved this game for lost. Why? Because I needed the extra time to try and figure just how Rye won this game.
I was there for the first half before I drove up to Peekskill. When I left, 11th-seeded Ardsley looked like a team on a mission, stifling the Garnets with their on-the-ball defense and taking a 14-point lead in the break. And it could have been worse. All the people I spoke to at the game felt Ardsley was on the road to a 25-point win and maybe even a berth in the Class A final against Peekskill.
But I wrote this week about Ardsley and consistency. There’s no questioning the talent. But this team has a way of rollercoastering from one quarter to the next. Leading 33-19 at the half, Ardsley then scored seven in the third quarter and nine in the fourth. It had two opportunities at a game-winning shot in the closing seconds but missed a 3-pointer on the first and, after an offensive rebound with five seconds left, never got up another shot.
Tough, tough loss for Ardsley. Heartbreaking, really. Today was the first time I’d seen the Panthers this season and I left so impressed. But Rye has been the steady and resilient team in that league all season and didn’t panic in this one. They should have. But they didn’t.
Brian Pickup had 14 points and Matt O’Neill added 12 for Rye, which now has to beat Lakeland again to reach the title game.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Advertisements
STRONG TIGER BRAH
Hard to imagine how a Hastings team with so much size could get so totally nuked, but somehow not a surprise.
You didnt really cover this game, so we wont have the annual quote where this coach blames his team.
Note to the new AD: time to restore Hastings to its former basketball glory, and everyone in town knows what needs to be done.
2 minutes is over
When will we be able to logo on to this page and not hear the New Ro coach’s words of wisdom?
As far as Pleasantville’s chances, they are not the “sheik” pick (didn’t he kick for the Giants a few years back?). It is chic….and everyone has a shot in class B, which should be fun.
Pleasantville has no chance. Judge and Sileck will combine for over 50. They want some this game.
Croton T
Are you related to Dobbs? Remember that your coach had to pull his starters off the court in P’ville this season to spare them further embarassment. Judge 7pts Silek 3pts thats along way from 50.
p’ville much better defense than dobbs thought wore them down could not repond down the stretch on to next year
croton better bring their a+++ game or forget it
Kevin:
The best team don,t always win in a one and done tournament, Ardsley has more basketball talent than Rye can assemble on the floor, but they failed to close the deal early in the 3rd quarter and the momentum swung back to Rye.
We played Lakeland early this year in a tournament and they are also a more talented team from a pure basketball standpoint. The key for the Garnets is to start the game more consistently and allow that doubt to creep into the minds of Lakeland. It would not surprise me that they are already practicing on playa and schemes to defeat Peekskill, which works out fine for Rye.
see you at the County Center.
pville may not have the big name guys like a Judge, but they will win because they play like a TEAM
Yo Faded GLory why dont you shut your mouth cause the coaching at hastings isnt the problem you bum get a life
Cadet,
LoL… I have to turn the sound off when I come to this site b/c it’s starting to annoy me and/or startle other people haha…
Lakeland shoudlnt be preparing for Peekskill already becuase Rye has already beat Lakeland.
Rye is a basically a football team that was put onto a basketball court. They play some of the most physical brand of ball ive seen. Who ever they play is gonna get really banged up at the county center. Im not saying this because there dirty they are hard fought, respectable young men with Class that will play a very physical game. Peekskill,Lakeland, Pearl River, and Lourdes probably has a bunch of good Young men too. I just want to say Good luck to all teams that are at the County Center.
What ever happened to the “pure” point guard?? Is this just a thing of the past, or are they still out there? If so, are they valued? Seems like it’s all about chucking up points/boosting stats.
Interested to know what the experts think….
the head coach of ardsley is awful for the last two years he has had the talent but has yet to get the full potential out of his players.
Hey Dobbs – what happened? Play real teams next year.
