And…a bonus. My web-only game story on how Albertus proved what it means to be Rockland-tough.
BARDONIA — The tension built and built right up through tip off. Albertus Magnus’ odd-shaped gym — with its home and away benches perpendicular in a corner and its only entrance across the court from the stands — seem to have a buzz befitting a playoff game.
For Panas, it was exactly that. For Albertus, too, only don’t blame the fourth-seeded Falcons if this just felt like another Friday night in Rockland County. Not only did they withstand an early barrage from No. 13 Panas’ Vaughn Dweck, they showed their cool throughout Friday’s 70-66 victory in the Class A opening round game.
Dweck, a senior, finished with 32 points, but his first quarter was something to behold. He hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the period. Still, two jumpers by senior Jack Sullivan just before halftime pushed Albertus in front, 39-38, at the half.
“It’s a tribute to the tough schedule that we play, all Rockland teams,” Sullivan said. “I don’t want to say our teammates are bad. Sometimes, kids open up the game shooting the ball well but we’re able to make adjustments. We never fold. We’re always here, playing as hard as we can. We play good team defense and change things up as we go along.”
During Dweck’s sizzling start, Falcons coach Pat McFadden never called timeout, trusting his team to persevere and it did. Sullivan dropped 26 points, including 19 in the first half as his team erased the double-digit deficit.
“I was afraid of what I might do if I called timeout,” McFadden said jokingly. “I saw the kid (Dweck) play. He had a terrific first quarter. I was disappointed with where he got his catches. I think, in the second half, we made his catches tougher, which might’ve limited what he could do. We had to adjust at halftime. To the kids credit, that’s what they did.
“I think this is a battle-tested group. We’ve been in a lot of tight ballgames and we’ve managed to pull them out. We bent a lot, but we didn’t break. I think our defense in the second half was key.”
Sullivan, a UMass-Lowell-bound guard showed he was equally adept as a facilitator, punishing double teams by finding teammates as they cut open to the basket. Senior Tom McConnell was the main beneficiary. He finished with 19 points.
Fellow senior Matt Dale added 10, including 4 for 4 at the foul line in the final minute, two of which came off a key offensive rebound. The undersized forward rebounded a missed free throw by McConnell, who made the first but missed the second shortly after Panas’ Tim McCauley (16 points) hit a 3-pointer to cut it to one, 64-63, with 38.7 to play.
Dale was immediately fouled and hit both free throws to give the Falcons a 67-63 cushion.
“He might be 6-10 by the end of the night,” McFadden said. “He just gets after the ball. He has the heart of a warrior. He gets after the ball like crazy.”
The missed rebound was one of several small but consequential plays that made the difference for a Panas team accustomed to agonizing defeats. The Panthers (12-7) lost their seven games by a combined 19 points. This matched their loss at Poughkeepsie for their worst loss of the season (four points).
“It’s a play or two,” Panas coach Shawn Sullivan said. “I can think in my head of five or six other plays that we messed up offensively or defensively. And that’s the difference.”
“It stings right now, but I told them, I haven’t been prouder of a team in my 17 years,” Sullivan said. “We were 3-5 and left for dead going into Peekskill. We won 11 out of 13. This was the first team that I’ve had in five or six years where we really came together.”
Albertus (15-4), the two-time defending Class B champ, will host its first Class A quarterfinal at 7 Tuesday night against stalwart Peekskill, which split with Panas during the regular season.
“A lot of people counted us out when we moved to ‘A,’ but I knew we were going to be right in the thick of things,” Jack Sullivan said. “There’s no easy games when you get to the playoffs. Every game is a tough challenge. It’s only going to get harder as you go along, so we’re looking forward to playing Peekskill on Tuesday.”
16 Comments
HEADS UP;
VAUGHN AND LYLLE,GREAT YEAR KEEP BASKETBALL IN YOUR HEART,YOU GUYS WILL BE PLAYING ON THE COLLEGE LEVEL,CONGRATS.
TIMMY AND THE OTHER GUYS COMMING BACK,ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS YEAR AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ABLE TO COMEBACK AND GET TO THE COUNTY CENTER,FANTASTIC JOB,THE GROUND WORK HAS BEEN LAID
With the way that Peekskill played last night at home, I honestly don’t see them beating Magnus on the road. Should be a good game though. No sure it can match up to the intense games that these two played back in the mid 90’s though with the Duverts against Elton and the boys.
PeekFatDaddy,
Let’s hope it is a good game without any of the nonsense that went on surrounding those games.
Just like that the season is over. The last panas game ill be at as a senior, I’m gunna miss this school next year!
There was no nonsense invloving those games. You are talking about stuff that went on before that time. There was always problems between these 2 schools. Wasn’t just from the Peekskill end either. I remember playing in the closed gyms and stuff back then. Won’t be like that this time anyway. Doubt many from Peekskill will be at the game over there. Not the same around here anymore. Wasn’t even a packed house last night at home.
JAMES,
YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE THESE MEMORIES AND ROOT FOR PANAS THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
PeekFatDaddy,
Not the same anywhere anymore. I hope it is a good game. Good luck.
Please be advised that Panas did not play Pok. I do appreciate Josh’s sub-concious love for the Pioneers though.
There were plenty of problems between AM and Peekskill when brand was there. AM beat them on a fri night eltons sophmore year. AM needed a police escort from the locker room to the bus. The Peekskill fans and players were trying to get into the AM lock room, specifically Bailey. Once they were on the bus the Peekskill fans started throwing rocks. The story is a lot longer but trust me those teams had issues and there was fault on both sides.
U getting ready for that smack down in the semis wood?
I have seen my share of rockland hs games, no rockland coach is better than mcfadden…hoping for a good well played game on tues
Agreed
I played on those teams back then, i don’t remember any of this bullcrap that you are talking about Rockball. I was on all the mid 90’s teams that played against Albertus. We had some tough games with the Duverts and Pat Gorman. That same year that we lost at AM we destroyed them in the sectionals on our way to a loss to Nyack in the Sectional final. Should be a good game never the less, it will be good to re kindle an old rivalry.
Do you remember the tues after we beat you coming to AM for pizza in our cafeteria bc we still had to play again and the coaches didn’t want anymore problems The next time we played you without Gorman you won by 6. You did bury us in the sections it was a shame it wasn’t in the county center, we were the 2 best teams. Nyack wasn’t in our class that year, peek and AM were class C that year.
AM also never played Peekskill in A Duverts senior year, we were loaded that yr and went to glens falls. The team you are referring to was Reggie duvet, nowhere near his older brother.
Also that AM team had not 1 guy to play in college and beat brand and the peekskil state champs that year. Gorman was the tallest player on the team and he was small that your pg Gus Eagan.
Bunch of kids that played hard and could shoot. What happened to d Robilard?
Derrick played at CW Post for 4 years and i think is living down south. Don’t quote me on that one. My 96 team played against AM and they had both the Duvert brothers on the team Antwan and Reggie i belive. They were definately on that team . They also had Tom Maroney on that team and a couple other people i cant remember. Those were good games.