Opening round: Friday’s schedule/scores
If you read this blog and don’t know already, shame on you. But…the Section 1 basketball tournament begins today.
It’s a great Friday every year; I only wish the games were spread out. As it is, I’m headed to New Rochelle at 4:30, followed by Byram Hills at 7. We’ll also have reporters at Carmel, North Rockland and Clarkstown South, so you can find updates on those games and more on Twitter @LoHudInsider.
If you’re out at games, please drop some score updates here. I’ll try and update the blog as quickly as I can.
Enjoy the games!
Friday’s games —
Class AA opening round
North Rockland 63, Ramapo 54
New Rochelle 65, Mamaroneck 40
Carmel 59, White Plains 47
Clarkstown South 75, John Jay-EF 54
Fox Lane 40, Suffern 36
Mount Vernon 108, Clarkstown North 53
Mahopac 55, Ossining 54
Arlington 44, Horace Greeley 42
Class A opening round
Brewster 61, Saunders 60
Poughkeepsie 50, Pelham 44
Peekskill 75, John Jay 64
Eastchester 71, Harrison 47
Kennedy 63, Lourdes 46
Tappan Zee 60, Lakeland 35
Byram Hills 53, Rye 40
Pearl River 75, Riverside 47
Class B opening round
Valhalla 38, Rye Neck 35
Blind Brook 56, Westlake 44
Pleasantville 54, Hastings 39
Briarcliff 45, Bronxville 41
Croton-Harmon 66, Pawling 56
Woodlands 78, North Salem 67 (OT)
Albertus Magnus 71, Putnam Valley 33
GAME RECAPS
New Rochelle 65, Mamaroneck 40: At No. 8 New Rochelle, Chris Elefante had 11 points and six assists, Kirkland Ottey had 11 points and Joe Clarke added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Huguenots, who avenged last week’s loss to the Tigers. New Rochelle rolled up a 32-10 lead by halftime and held Mamaroneck without a field goal for nearly seven minutes during the first half.
Clarke returned after missing last Friday’s game at Mount Vernon. His teammate K.C. Nwoso threw down a one-handed dunk over a Mamaroneck defender in the fourth quarter, shortly after Clarke made an acrobatic layup over another Tiger.
Alex Lanni had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers, who beate New Rochelle last week for the first time since 1971.
Poughkeepsie 50, Pelham 44: In a Class A first round game at No. 6 Pelham, Keshaun Stallworth scored 19 points and Lance Stokes had 10. The No. 11 Pioneers will play No. 3 Eastchester in the second round on Wednesday night.
Mahopac 55, Ossining 54: In a Class AA first round game at No. 3 Mahopac, Brendan Hynes hit a free throw with nine seconds left to give the Indians the lead. He then blocked Steven Espinoza’s game-winner at the buzzer to seal the win. Hynes had 12 points and Dan Neilis led the Indians with 13. Keon Ervin, Sam LaCour and Espinoza had 11 points each for the No. 14 Pride. Mahopac will host the No. 11 Horace Greeley/No. 6 Arlington winner on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Valhalla 38, Rye Neck 35: In a Class B first round game at No. 8 Valhalla, Dan LoGuidice scored 12 points and Joseph Lovecchio scored 10. Brendan Crowley had 12 points for the No. 9 Panthers. The Vikings will travel to take on No. 1 Dobbs Ferry on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the second round.
Fox Lane 40, Suffern 36: In a Class AA first round game at No. 2 Fox Lane, Will Trawick had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Foxes. Tyler McDine had 12 points for the No. 15 Mounties. Fox Lane will host No. 7 North Rockland in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Brewster 61, Saunders 60: In a Class A first round game at No. 7 Saunders, Jack Dignan scored 23 points which included four free throws within the final minutes of the game to give the No. 10 Bears the lead. Mike Bonilla scored 16 points. Jerrell Benitez scored 20 points for the Blue Devils. Brewster will play at No. 2 Peekskill Wednesday in the quarterfinals. The time is to be determined.
Mount Vernon 108, Clarkstown North 53: In a Class AA first round game at No. 1 Mount Vernon, every Knight scored in the 55-point victory. Quadere Lovell scored 17 points. Isaiah Cousins and Jarrel Marshall each added 16 points. The top-seeded Knights will host No. 8 New Rochelle at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Eastchester 71, Harrison 47: In a Class A first round game at No. 3 Eastchester, Jack Daly had 25 points and Dave Solano had 21. Nick Esposito led the No. 18 Huskies with 11 points. Eastchester will host No. 11 Poughkeepsie on Wednesday.
