Here are the stories from yesterday’s Rivalry tournament at New Rochelle High—the host Huguenots’ big win over Mount Vernon; and the two early games: Unbeaten Poughkeepsie’s victory over Peekskill; and Rye’s win against arch-rival Harrison. You can read those stories for reactions from the games.
Also, here is the roundup of games from Saturday and late Friday night.
Some thoughts on the day at NRHS:
The nightcap sure showed that the Section 1 AA playoffs will be interesting. Remember, Poughkeepsie will play in AA again after reaching the championship game last year. Mount Vernon is vulnerable, but still potentially as good as anybody and probably the favorite. New Rochelle knows it can play with and beat Mount Vernon, or anybody. We’ve seen that North Rockland is for real. How great would it be to have that as the Final Four at County Center?
Poughkeepsie has a great coach in Brian Laffin, and absolute stars in Nate Gause (39 points) and Dayvon Whitaker.
Peekskill is also as vulnerable as it’s been in the last six years, since that surprising run to the first of five straight A titles (and five straight trips to the state Final Four in Glens Falls). That said, the Red Devils remain the favorites, and even by losing to Poughkeepsie via lack of execution down the stretch, they showed they can hang with the bigger dogs. Peekskill could go down in the playoffs, it is certainly possible. But it will take a gargantuan effort by somebody to do it.
Lou Panzanaro was upset with some decision making and execution, and that has been the team’s problem this season. There was a missed dunk when a layup would have been more than enough late in the game; an alley-oop attempt that was unnecessary on a 2-on-1; a 3-on-1 on which the player with the ball never dished off; and a failure to box out the shooter on a free throw. All of that, and given how good Poughkeepsie is, and the Red Devils were still right in the game.
Rye and Harrison will be factors, or at least tough outs. The Garnets reached the County Center last year. Their coach, Chris DiCintio told his senior players that this would likely be the last time they would have the chance to play against Harrison in their careers, and after a very slow start (two points in the first quarter), the Garnets took care of business.
Harrison has its best team in years, and despite the loss, there’s reason for some optimism.
“We let teams back, that’s been our M.O. this year,” Huskies coach Gary Chiarella said. Harrison’s only other league loss was against Port Chester by six. “We have to be more consistent on defense,” Chiarella said. “We need to keep getting better. We’re in a little down spiral, but we’ll get out of it.”
71 Comments
It is great that these sophomores are being talked highly of and they are good players but clearly none of them could out match any of the starters on north rockland team or outplay them. None of them have proven themselves against them.
Not sure I would call NFA losing at Maginn surprising. They are consistently one of the top 20 teams in the State. Like Big East road games, anything can happen.
It is true that the sophomore class can not compare to this years senior class and the junior class containing the best overall talent in section 1.
If you think that peterson or mccahey or sayre couldnt play with north rockland you are sadly mistaken. yes north rockland has an awesome team this year but adding one of them would just make them better. If you took any of the starters on north rockland and switched them with one of the sophomores and put one of the sophomores on north rockland it would be the same result. its just that these young guys dont have teams that can come even remotly close to matching up with them.
A lineup of Sayre, McGuinnes, Donahue, and Sullivan could have challenged for a gold ball in 2011 and Sayer, Donahue, and McGuinness could have challenged for a state title in class B in 2012. Ahhh what could have been.
So NFA shook off the poor shooting last night against Minisink Valley 92 – 54. Only there 2nd home game this season which is weird. 2 more games this week before the big one saturday against PK. 5 games in 7 days, if that doesnt knock the rust off nothing will. They blowout Pinebush on wed by 50, should take care of Kingston fri night at home and then sat afternoon at the mount im taking NFA by 6 points over PK. Mcleod was back for last nights game and didnt skip a beat. Mcmillan looked good last night, had much better shot selection and shared the ball nicely. should be a good one.
Brian Laffin a great coach? Really? I do not think so. What has he done?
I do not think there are a lot of great coaches out there. Cimino yes, Panzzanaro yes, but after that I think there are a lot of guys that are pretty good. I look at the resume and I see a guy that has had a lot of success in AA at a smaller school. Obviously there is talent but I think this guy has gotten better over the years. I used to see him going crazy screaming and think what an idiot. However, I think as he has matured so has the Pok program. The only mountain left ot climb is Mt. Vernon. They have consistently beaten the best AA and A’s out there. I hope they get a chip one of these years. I think he is a good coach and much better with the x’s and o’s then he used to be. Great inbounds sets…
soundoff, in terms of the local public schools, don’t forget about Jerry Houston at Pearl River. He is an outstanding coach. Personally, I think Cimino is the best around.
In terms of Laffin, I was not a huge fan at first. I felt his overall game plan, execution and in game coaching was weak. I felt he had the talent at times to upset MV.
But Statesmen, Jeff P. etc, helped changed my tune. They have spoken on this blog about his passion for the kids, the sport and the overall success of POK. He works hard to make sure they stay in school, become better men and go on to college. I will take that over a great X’s and O’s guy anyday of the week.