Remember DellaBove once coached at Saint Ray’s, and those former CYO Holy Innocents guys who played for Ray Voelkel know what they are doing.
everytime adrsley is brought up someone is trying to bring up the coach and get him fired. Ardsley players need to learn how to win and to just bury a team. The rye vs. ardsley game was a joke for ardsley and they should b ashamed of themselves. the reason they didnt win was because the rye team has more heart then them and wanted it more and everyone from ardsley is trying to scapegoat it by blaming it on the coach.
couldn’t agree more with stop hating’s comment. good luck rye in the county center.
the class b champion will be the winner of the lincoln hall albertus game. both teams are much beter than pville and croton.
b
P’ville beat Lincoln Hall 3 times this year…
pville and croton are both great teams, they both put up good fights, croton is physical and pville has great defense, this game should be exciting to watch it will be a close one, pville beat croton earlier in the season and croton beat them later in the season, county center is the grudge match. both better come prepared. btw dusconis a junior, and the dobbs pville game was actually alot closer then i thought, i thought pvilles was really gunna blow them out due to dobbs not playing any teams as good as pville lincoln hall croton or any b teams all year
-class b fan
if lincoln hall plays as well as they did yesterday nobody will beat them
They also played Nanuet who has been overrated all year in my opinion.
nanuet is also better than pville and croton it just so happened that they had bad luck and were placed on a far more difficult side of the bracket with teams like albertus lincoln hall hastings and irvington where he other side of the bracket had much worse teams like pawling dobbs westlake and rye neck. this just shows the flaws in the playoff system when you have teams who play class c competition all year seeded ahead of teams like a nanuet or lincoln hall
1
Nanuet was better in the begining of the year than P’Ville, The Playoffs are about who improved the most and who is batter at the end of the year…that is P’Ville not Nanuet.
In the end it is about matchups. P’Ville matches up well with Croton and Lincoln Hall but not with Magnus. Lincoln Hall has the best chance to beat Magnus.
Prediction…P’Ville over Croton, if Magnus beats Lincoln Hall they get the Gold Ball if Lincoln Hall beats Magnus, the Gold Ball goes to P’Ville.
1, Couldn’t have said it better. Nanuet would have undoubtedly made it to the County Center had they had the seeding they should have had. They were only one win short of AM to tie. As for the Falcons fan who thinks they were so overrated, you are wrong. It probably just made you nervous to think they were as good as they were. There coudn’t be less said about them, unlike other teams whose fans pump them up. Good Luck to AM- would like to see a Rockland team win it, but I think you will see a different Lincoln Hall team on Wednesday – then youn can talk about overrated. Good season Nanuet.
Who won that league with the 3 “B” teams still remaining?
Nanuet beat a pretty bad team in Briarcliff and then lost to a team which they could have beaten. If Nanuet beat Pvill twice and Pvill beat L Hall 3 times it sounds like Nanuet could have definatley beaten Lincoln Hall so dont complain.
It’s great to be a Croton Tiger!
stop hating,
if you followed ardsley the last two years and saw the players they have had, you would ask yourself too, why they are not performing at a higher level? the last two years has been terrible and disapointing. and if you were at the game against rye you would have seen the coaches stupidy. he was telling his players to intentionaly foul with 41 seconds left when they were down by 2, then he realized and than and called his players off. last year against tappan zee he did the samething when the panthers were down by 3 with 1:25 left, and without knowing he put the team in the one an one and they won the game on free throws. watching ardsley play is like watching a pick up game at the park. there are no plays everyone is jsut standing around on offense watching the man with the ball, its all indiviual scoring. the coach has never came back to win a game when he was down in the half in his five year tender. if you don’t believe me check maxprep. so get your facts strait STOP HATING
Hastings could barely get the ball across mid-court last night. Albertus just turned up the defense and Hastings just didn’t have an answer. Skrelji fouled out in the middle of the 4th after getting frustrated. As for people bashing the Hastings coach I really don’t think its his fault. I don’t know how many times the Hastings coach drew up plays in a timeout only for his players to turn it over right out of the TO. I would say the players execution was to blame and not the coach.