Kennedy 64, Lourdes 46: In a Class A first round game at No. 4 Kennedy, Jordan Hardy scored 16 points. Thiago Randazzo had 14 points and six rebounds and Mike DeMello had 10 points. The Gaels will host No. 5 Byram Hills on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. in the second round.
Peekskill 75, John Jay 64: In a Class A first round game at No. 2 Peekskill, Chandler Pierce scored 19 points, including seven free throws in the final quarter. Musheed Muhammad had nine points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks. Brad Goldman scored 21 points. Matt Ferentini added 19 points for the 18th-seeded Indians. Peekskill will host No. 10 Brewster on Tuesday at a time to be announced.
Briarcliff 45, Bronxville 41: In a Class B first round game at No. 7 Briarcliff, Brian Daniels had 14 points, nine rebounds, and four assists for the Bears. Tyriek Johnson added 10 points. Matt Torney had 13 points for the No. 10 Broncos. Briarcliff will play at No. 2 Albertus Magnus in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Woodlands 78, North Salem 67, OT: In a Class B first round game at No. 3 Woodlands, Fred Bowers scored 26 points and had 21 rebounds. Andre Scipio scored 24 points. Connor Holliday had 26 points and Umar Singh had 23 points for the No. 14 Tigers. The Falcolns will host No. 6 Croton-Harmon on Wednesday in the second round. The time is yet to be determined.
Pearl River 75, Riverside 47: In a Class A first round game at No. 8 Pearl River, Joe Clinton scored 23 points and Kevin Degnan had 20 points and eight rebounds. Austin O’Toole added 14 points and Sean Wilson 10 points and eight rebounds for the Pirates, who play at No. 1 Tappan Zee on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Ian Parker had 19 points for No. 9 Riverside.
Croton-Harmon 66, Pawling 56: In a Class B first round game at No. 6 Croton-Harmon, Ian Thom had 24 points, four assists, and three steals. Wes Turner added 16 points and five rebounds. Croton-Harmon will play at No. 3 Woodlands in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Blind Brook 56, Westlake 44: In a Class B first round game at No. 5 Blind Brook, Sam Adler scored 14 points. Jack Jamilkowski scored 13 points. Rich Maio scored 16 points for the No. 12 Wildcats. The Trojans will play at No. 4 Pleasantville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the second round.
Tappan Zee 60, Lakeland 35: In a Class A first round game at No. 1 Tappan Zee, Billy O’Shea scored 17 points. Pat Patterson and Brendan Donohue each had 11 points. Alex Perlman scored nine points for the No. 17 Hornets. The Dutchmen will host No. 8 Pearl River on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the second round.
Albertus Magnus 71, Putnam Valley 33: In a Class B first round game at No. 2 Albertus Magnus, Tyler Sayre had 25 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan Basso had 13 points for the 15th-seeded Tigers. The Falcons will host No. 7 Briarcliff on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Byram Hills 53, Rye 40: In a Class A first round game at No. Byram Hills, Ryan Golden scored 16 points and freshman Andrew Groll added 11. Groll scored six points as Byram pounded the ball inside early in the first quarter and pulled ahead 19-11 after one. Rye cut its deficit to six points at half but fell behind 31-19 early in the third quarter. The Garnets then reeled off a 10-0 run behind Mike Garofalo (10 points), Teddy Ice (6) and Kamal Logue (12) to cut their deficit to two points.
Late in the third period, Golden hit a 3-pointer to snap his team’s skid. Brian Skelly then added another 3 in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats pulled away. They will now travel to No. 4 Kennedy on Wednesday at 6:15 in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s Class A semifinal at the County Center.
Carmel 59, White Plains 47: In a Class AA first round game at No. 5 Carmel, the Rams won their first Section 1 tournament game in nine years. They reached the County Center in 2003 and lost to White Plains in the Class AA semifinals.
Carmel pulled ahead behind an 18-6 run in the second quarter. Bashkim Rugova led the Rams with 18 points and seven rebounds and Keith Murphy added 16 points. Ray Dorrite had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Akeem Williams led No. 12 White Plains with 22 points and had seven rebounds. Anthony Williams added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. It was just the second losing season for White Plains (8-11) in Spencer Mayfield’s 19 years as coach.
