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.
82 Comments
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.
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