Here is my story on Byram Hills loss to Poughkeepsie in the Class A final.
WHITE PLAINS Any team with a short bench knows that foul trouble is something that can end a game quickly.
For the most part, the Byram Hills’ boys basketball team has been able to tip-toe that fine line. Despite running a six-man rotation, the Bobcats suffered only one loss this season.
In Sunday’s Class A sectional final, third-seeded Poughkeepsie’s quickness and athleticism put the top-seeded Bobcats in foul trouble, exposing their lack of depth. That factor was instrumental in the Pioneers being able to come away with a 56-47 win.
“I think everyone kind of realized that foul trouble could plague us,” said Byram Hills coach Ted Repa. “If we got an injury or foul trouble, we’re a much different team. If you take our best players off the court, it’s tough to beat a good team.”
Poughkeepsie, which won its first gold ball since 1999, will play Section 9’s Burke Catholic in the regional semifinal Wednesday at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh at 8 p.m. The Pioneers entered the game having lost five straight sectional finals.
Foul trouble by the Bobcats’ Andrew Groll (three points, nine rebounds) and Ryan Golden (14 points, eight rebounds) helped the Pioneers build leads that were too much for Byram to overcome.
“Byram Hills has a tendency to come from behind,” said Bobcat senior Jeff Lynch, who finished with 17 points. “It definitely bit us in the butt today. I guess (against) a team as good as Poughkeepsie, it’s not going to happen. You need to stay level with them or (lead) the entire game.”
The Bobcats wasted no time early, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. After Groll picked up his second foul with 5:08 left in the first, the Pioneers went on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter with a 12-9 lead.
After another Poughkeepsie run, the Bobcats pulled within one of Poughkeepsie at halftime.
Groll and Golden picked up their fourth and third fouls, respectively, midway through the third, though. The Bobcats, who have outscored their opponents 49-23 in the third over the past two games, fell behind by 11 as the Pioneers outscored them 16-6 in the third.
“When you take out Golden and Groll it takes out a huge part of our offense,” Repa said. “Credit to Poughkeepsie for what they did.”
The Pioneers had 12 steals, thanks to an aggressive zone defense and the play of Jermar Dancy (21 points, six rebounds, four steals) and tournament MVP Jahleel Carter (11 points, three rebounds, two steals).
“They’re long and athletic kids,” said Lynch of the zone. “It’s tough to break that.”
Photos courtesy of Matthew Brown/The Journal News. Click here for the entire gallery.
125 Comments
Best news I heard all day! soon as I get out of work im coming straight to Newburgh. Letssssss gooooo!
rocket,
no doubt… I’ll take the train to Beacon and work my way over haha.
Quote from Burke coach regarding Poughkeepsie
courtesy of varsity845/times-herald record
“Poughkeepsie plays hard, that’s their thing,” Janeczko said. “They are athletic and they get to the rim. We better be ready to match their intensity or its going to be a long night.”
This will be a BATTLE!!!!
Rocket,
They have some nice size. Have to box out, rebound and push the pace. Saw a few of them at Byram and they looked worried. If they used that game as a guide, they might be in for it… Again not their best game.
Oh my goodness thank god byram hills lost, I wouldnt be able to stand another barrage of compliments and salutes to a team that has no talent. This whole section is drained of talent this year with the exception of one player, and i think we all know who that is. I mean not one kid in AA,A has been offered a scholarship to play ball next year. And to j lynch sr. Please stop documenting your sons injury as if it was a story we should tell our grandkids, he hurt his ankle thats it. Congrats to Pok and New Ro
States and rocket,
About the upstate Catholic tournament, I think it makes a lot of sense. There already 8 or 9 catholic schools in the Msgr Martin (Buffalo league). Of the schools I named above, several have either won or competed for the NYPHSAA title.