North Rockland 63, Ramapo 54: In a Class AA first round game at No. 7 North Rockland, Malvin Rosario scored 21 points. Charles Nardone added 16 points and Alex Ramirez 11 for the Red Raiders. David Haye led all scorers with 22 for Ramapo. North Rockland will travel to No. 2 Fox Lane on Tuesday at 6 in the quarterfinals.
Clarkstown South 75, John Jay-East Fishkill 53: In a Class AA first round game at No. 4 Clarkstown South, Clayton Roker had 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Vikings, who will host No. 5 Carmel at 4:30 on Tuesday.
Arlington 44, Horace Greeley 42: Read a recap of the game from the Poughkeepsie Journal.
Pleasantville 54, Hastings 39: In a Class B first-round game at No. 4 Pleasantville Friday, Nick Greto scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Panthers, who will host No. 5 Blind Brook at 6 on Wednesday. Jack Eisenberg added 11 points. Josh Kolbert had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Joe Tino had 18 points, five rebounds and six assists for No. 13 Hastings.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Feb. 21
Class AA quarterfinals
No. 8 New Rochelle at No. 1 Mount Vernon, 4:30 p.m.
No. 5 Carmel at No. 4 Clarkstown South, 4:30 p.m.
No. 6 Arlington at No. 3 Mahopac, 6 p.m.
No. 7 North Rockland at No. 2 Fox Lane, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Class A quarterfinals
No. 8 Pearl River at No. 1 Tappan Zee, 7 p.m.
No. 11 Poughkeepsie at No. 3 Eastchester, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Byram Hills at No. 4 Kennedy, 6:15 p.m.
No. 10 Brewster at No. 2 Peekskill, 6 p.m.
Class B quarterfinals
No. 8 Valhalla at No. 1 Dobbs Ferry, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Blind Brook at No. 4 Pleasantville, 6 p.m.
No. 6 Croton-Harmon at No. 3 Woodlands, 6 p.m.
No. 7 Briarcliff at No. 2 Albertus Magnus, 7 p.m.
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Pel 24 Pok 16 at half. Too many TO’s and missed points in paint for Pok. If they dont come out firing in the 2nd Half this one is over. Pelham has some nice size. A good one so far.
Statesman…......Oh, ye of little faith. 50-44 Poughkeepsie. Remember….the cream shall always rise to the top.
POK…good team. but 100 percent loses if Pelham has their best player on the floor in
Henson. POK’s lucky draw probably sending them to the county center
Stallworth dominated poughkeepsie .. no answer for him, solano will do the same
Good game over in Carmel. They broke the press very well and played pretty good defense on their end and were able to convert free throws. It didn’t look like White Plains wanted to be there. I don’t think they are too in sync with each other on the floor. #3 was pretty much their only big scorer. Carmel came out and wanted it more, controlling the game a good 3 quarters. Great win…Lets Go Rams!
whats the Mahopac score anybody?
Mahopac won 65 – 64, Ossining missd a last second shot, Ossining played well and epreseted.
represented
Mahopac’s best player sat out most of the 4th period with foul trouble
Section! When did he dominat in the first half when pel scored 26 or the second half when they scored 18 , nobody dominated that game . I call that bus rust for pok they outscored u 34-18 in the second half.
wow! great effort by Ossining…was lookin for a nice upset over there lol. thanks for the score
108-53 MVHS…......Wow!...Sounding like the Gus Williams led juggernaut of the early ‘70’s. New Ro better bring their ‘AA game’ to the dance.
A Ball,
Pok scored 16 in a very painful half for me to watch. If they came out like they did in the 2nd as they did in the first I still think they win. It’s always the luck of the draw up here man. Just play ball. The self annointed champs were in a dog fight w/ JJCR yet no one is commenting on them.
If they consistently called travels on Stallworth they would have blew the whistle every time he stopped his momemtun. Dragged his. Pivot foot nearly every time. He did a great job of using his body. Unless Solaro is benching 330+ I cant see him doing the same. Either way he and w/e team comes next will not be taken lightly.
Ossining has nothing to be ashamed of, they played a gritty game and they brought their “A” game and they wanted the game bad, they give Mahopac all they could handle.