I was at the AM and south game.I think that AM is overrated. South dominated AM with three sophmores. Giordano dominated inside and it was only his second time starting. Mcchahey is a beast and Magers just shoots everytime he touches the ball.There weakness is the guards. I still do not understand why Giordano did not start against us and the tall kid from isreal did. I also think Donahue is overrated. We will still beat them on Thursday but next year they will be a great team
Where is the Rockland County playoffs held
suffren player
Im not sure either why giordano has not been starting all year. He defenitly makes a difference on that team. Souths got alot of talent but they are just too inconsistent. Mager takes way to many bad shots and doesnt seem to care if they win as long as he scores alot. And thats sad because the kid can play, hes just too out of control. McCahey is an animal that can do it all. Hes impossinble to guard straight up. Hes the leading scorer in the county according to lohud and i have prob seen him play at least 5 times and he never takes bad shots. Him perez from north rockalnd houston from pearl river and tevin mackey at valley are my favorite players to watch in rockland
Albertus has been up and down all year. They got some good young guys but that injury to Sullivan really hurt them. Still they will be good the next couple of years.
I dont root for any particular team in rockland but i go to games all over the county. The only consistent team is North Rockland. Every one else has had some good wins and some bad losses.
bb,
The Rockland County Championship will be held at Clarkstown South this year. I’m sure it is going to be held at a rotating site for as long as section 1 sticks with the all Rockland league format. Also there are no playoffs it is just a one game championship with the top team from each league playing each other.
And how is a Suffern Player talking trash about Albertus when Albertus beat Suffern earlier in the year. Interesting how people think.
westchesterguy,
I caught that remark in the blog post. I’ve heard Coach laffin referred to as many things on this blog by Pok fans, but never before a “great coach”. Great guy – it definitely sounds that way and like HRs I respect any coach of any sport that goes the extra mile for their kids, particularly in a tough situations like many found in Poughkeepsie. But there is a difference between a great coach and a great guy. If he wins the AA this year, then maybe we can call him a great coach.
I really think he is a great coach. If the definition of a great coach is winning, advancing player development, and getting kids to the next level. Lets be real here. Lou P and Bob Cimino are on a different level due to there State Titles and Sectional success but this guy is right there. I have been following DC, Westchester and Rockland hoops for a longtime. There is no one up there better even Chando at Red Hook. REd Hook plays no one during the year and always loses to Peekskill in A. Why? He plays at a high level AA at a smaller AA school and beats everyone besides Mt Vernon (many do not). He has beaten New Rochelle the last 3 times in a row, White Plains 4 times in a row, Peekskill the last two times. These teams are equvilent in talent and in some cases a bigger pool of talent (except Peekskill) and he wins. Tell me a guy that has a three game streak against New Rochelle and two game streak against Peekskill. No one. He has kids going to college. D1 talent going D1. I think if you asked the coaches around Section 1 they would say he is top 5 definitely. Name a coach that has more wins in Section 1 over the last 8 to 10 years (outside Lou and Cimmino)? You can’t because he is that guy. Good luck Pioneers! You may not win this season but you have a great program and a solid leader at the top.
bulldog, very well said. Again, I wasn’t one to rally behind Laffin, but the more I learn about the actual person, the more I like. With that said, I still don’t think he is top notch in terms of basketball iq and game planning, but it doesn’t matter. The other qualities outshine this. And he does get results.
Happen to see Half Hallow Hills West again today. Tobias didn’t play. He didn’t need to. The team they played was horrendous. So I got to see the team without him. Sledge had about 5 dunks and Harris brother was impressive. They also have Mark Jackson’s nephew who is a sophomore. Pok, MV and New Ro, even NR could match up. Depth is the issue here. HHHW is deep. They can use 7-8 capable players. Should be an interesting post season to say the least!
Bulldog,
Well said. Though I’ve been frustrated at times with Coach Laffin’s game judgments in past years, I now see a person who has matured a lot. I wonder to what extent this has to do with his dedicated assistant coaches, Tom Mullins, Chris McLaurin, and Kurt Jesman. Laffin seems to substitute more, has better plays, and is more restrained than previously. He has aways had very successful seasons, but now seems more in control of the situation than before.
The Pioneer Program has matured a lot. The Asst. Coaches are very involved. They have been year round for the last 4-5 years. They go to the Eastern Elite Team Camp and others. That makes a big difference. The Asst. Coaches are year round. The previous Asst. Coaches were season to season guys. More support = more success.
Uhhhh suffern donohue is at tz not albertus
Bulldog,
You gotta have that with your program. If you want to compete in AA basketball in NY state its a must do! Basketball is year round now, AAU, weight lifing and camps during the off season. NFA has had some pretty good teams the last few years thats for sure but in my opinion they where not any more talented than some of the good teams in the past. The difference is the Zion Lions coaches are teaching the team concept early. Oh, and some kid hit 3/4 court shot last year to catapult them to a state championship