They could even create a large school and small school format. Large schools – Aquinas-5, Kearney-5, both CBAs-2 and 3, LaSalle-2, McQuaid Jesuit-5, Burke and Maginn (for basketball)
9 and 2. Small schoolsCatholic Central Troy-2, Burke and Maginn (for football)-9 and 2, Saratoga Central Catholic -2, Seton Catholic Plattsburgh -7, Seton Catholic Binghamton-4, Notre Dame Batavia-5, Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons-2, Bishop Ludden-3, Coleman Catholic-9 (basketball only).The pluses would include creating a lot of excitement among these schools upstate. There would be travel involved up to a couple hours for the playoffs, but there is travel involved in the nyphsaa playoffs as well. The smaller programs could have added interest in their programs if they get the chance to play for a title (if they normally don’t compete for a sectional title).
From a football perspective, the league would be loaded – Aquinas and Syracuse CBA are perennial powers, Kearney, Albany CBA, McQuaid and LaSalle have had solid teams. For basketball they would also be relatively loaded – Kearney and Albany CBA are ranked in NYSSWA AA poll this season, Burke and Aquinas are #4 and #6 in A now. Among the smaller schools, Lourdes is ranked #12 in B, Notre Dame Batavia in ranked in C, Coleman is ranked in D and Ludden won the Class B state title last year.
The upside for certain NYPHSAA schools is there would be no griping about private schools that “can recruit” winning nyphsaa titles or taking public school spots in the playoffs. The catholic schools can maintain their local rivalries by staying in the leagues for regular season games. The sections would have to allow the catholic teams to stay in the leagues for regular seasons otherwise travel would be a mess and the same with trying to set up an independent schedule.
One of the downsides is that it would somewhat dilute the competition in the NYPHSAA. In the last 17 seasons, one of the catholic schools above have won the highest classification title 5 times – Albany CBA 2010, Maginn 2008, McQuaid 2003, McQuaid 1997, LaSalle 1996. Ludden 2012, Burke 2011, Kearney 2009 and Kennedy have won in B. Batavia Notre Dame and Syracuse CBA won smaller classes over 10 years ago.
Geezer, Weir and Lawerence were on the sidelines well before Groll and Goldin. Calls r part of the game. PK survived because they ARE the better team. Every County has good and bad, it appears anyone who has officiated a Bryam game was not falling into the entitlement mode. The refs hurt PK more than BH. But like the fat lady says the final score is the final score. Great job BH you had a great run that was ended by a great team in a great game.
Hoops very interesting and well thought idea. Would love to see something like that happen.
Wow I am glad not one person ever complains about a Dutchess Ref maybe they should do all the games
Stop complaining! We do not recruit! We only provide an alternative to public education.lol We are a team of excellent bball players and we will win by 20+.
I have to tell you I have been going to the CC for 25 years. I have seen great games and great players. I was at the New Ro game and I do not recall a finish like that ever. I was at the B title game and saw the best player in Paschal vs the most impressive 8 players I have seen. However, I saw a coach that has been down there so many times finally get the gold ball. I am a Westchester fan through and through but I found myself pulling for a guy I do not know and a team that was motivated to win for him. I was so excited for a person I had not met that I actually had to shake him hand. In all the chaos he was able to say thank you and seemed to really appreciate me saying a kind work. I do not know Coach Laffin but I have to say there are gentlemen in high school basketball. Section 1 has a lot of good ones but I think it is time to put this guy up there with the best. Congrats to Poughkeepsie and good luck.
Sponsorships and financial aid packages is recruiting. Alumni fund the sponsorship programs. If not I would like to see the cancelled tuition checks from parents…..........
I also want to apologize for auto correct. *his *word haha
vet coach,
Do you think non-athletes receive sponsorships and financial aid packages? If so, is that recruiting too? Every private school in America offers some form of financial aid – is that all recruiting? I think you should give your statement some thought.
Agree to all, the refs clearly lost the game for Byram, why refs can have that much impact on a game I don’t know. How Groll and Golden can be in foul trouble in the first half and how Golden can have 3 offensive fouls in the first half, don’t know if that is possible. Not to mention POK was called for some unfair fouls too. The refs should be ashamed. Byram could have a much stronger game if Groll, Lynch, and Golden were in full force and didn’t have to worry about foul trouble because of the refs. Although, all respect to POK they put out a good fight and earned their outcome.