Statesman,
People underestimate Henson’s ability. Granted if you are from POK I wouldn’t expect you to know anythin about him. He doesnt light up the scoreboard or get any attention but the kid can ball. I wasn’t there tonight but I’m sure he would have made some difference. And as for Solano, he’s not the strongest kid out there but he can dribble like a point guard and shoot like a SG. always a tough matchup, but besides Daly the talent around him is sub par and nowhere near as athletic as POK so they need to catch some breaks here and there to pull this one off
Greeley score.
Geez, did mamaroneck show up with their JV Team? Great job by Coach Murphy, avenging the OT loss to Mamaroneck a week ago. Not sure why Mamaroneck played so poorly in the first half. Coach did not have them ready to play. It was over in the first half.
Greeley lost by 2
Woodlands played an ugly game tonight but turned it on when it counted. North Salem had to play 110% to stay in this game. Woodlands was not any where near 100%. Woodlands was also without their arguably best player Reece Williams. He’ll be back for the Croton game.
Shots woodlands usually hits with relative ease were just not dropping as well as a lot of their foul shots. The Falcons could have one this one by 30.
North Salem has one very strong player who I believe is Umar Singh. He’s dangerous. Too bad he doesn’t have equal support.
Get ready Croton-Woodlands is unstoppable when they turn it on.
Good luck to both teams.
Rockland teams really representing
North beats Scarsdale, gets crushed by mv
Suffern blows out Gorton and hangs with the 2 seed fox lane and loses by 4
TZ, South, Albertus, PR all roll.
NR will give Fox Lane a tough game
To bad Ramapo had to play NR and PR has to play TZ
Teams (and reporters) underestimate the coaching and defense in Rockland.
Go Rockland hoops!
Congratulations to Mahopac for a nice win against a very tough team in Ossining, Ossining came to play and demonstrated some good speed and basketball skills and proved that regardless of your seeding you should never be taking for granted.
I hope this was a wake up call for Mahopac and they will come out better prepared next time, their are no easy wins in the playoofs, getting to the county center is never an easy task.
Congrats to Dave Solano of Eastchester High School for becoming the schools all time leading scorer. A job well done bring home the gold ball. Hard work and dedication pays off.
I get to a lot of games so you’d be surprised what I’ve seen. Pok also had tons of shots rim out but you dont hear us talking about that. If Henson plays, they might not only score 16 points in the first half. Everything has a universal opposite so we could have this convo all day. If Lynch cant ball vs JFK, everyone else has to step up it’s how it goes.
EHS,
You guys are good. Everything we have might not be enough. Looking forward to a good one. Congrats to Dave.
Mamaroneck coach needs to stop whining. Team was mot ready to play today, what an embarrassing performance. MV is great in that league and new Ro is avg this year. Rest of thatnleague stinks. WP loses to Carmel, Gorton to Suffern, scarsdale to CNorth and Mamaroneck gets blown out by new Ro. Mamaroneck barely beat Brewster on neutral floor and got spanked by Mahopac on neutral floor. Stop all the whining aboutnthe seeds. Based on the sectional performance by that league the seeds were spot on. Finally had one good year while new Ro and WP are down and theynact like they got mistreated. Real talk, shut up and prove it on then court
States
I came to the game too make sure you got there safe!! But I didnt see you!!.....
Thanks Prince. Lucky for me it was still daylight when I got off the train so the goons werent out. A nice quick walk and got a ride home by a friend.
65..
It was hard to imagine both of these teams are in the same league. I will try and describe the opening tip off, one kid from North Rockland maybe 5’8 crouching down real low jumping against MV’s Givvion Jones who is about 6’5 and the other 4 players no where near the circle but instead standing under their basket setting up to play a zone defense. I scratched my head and realized this game was over before the jump.
Where is the loud mouth from Pelham who said the last couple of days POK was going down?
Dutchess man, you are spot on. Mamaroenck should enjoy this season, because New Rochelle was mediocre this year at best. That won’t be the case in a year or two as they have some real good players coming up. Mamaroneck on the other hand had the perfect storm, and had some real nice wins this year with the best talent they have had in decades. Next year… it is back to the drawing board for Mamaroneck as they will fall back to below average.
Not sure what Mamk’s coach really wants? An easier seed? Mamk has always been king of the outbracket. Win an outbracket game and then lose. This year… they just bypassed the outbracket game. Mamk kids should be proud of the best season they have had in a long long long time.
If anyone should complain, it should be new ro who has to play Mt. Vernon now in the second round. But guess, what? New Ro’s coach will not complain one peep. He’ll go after as best he can.