I have seen Croton played and they pass the line from playing physical to being dirty. I understand they have a couple football players on the team but they clearly like to push people while running up the court or throw a cheap elbow. With that being said I do think they will beat Pville since they are a much hungrier team than Pville. Croton 56 Pville 42
We will push pville around without a problem this time around. We have gotten much hungrier plus we have experience playing in the County Center. 68-46 croton. pleasantville cannot survive at the cc and they cannot score
PV vs. Croton is an over/under of 45 total points. PV will win this one 25-24 in OT.
Croton cruises pass the weak/soft Pville 52-39
We are too tough for the pville pu****s. haha Judge will go off on u little punks.
^ those are bcliff fans… who hate pvill
If “Terrible” is gonna comment about someone else’s “stupidy”, at least spell it right. Kevin, is this really why this blog is here, for anonymous folks to rip on coaches who are doing the best job that they can and are working long hours, putting in alot of time, for barely any money, and for the love of the sport. I love the coverage section 1 gets through lohud.com but this anonymous hating has to stop. These people come on here with internet muscles and think they’re all of a sudden Pat Riley.
HaHa Dobbs,
I said all year they where overated. I met there coach and he is a pompass ass who thought his team was unbeatable. Now he realizes the truth. This is the 1st Dobbs team that was any good in forever and they still couldn’t get to the CC.
My predictions have gone perfect in B; The best B league has 3 teams in CC.
Pelham/Lakeland was a joke once Greg Bratone didn’t play; he’s a stud, an all County player. He would have changed that game.
To Jan
Nobody’s complaining about the loss to Lincoln Hall- they are a very impressive team. Nanuet had some tough shooting in the last 2 games,but absolutely won the Briarclif game in the last 2-3 minutes. That’s how tough they can play. LIncoln Hall is a very different team. They will be hard to beat for anyone. Remember Albertus and Nanuet split wins – so can Lincoln and Albertus.You should’t be so concernerd about Nanuet anymore – their seaon is over, but they had a good one.Hope you can be so humble if Albertus loses to LIncoln Hall. If you read the blog correctly, they would probably root for Albertus, would it be the same if the tables were turned?
Dear Records Don’t Lie,
Lincoln Hall won that league. JFK = 2nd place. P-Ville = 3rd. After that it was either Croton, Briarcliff or Westlake.
the coach of Ardsley in his five years has a overall record of 33-70. what are you talking about “HARD WORK” his practice never go longer then a hour, the players can do what ever they want and he gives up when his team is losing. so before you go rambling on about the “hard work” this guy puts in, know your stuff about the man. ask any players now and previously how they feel about him, they think of him as a joke.
Ardsley:
Excuses are for losers. When you can match the mental toughness with your basketball skills you will see better results. The coach is a small part of this process, it has to come from the players. Don’t forget, you are what your record says you are.
Dear HOH
I can only assume you enjoyed watching a team with a huge, talented front line stagger thru a playoff game where they could not score 10 points in a quarter, and only scored 10 points in the entire second half. I feel sorry for the kids, being sent into battle on their own.
In this blog, “Falcs” wrote:
Hastings could barely get the ball across mid-court last night.
I don’t know how many times the Hastings coach drew up plays in a timeout only for his players to turn it over right out of the TO. (as opposed to when the Magnus coach calls a play that works)
So it isnt just me. This was the most talented team, and the best record Hurlie has had at Hastings. Remember when we were fixtures at the County Center? They never learned how to pound the ball inside, despite a 6’4”, 6’5” and 6’3” front line. Didnt you find it painful to watch?
Well if you say the practices are an hour and the kids do whatever they want, thats something that I’d have to find out from a source other than you, preferably one that can spell. But my point is unless you know for sure what’s goin on, you shouldn’t come on here and rip the coaches who are working with these kids on a daily basis, whether it’s Ardsley or Hastings or whatever. Like the poster just said, mental toughness has to come from the players as well. I’m sure the Ardsley coach was great in everyone’s eyes when they had a 33-19 lead on Rye at the half to go to the county center. You sound like you were there, did the players match Rye’s toughness in the second half or was it the coach’s fault on the sidelines? My grandmother could coach me in my day and if I had a 14 point lead with everything on the line, I would man up as a player and not let the lead get away. You can blame the Ardsley coaching staff all you want and maybe they are secretly sabotaging themselves in order not to win and maybe they shot John F Kennedy as well.
