The best game of the Slam Dunk so far? Try Somers’ raucous fourth quarter comeback from 15 down to upset Iona Prep. Conor Cousin won it at the buzzer and John Decker scored the second-most points of any player in Slam Dunk history.
Neither of them will ever forget this game. Trust me. Decker’s 39 points left him behind only Stepinac’s Tony Taylor, who had 54 in a classic triple OT, 88-86 loss to Briarcliff in the 2007 seventh-place game. He also assisted on the Cousin winner.
Here are the details on a wild, wild game:
WHITE PLAINS — Camped out in the corner awaiting the shot of his dreams, Conor Cousin and his team just wanted one chance. They received the perfect rebound, pass and shot, and Cousin’s 3-pointer at the buzzer stunned Iona Prep 59-58 in Thursday’s Slam Dunk Tournament challenge game at the County Center.
Cousin, a junior, scored his only points of the game on three 3-pointers in the final 1:06 to cap the Tuskers’ 15-point fourth quarter comeback.
“Game-winner at the County Center? It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.
The shot was assisted by senior John Decker, who caught an outlet from Max Parks with 4.6 seconds remaining and threw a long pass ahead to Cousin in the left corner. The guard hit all three of his shots from the same spot.
“I saw John was double covered at midcourt,” said Cousin, who all three of his 3s from the same spot on the floor. “I knew he was going to try to get the ball to the corner. Once I saw him get it to the corner, I just wanted a shot at the 3.”
He got it – and made it – giving Somers an upset win few had predicted.
“No one in the world expected us to win this game,” Decker said. “No one even knows who Somers is, so it was just a great feeling to come out here and get the win.”
Decker earned MVP honors, scoring 39 points, the second-highest total in Slam Dunk history. He had all 17 of his team’s points in the first half. Josh Riger finally hit a basket 2:30 into the third quarter to spark Decker’s supporting cast, which chipped in 20 points during the comeback.
“I’ve never gotten any recognition in my life,” said Decker, who went 13 for 25 and 6 for 13 from 3. “I’ve always been that slow kid. I just wanted to show people what I’m made of.”
Iona Prep built a 50-35 lead with 5:34 left in the game behind Matt Ryan. The sophomore scored 27 points and hit 4 of 8 3-pointers.
Ryan hit 11 of 13 free throws. One of the misfires came with 4.6 remaining and led to Somers’ winning sequence.
Senior Brandon Williams added 13 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Tom Capuano, a starting guard, did not play because he was sick.
17 Comments
LOL….IONA POWER hahaha…where was isiah ice ice baby…lol..this nmakes my day..iona should schedule more section 1 teams..
Great day of ball at the Mecca. Decker performance has to go down as one of the best in history of the building. Overcoming a 15 point deficit to a hyped team playing well, is a tribute to Coach Di Cinto and his team. great day for Somers and don’t give the gold ball to Byram or Poughkeepsie just yet, you may see Somers cause some problems down the line. Whether Iona is elite in CHSSa or not remains to be seen, but Ryan is legit. If he can take it from 18 ft and get to the hole, he’ll surpass the bronners ,carlissimos, and voekels by a long shot. Other than him, the Prep has nice athletes and HS players which may limit their elite potential.
Too bad , a very good Sacred Heart team could not hold off Nazareth … They have 3 players at SH who create real match up problems…love to see them vs Iona or Step..I understand the class/ size diff but like the way that they play…
For WP , a win is a win and believe me in 2 years when Wolfie and Najee are more experienced this will be a mismatch. That said WP or any AA school scoring 30 pts in a varsity game is nothing short of embarrassing. Lets hope they can rebound against Section 1 comp. was surprised to see Mike de come up empty against Wolfie after a nice job against Nazareth. He’s still learning and will come back strong no doubt.
Not surprised by Do bs result as they step up in class, sounds like a shoot out with pascal and Sullivan. Have not seen Sullivan but off this looks like he is the real deal. Will make it out to Pearl River…
Looking forward to seeing. Blog darling Mahopac tomorrow, I’m all for being sold but the eye test will always surpass the box scores.
Congrats
To somers and sec1!!!!.....
Somers bust up saint ants football at champ camp!!
Now they take down Iona prep basketball!!!... Lol!!..
HOOPS!!... Where are you to spin this!!!..
That Decker boy seems like he’s pretty nasty. Never hear much about Somers. Seems like an interesting team this year.
JOSH,
HOW MANY POINTS DID TONY TAYLOR HAVE,AFTER 4 QUARTERS?
I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE SOMERS VS IONA PREP IN FOOTBALL,THIS YEAR
Stepinac played Sacred Heart the first game of the season this year & won 73-41. Sacred Heart has played well & has played a very tough schedule so far this year.
PRINCE
i GUESS YOU FORGOT THAT IONA JUST TOOK DOWN NEW RO LAST WEEK- lol
CHSAA
OMG. Somers?
If “taking down New Ro” is a big thing deal these days somebody shoot me.
Great win for Somers! Sounds like an amazing performance by Decker – wish I was there to see it. Iona losing to Somers seems surprising on the surface after beating new Ro, but they’re a young team who is going to have some off days. Having their starting pg out probably didn’t help.
How come they didn’t play the 2nd half of the Poly Prep-White Plains game…....lol
Must have been a defensive battle..
Poly Tech was held to 28% shooting..How will MV get out of Section 1?
Mayfield was ejected for the first time in 20 years, any comments about the officiating here
I hope this will put an end to all the ridiculous chest pounding Iona Pup cool aide drinkers.
To read the dumb comparative remarks about chsaa superiority vs. public schools is mind numbing.
Thank You Somers!
1A just got tougher. Pok already lost handily to Peekskill so I know they’re working on becoming a complete team every day. Sectionals will be interesting—a lot of ball left to be played until then but the top 10 or so A teams seem like they’ll give each other a nice run right now. Had a feeling Somers would pull it off bit not like this though.
Good job Somers representing our league !!..lets see if the Pac can make it 2-2 ..no ones giving us a chance either against powerhouse stepinac
Bawler
Has Mahopac played Somers this year or any common opponents?
Nope league play hasn’t started ..last yr we split with them ..decker had 36 at home and they won by 5 I think ..we beat them at home the next game .decker had zero