Lets stop talking about whos seeded where and who shouldnt be playing who, the seeds are the seeds and you play who your supposed to within the bracket. New Ro, and W/P were seeded accordingly. Im sure both teams will be back within the next few years,there is to much talent in both area”s to continue to be down. With the Putnam, Dutch, Rockland and northern Westchester teams left it shows that these teams can compete. I can rememberbeing on this blog a few years back when a bunch of the blogers felt theses teams were a joke and just knocking each other off, now I think alot of you guys know that theres some pretty good ball in those area”s.
my favorites have advanced,one step from the county
mount vernon-75 new rochelle-59
poughkeepsie-66 eastchester-59
woodlands-67 croton harmon-58
I hadn’t had an opportunity to see mt vernon yet so i went last night already understanding what the outcome would probably be and I have a couple thoughts:
1. this is the best mv TEAM that i have seen in a loong looong time. they may not have an individual player as good as jabari,mitchell, gordon etc but they are loaded at every spot. Also, they are very unselfish, and well rounded players. Great athleticism, passing, shooting ability etc.
2. c.north was overwhelmed at all times but has become one of my favorite teams to watch. coach goldberg has a great demeanor/attitude. the north kids played as hard as possible at all times and continued to cheer each other on till the final buzzer. Thats just great to see in high school bball….spacecadet, mvhs runs an alley oop play off the tip oftentimes, im guessing north just didnt want to start the game like that.
3. I hope this isn’t too controversial but does anyone else find it unbelievable that mv has had the top player in the section 7 years in a row???? for a school half the size of new ro (right down the block) how is that possible that they have the best player every single year?
The top 8 seeds advance, even though the experts picked against Valhalla. North Salem gave Woodlands all they could handle. Just goes to show what veteran coaches mean at playoff time. Sassone and Greiner had their teams ready to play. Woodlands had enough talent to get by where as Valhalla got the job done against a favored Rye Neck. Goos match-ups in the 2nd round. The Welch brothers go at it, Croton at Woodlands , Briarcliff at Magnus, and Valhalla tries to pull the biggest upset in years. Everygame has the potential to be a good one. Class B doesn’t get the attention that AA and A do be they are playing some great basketball.
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hshoops…......
when I first read your ‘controversial post’ I thought your size differential figures between the schools were way off but after a brief search realized you were spot on. When I attended MVHS [‘63-65] our 10-12th grade aggregate numbers were nearly 2700, equal or greater than New Rochelle’s enrollment.
Now, as you say, MV is 1/2 the enrollment size of New Rochelle….to me that’s a lot harder to understand than why MV has the best of the best players in Section 1.
My simple, perhaps flawed, answer is this…MV has a comprehensive, high-coordinated youth developmental program unlike any other in Westchester County. It was built like a Ferrari and runs like one. Put a coach like Cimmino behind the wheel of this finely tuned machine and you will get the dominance that you have witnessed for the past seven years.
That said, I am sure this phenomenon will not go on forever. Worthy, talented stars from other schools will have their moment to shine as ‘Mr. Basketball’ for the section. Be patient!
Kudos to jcirooco as there have been more balance with northern teams and western teams competing on a regular basis with so Westchester schools. The game has evolved where many programs realize that success begins before these student athletes enter HS and many towns are supporting these programs at early stages. It makes for great balance and great entertainment. i am not sure that any high school sports in this area creates such attention in this forum than HS bball.
if one does, please inform us all. This will be a great week and i believe some upsets will be in the mix as any team with exception of a select few can win on any given day.
Why does my boy Letizia from Tappan Zee never get mentioned on these blogs? If you have never had the pleasure of watching this kid play, you really need to make it a point. He is as tough as nails, drains (big time) jumpers, controls an offense and rarely ever turns the ball over. He locks up opposing PG’s night in and night out. This kid is the most hidden gem
65,
Yes it is very strange how this happens. I just threw it out there because I honestly don’t understand it. Certain schools can dominate certain sports each year but this level of dominance seems a little crazy. I mean mv’s team looks like a mid level college team. Its strange seeing them on the same court as certain high schools. And its been like that for a while now…seems impossible to me that a public school can have that, but who knows
Swipe,
Joe L gets Love all the time. Especially after his performance vs BH. Does all the work you want your PG to do. Can go for 20 any night but doesnt need to.. One of the few players that can put his hand on a game even w/out scoring.
hshoops.
as 65 explains.. the feeder program available is the best you can imagine. The dedication by adults and coaches keeps the athletic heart of the town beating…
After you have selected the best after years of teaching, then let them play together for 12 months and you may find out what is possible.
spacecadet… To me, I think the competition is what sets things apart once Mount Vernon players get to high school. Many schools — even at the Class AA level — barely need to hold tryouts. At Mount Vernon, spots on the varsity roster are so coveted. Over 100 players show up at tryouts. I’m sure in school there are even more who’d like to tryout but are discouraged to do so by the sheer level of talent.