Faded Glory,
I have to agree with you about not pounding it inside. When Alby got the ball in the post the few times he did he scored everytime. But their big guys spent most of their time hanging out on the perimeter shooting jump shots that obviously weren’t falling. I’m not sure how many kids on that team are seniors but, with Alby leaving, they might be in alot of trouble in the coming years.
no i was not at the rye game, but it was not a suprise to me that they lost even with such a big lead. they have had talented guys the last two years and the coach has not use them to their full ability. he could have ran a ally oop play to one of the stokes brothers this year or maybe last year run a few plays for zee to get him open instead of letting him do everything himself.
you don’t understand how bad of a coah this guy is swishmaster, he told his players two years ago against pelham “are only shot of winning this game is if we hit over 20 threes”. this guy is not basketball smart and he needs to be exposed. it awful to see the last two years turn out the way they did.
Faded Glory,
When was the last time that Hastings appeared at the County Center and who was coaching? I remember the Costello years, but other than that I believe that the people of the hamlet have been very unhappy with everybody since Costello. By the way is Manzi’s still open?
The fact is Rye stormed back in the third quarter going on a 15-3 to start the third quarter out hustling the Ardsley players. This has nothing to do with the coach. If the Ardsley players had brought the same intensity to the Third Quarter thath they did in the first two quarters then they would have won. But they didnt do that they though they had already won and we all know basketball is a game of TWO HALfs. Rye outplayed them in the second half and in the situations where it really counted.
Dear Late Night in New Ro
here are the BBall coaches at Hastings since Costello:
Di Gennaro, often at the County Center. I believe he is the AD at Irvington now.
Delle Bovi, often at the County Center (he seems to have been more successful at Hastings than Pville)
Ward, one year of 21-1.
It is a widely held belief in town that our current basketball coach is the only one since WWII with a losing career record. Sadly, this was probably the most talented bunch he has had. Next year will be ugly.
And Manzi is gone, their location has become a bad luck spot that has seen a few places close. Currently a mexican restaurant.
Now Hurlie. the only time Hurlie ever got Hastings to the County Center it was for a demonstration game during the Slam Dunk, where they got crushed by a sub-.500 Somers team.
Faded Glory
Thanks for the info. Where is Billy Otovich SR these days? I remember him be a very successful coach up the road in Irvington and his children having very nice athletic careers for the Yellow Jackets.
then you will wet yourself to hear that he is the Modified Coach at Hastings! and his daughter teaches and coaches a girls teams at HHS, as well.
He is a nice man. HHS would be so much better off with him as Varsity Coach!
Hurlie isnt the guards on the court turning the ball over. hes not the one missing shots and not playing defense and not grabbing rebounds. the coach can only do so much. The reason hastings hasnt been a fixture at the county center is because there is no one at the school that can play. its not the coaches fault. so faded glory get a life and get off the computer and do something with you life in stead of bashing the coach just becuase you couldnt play any sports in your life and you probably had a son that couldnt play in high school so your just a bit upset
dear Hastings:
did you really write “he reason hastings hasnt been a fixture at the county center is because there is no one at the school that can play”?
hard to imagine a real Hastings fan saying that. but you are probably just a friend of the coach. because lots of turnovers, bad shooting, no defense and no rebounding (especially with the biggest team in Class B) sure sounds like the dictionary definition of bad coaching to me.
thanks for unintentionally agreeing with me.
are you dumb? kids that cant play ball arnt gonna win games. its not coaching. the lack of talent is the reason hastings hasnt been as good as they have been in past years
I’ve never given this a try, but I think it’s about time I do.