VicP…. unfair calls lost the game? Clearly talent and depth lost the game. Golden and Lynch (even Skelly) are very good players. Lynch is one of the best guards I have seen. However, The game was lost to a better team. Byram was a very good team but Pok is just just better. Weir, Knight, Lawrence were also in foul trouble. The difference was Taylor, Hamilton, and Smith were the names coing off the bench for Pok. Deeper and better.
Vic P,
I guess Golden lowering his shoulder trying to barrel over Weir isn’t a legit call. PK had a bench, BH did not—that was the difference this time.
Westchesteroldman,
Very powerful words. Coach Laffin gets the most out of his kids as an educator too. Got a 96 on my Global regents, many thanks to his help through the year.
Burke Fan,
Almost fell out of my chair. Did you beat Saugerties by 20+???
Statesman,
The bottom line is I have seen both teams more than once and Burke is much better. Bigger and better! Pok will give a little run but we are the better team. Good luck! Burke by 20+
Burke,
Likewise. You will be a tough matchup so we shall see how it goes. Stay healthy!
Comong from Rice HS none athletes receive financial aid, they may receive academic money based on grades that is the same as an athlete receiving athletic money from a sponsor. The average student who does not qualify for financial aid will not get the sponsor money that an athlete gets. I am all for the sponsorship money for grades, however sports should not be an exception to get the kid in the school so a program can be built.
Poughkeepsie is used to being the under dog, but defense always prevails
vet coach,
You’re proving you don’t know much about the subject. First of all, Rice closed two years ago. And when Rice closed, it was revealed that ALMOST EVERY STUDENT at the school was on some form of financial aid. So is it ‘recruiting’ if most of the kids on the basketball team receive financial aid as well as most of non-athletes receiving financial aid as well?
And about Rice, you act like it was some sort of basketball factory taking in questionable academic students…Rice graduated something ridiculous like 99% of their students – a number inner city public schools could only dream of. So clearly academics were a top priority for all students.
People like you seem to come up with some theory and then act like its a fact. The actual facts dispute everything you’ve said.
Vet,
That is actually why my alma-mater had wins vacated for 2 seasons. Sponsor payments for athletes is frowned upon even at the D-3 level.
Hoop Fan,
Your a dunce, yes the Catholic School system provides financial aid to all that qualify. However they never provide 100%. The BB players at Rice received sponsorship for the balance of the tuition. Yes we all know its closed, da, but that’s they the way CC schools operate. The Thomas kid at Stepanic has working parents and receives Financial Aid plus sponsorship help. His family calls that a schorship. Its not really but the additional money is something a regular student would never get. PS most catholic schools graduate 99% because they boot u out Jr year, before u don not graduate. So who dosen’t know much now. Been the CC HS leagues for years and would make you head spin about what I know, coached and recruited. But I will leave it to you paper coaches to chat. I would rather watch and continue to help players. NBA alumni from my days would vouch for that. Whats your resume. CYO
vet coach,
You’re calling people names, but you’re writing things that are clearly uninformed???
Please regale us all with all the NBA careers you molded, formed and blossomed under your expert tutelage. John Wooden and Coach K beware! What a joke! Are you really that delusional?
You’re an expert on each family of each Rice HS student? I don’t think so.
As far as your comment about catholic schools kicking out kids after their junior year to boost graduation #’s, you clearly don’t know anything about catholic schools. I went to catholic school, I can’t remember one kid being kicked out after junior year. Most catholic schools aren’t wealthy endeavors, they survive off tuition money – kicking kids out to boost graduation #’s or college placements makes no sense. Can you point out one school or situation where this has happened? I doubt it.
Mentioning a kid by name and his family is tacky and classless. I’d imagine the family wouldn’t want you talking about their situation.
And no, I didn’t launch the career of multiple NBA stars like you did…and I don’t claim to be far more important than I am, like you do either.