Josh…..... To what you say, “Amen!!”
Artifact Exhibit A: I didn’t bother trying out for the varsity with well over a hundred aspirant varsity players. Knew it was going to be a waste of my time.
Two years later I was on a jr. college squad…five years after that I became one of the better players in upper Hudson Valley premier leagues playing along side men who’d starred at schools like Bucknell, SUNY Albany, Stroudsberg State, Boston U., SUNY New Paltz, Marist, Manhattan College, etc.
The point being I was well-prepared and hardened by the asphalt street courts of Mount Vernon to go up against a high level of raw talent, day in & day out.
And remember…this was back in ‘65 before the big push towarrd dominance had begun.
I feel Josh 100% on this one. I can’t imagine how it is in MV when I didn’t try out for the Pok squad for the same reasons. I love shocking people when I play hoops since I’m known as a Football and Baseball guy haha. Biggest regret was selling myself short and not trying out. Maybe Laffin would have gave me a shot since I got a 96 on the Global Regents w/ him as my teacher lol.
states,
any coach wouldve taken you. a true coaches dream. hard worker, great grades and dedicated. Alot of kids even in suburban schools see themselves short. I always tell them let the coaches determine if you re good enough. In the 23 years I ve coached I ll always take a kid with intangibles over a knucklehead who might be better.
I got Poughkeepsie by 5 over Eastchester.
oops….sell themselves short….
State
Lol I thought you would have a hard time getting out!!...I thought pel was gonna hold on to the lead!! B/c Pok was finishing around the rim!! But finally put it together congrats!!..... Hopefully wr can get a hotdog at the county (chip Pok).
Jets,
I appreciate that. I got discouraged w/ my experience w/ the feeder system coaches. I got sick of being passed over by kids that were too old for their grades and ended up not getting it together. Too many kids got by just on their rep and not their hustle/play on the court. Such is life, they seem to be doing a lot better w/ development now being that they are in no shape to pass over kids who work.
I like Pok over Eastchester by 5-7. They have a nice balance of guard play and size. Weir needs to act like he benches 350 and stop getting bodied by smaller players. Kevin Wright w/ no organized hoops experience before this season is showing him how to hustle. Kid has a motor that I love and his relentless in saving possesions. If Pok guards the 3 point line making things tough for Eastchester’s shooters while keeping them off the glass and finishing they can get it done.
Prince,
This old lady told me it was a hike but good old VZ Navigator was kind to me. Just up a few blocks and a right. Very nice school. I can’t lie, I was worried for a while but the boys did a good job turning defense into offense and finishing better in the second half. Anderson’s 3’s made all the difference. Real clutch, good to see his work w/ his mentor Nyquan Bellamy is paying off. They’ll need more of that as well as Dancy and Lawrence doing what they do.
Knight (#10) does a good job of controlling the pace but he continues to make boneheaded decisions much to Laffin’s chagrin. If he does not finally learn after being barked on all the time, his TO’s can lead to Pok’s downfall. Keep rotating Carter in to give the oplosing D another look and spell Knight a bit.
The CC would be a dream, espeically after the 1-4 start. It would be nice though. JFK is peaking at the right time and BH is limping literally with Lynch. Golden and young Groll are stepping up. Has anyone seen Maloney recently? He gets a lot of press, I know he isn’t a stat sheet stuffer but if he does not do more for BH on Weds, JFK will probably take it. Peekskill has a nightmare draw w/ Brewster and TZ/Pearl River is always a good one. I think TZ will be tested but will pull away w/ a 9 point win when the smoke clears.
