Varsity Insider

Well, here it is: The best week in local high school sports.

Yes, Championship Week begins this afternoon at the County Center, and what lies ahead are 15 boys basketball games that will crown five champions. After a few days off, I’m very much ready to get started.

Here’s my plan for the blog today: 1. This will be the “results” blog. I’ll post final scores and quick recap of each game, as well as the championship game schedule. 2. I’ll have another post that will be a live blog. It will include, obviously, live updates from today’s games. 3. Also, don’t forget, I will be live blogging and chatting the Haldane-Lincoln Hall game in one of our Cover It Live chats — just like we do on Varsity Insider Chat, only without the video. So stop in and let me know what you want to chat about. If it goes smoothly and you show interest, we’ll consider chatting later in the week.

I know some people may be away from a computer, so I’ll post some live updates on Twitter as well. If you don’t follow me, shame on you. To do so, find me on Twitter at Twitter.com/LoHudInsider.

Monday’s games —
At the County Center
Class D:
No. 2 Greenburgh Academy 49, No. 3 Palisade Prep 37
No. 1 Biondi 68, No. 4 Clark Academy 62
Class C:
No. 2 Haldane 60, No. 3 Lincoln Hall 59
No. 1 Tuckahoe 58, No. 4 Keio 23

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
(All games at County Center)

Friday
Class D championship:
No. 1 Biondi vs. No. 2 Greenburgh Academy, 3 p.m.

Saturday
Class C championship:
No. 1 Tuckahoe vs. No. 2 Haldane, 2 p.m.

RECAPS

Class D semifinals
No. 2 Greenburgh Academy 49, No. 3 Palisade Prep 37: At the County Center, John Samuels had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead Greenburgh. Tony Testagrose added 10 points and 10 rebounds and Daniel Mejia had eight and 12. Samuels made three 3-pointers. Mejia scored six of his points during the fourth quarter to help the Crusaders respond after Palisade Prep had cut a 14-point deficit to 36-32 midway through the fourth quarter.

Freshman Isaiah Ward led Palisade Prep with 13 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Luis Eusebio led the first-year varsity program with 15 rebounds. Sophomore Fred Truss Jr. had 14 rebounds.

Greenburgh Academy will play No. 1 Biondi on Friday at 3 in the Class D final.

No. 1 Biondi 68, No. 4 Clark Academy 62: At the County Center, Dayvon Felder led all scorers with 30 points. He led the Lions to a 30-24 halftime lead and then hit two free throws to extend that lead to 57-36 after three quarters. Teammate Anthony Wignal added 14 points off the bench for Biondi, which will play No. 2 Greenburgh Academy at 3 on Friday for the Class D championship.

Treybon Mack led Clark with 21 points. His team defeated Biondi in both regular season meetings, one by a final scored of 71-60.

Class C semifinals
No. 2 Haldane 60, No. 3 Lincoln Hall 59: At the County Center, Jackson Zuvic scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He rolled in a shot over a defender along the left baseline to beat the buzzer and lift Haldane to victory. Zuvic finished with 10 points in the final 3:58. His last basket was the 10th assist for point guard Jimmy Meekins. Backcourtmate Elias Lopez scored a career-high 19 points, including 11 in the first 10 minutes of the game.

The game was back and forth. Lincoln Hall led 27-21 at halftime. Haldane than earned a 37-31 lead until Corey Blair hit a 3 to give the United a 44-41 lead going into the fourth.

Blair finished the game with 22 points, seven rebounds and six steals. He hit a 3 with about a minute to play to cut his team’s deficit to 58-57 after Zuvic hit a pair of 3’s to give his team a 58-54 lead. Kymkwan Hall then pushed Lincoln Hall in front by a point, 59-58, after his steal and short pullup with 50 seconds to play.

Paul Mackey and Zuvic each missed open jumpers in the final 30 seconds. Both times, Blair missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Haldane another chance.

Hall added 12 points for Lincoln Hall. Rodney Scales had eight points and eight rebounds.

Haldane will play for the Class C championships on Saturday at 2 p.m.

No. 1 Tuckahoe 58, No. 4 Keio 23: At the County Center, Keio held high-scoring Tuckahoe to just 22 first-half points, but the Tigers rallied to pull away in the second half behind Justin Nolan and Sky Williams. Nolan scored a game-high 19 points and Williams added 15 to help Tuckahoe advance to Saturday’s 2 p.m. Class C championship game against No. 2 Haldane.

Under new coach Stan Hamlet, Keio enjoyed an eight-win improvement after finishing last season 0-18 and returned to the County Center after an upset victory over . The Unicorns frustrated Tuckahoe in the first half but still trailed 22-9 at the break. The Tigers then held them to just four points in the third quarter.