Swipe – letizia is a decent high school basketball player..too small, doesn’t get to the basket enough and absolutely is not a good shooter. He is a very good defender though. McLaughlin is a better floor leader and Peterson is a better shooter/scorer, so as a 3rd guard letizia gets enough coverage
the 2004 mv was most likely the best team they had. Six div one players i think. number seven national ranking. Really was number six cause oak hill doesnt count as a high school. They actually lost to oak that year by thirteen in hawaii finals. Oak had josh smith and rondo. They locked down telfair in the fed final. they also lost to edgewater florida that year with darius washington by two pts. Edgewater finished sixth in the nation i believe. Washington blew it by leaving memphis after one year. ruined his career cause of bad advice or didnt wanna sit in a classroom and deal with the highly academic challenges of memphis university.
It’s comforting to know so many on this blog have a true understanding of what goes into the Knights program and easy to see why it is defended by the old geezers so passionate about the sport. To try and pick 15 out of a 100 without seeing them before must be impossible. Having watched the kids grow up helps. Bobby either gets a good look over the years or having his scouts offer their opinions has to help. He already has a dialog with these kids when they are 12 years old.
I will share a story. Last summer the Championship Team was given their rings for winning the federation tittle. At most schools this is a once in a life time deal, at mount vernon it’s whats expected. It was not a big ceremony with tons of people, DJ’s and politions but instead done after a clinic for maybe 50 kids between the ages of maybe 10 to 13 years old. Coach said something about each of the members of the team and handed them the “Ice” in front of the wide eyed kids. Also present were past MV Alumni like Jomo, Cobourn and Lowe working out and helping with the clinic and teaching the future Mr.Basketballs about the game. Bobby told the kids this is what you can achieve if you work hard in school, and on the court…
You want to get the juices flowing, this is how you do it.
On this note. Bob Cimino always tried out for the basketball teams at Mt St Michael in the early 70’s. But he was not skilled enough to make the teams. However, he always referee’d the intramural games and I believe he served as the team Manager 1 season keeping the book and doing the scoreboard. He also coached CYO kids in MV at the time at St Ursula
Joe Letizia great Basketball Player / Joe Letizia great Football Player / Joe Letizia great kid…
Agreed pr. He’s going to be absurd next season God Willing.
Poughkeepsie is a good program that has had a lot of success but they are not going to win. Our boys will be able to hit the 3 and force Poughkeepsie into bad looks on offense. They are so inconsistent and I am not impressed. Sorry but I have a date with Peekskill or Brewster to plan for!
poughkeepsie is not that good at all, pelham should have won but they didnt.. you guys were all talking about pelham this pelham that and how bad they are .. if there so bad why did poughkeepsie only win by 6 and you guys say there the best ???
they could beat eastchester , although i think EHS will win.. but if poughkeepsie does they arent going anywhere in the county center
Josh,
Any idea how close Pat McGuinness is to 1000?
AMhoops… Not exactly (and no one has a straight answer), but I think it’s about 100 away.
Ok Thanks
Section 1 AB,
I don’t think anyone on this blog said that Pelham was a bad team; it’s just that many of us felt that tougher competition Poughkeepsie faced during the season gave it a possible advantage in the game. Obviously, this year’s PK team isn’t the powerhouse it’s been in previous years, but it is battle tested. Only time will tell if this will be enough for the Pioneers to beat Eastchester, but they do have a history of making good things happen in February…
Good luck to all remaining teams…
JEFF P.
great insight on pok,and great job on updates,i really hope pok gets to the county,good luck
Eastchester will win by 10+. Too much for Pok.
I have seen Eastchester and Poughkeepsie play this year. I was surprised at how often Poughkeepsie turned the ball over and how poorly they shot the ball from the perimeter. In tournament play limiting turnovers, when the competition is better, is a big deal. Teams can’t turn it over 20+ a game and expect to survive. That said, if Eastchester handles Poughkeepsies pressure and makes some shots, Eastchester could survive.
Jeff,
Couldn’t have said it better. Pok needs to hold on to the ball and finish around the rim. Historically the program plays better whem counted out so keep it coming. Just know that you just opened the pandora’s box of the 32 minutes of hell defense the Pioneers like to use. They are going to make you work for your points every possesion so again it will be interesting to see how it pans out. The lone 2 seniors dont want to shut it down yet so they’ll leave it all on the floor.
statesman,
i hang my hat on the win over newburgh,that victory alone tells me that,eastchester better be at least 45% from three point range to win and i do not think they can do that.
eastchester might be hungry,but poughkeepsie is starving,get it done
I usually do not give a lot of credit to coaches in HS besides Cimmino and a few others. I have to say that Lafin has done his best coaching job. I remember seeing them early on and thought they were raw and really going no where. They have won so many close games this year. They looked totally different when I saw them vs Hendrick Hudson. Hendrick Hudson is not good but Pok really played with a purpose. I saw them at Lourdes and was really impressed how they defended the 3. That is great leadership at the top. I do not know if they can beat Eastchester but they are a fun team to watch and they play with such passion. Congrats to Coach Lafin. You really can coach! Much respect. God bless.
Hoops. Great points, he’s really getting it done. People forget that they’ve lost a few close ones as well so this 13-7 is one that could be 16-4. That makes them dangerous. I don’t know about Eastchester but know these kids can play great ball when they bring it. I hope they bring a relentess attitude for 32 minutes Weds. If they can do that I believe they can pull off the upset.
I think it was quite evident the amount of disparity between the top seeds. Mount Vernon wins by over 40 while fox lane is behind for 3.5 quarters, and mahopac wins by only one on a missed game winner. Also Ossining and Suffern are not getting enough love for how well they played.
STATES… I AGREE THE 3 POINT SHOT CHANGE THE GAME!!...IT WAS A BIG SHOT!!!...THEN I THINK THE GOT STALLWORTH ON A WALK!!.. THEN POK START PRESSING THE BALL FORCING PEL INTO A COUPLE OF MISTAKES!!.. POK WILL BE VERY GOOD NEXT YEAR!!
THE OLD LADY!!... WAS HOPING YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN BACK ON THE TRAIN! ...
STATES
WAS TRYING TOO RE-POST WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY POSTED!!!...
BUT JOSH THOMPSON!!... KEEP BLOCKING MY IP ADDRESS HEY!... JOSH CAN YOU STOP RED FLAGGING MY IP ADDRESS!!....
Agreed Prince. They will be very good next year. Especially if they get the Fresh that missed this season back. I hope you got a good look at #4 on the court, he’ll probably be at the gun in the fall.
stateman – your school is making a nice run witth sports this year, what is to look for in Spring sports?
Joe Letizia could have been the MVP for TZ b-ball the last three years and nobody on the team would even question it. He has that type of respect and I do think he gets some credit. mcguiness would have reached or been a lot closer to 1000 if joe wasn’t around. Kid locks people up. He is consistent & tough.
Class A is going to heat up as soon as Wednesday!!! Good luck to all!
Rotten,
Besides Football, Hoops and Crew the other Pok sports could use improvement. I know the track relay team should be good but that’s about it from my limited knowledge.
???, Joe Letizia is a great athelete and we enjoy and respect him, but next year for football he will not win the Section Championship. He will win a couple of games with a harder schedule but he will not win the big one IMO!
???
McGuiness plays for AM and Letizia plays for TZ.
Statesman February 19th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Agreed Prince. They will be very good next year. Especially if they get the Fresh that missed this season back. I hope you got a good look at #4 on the court, he’ll probably be at the gun in the fall
STATES…. HE HAS A GREAT 1ST STEP!!.. CHANGES DIRECTION VERY WELL, VERY ATHLETIC FROM A ATHLETIC STAND POINT LOOKS TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO REPLACE AND DUPLICATE THE SAME HAVOC!!.. AS JOSH!!...
Rotten,
Couldn’t agree more. Heis a special running back but there are 11 People on the field. Hopefully the other guys are doing their part right now to get ready!
Yup,
You are correct. Point being… Joe does well against big match ups like McGuinness. IThere is no way any guard is happy to face Joe.
All im saying is that within past years, anytime a “Rockland Hoops” guy comments on these blogs it’s about a Pearl River kid (coach) or an Albertus kid. With all do respect to those programs, coaches and kids, I have not seen anyone within the past 10 years with Letizia toughness. I’ve seen Lohud/journal news cover Luke Houston, Jerry Houston, even Kevin Houston, Grossbard, Sayre,MCguinness, McFadden,etc. Never a write up for Joe Letizia. As a long-time county wide hoops fan with no children in any of these districts I believe what he has done for TZ athletics goes far to underestimated. The kid has been a goldmine for the community and program!
and dont get me wrong, those past recipients have all deserved the write-ups. Great stories with unbelievable pasts, but what about the rediculousness that comes along with this kid. Look what all the programs have achieved since he’s been around them. He’s just a special kid that often gets unrecognized and I think his time is up.
Letizia will get plenty of press next season.
Right now he is part of a great high school team that will win Class A.
Petersen, Donahue, O’Shea, Mclaughlin and then there is Joe.