I made a quick stop this afternoon over at Nyack. I spoke for about 20 minutes with coach John Castellano in his office discussing the win over Ossining on Saturday and Friday’s showdown with Section 9’s Cornwall. Then a group of five players, led by Antony Davis, came to the doorway.

“Are we going out coach, or what?” Davis said. “Let’s go. We don’t have much more daylight.”

As Castellano chuckled and rose from his chair, another player chimed in:

“C’mon coach, we have a state championship to win.”

If I had one concern about Nyack before today, it was their mental approach as it entered the state tournament. Would the emotion of beating Somers and Ossining be too big of a high to keep riding? Would there be too much of a sense of accomplishment?

With Nyack, that’s not going to be the case. This team is as hungry now as it was three weeks ago when it traveled to Harrison in the opening round. The confidence is growing and so is the desire to keep this remarkable run going.

I know Castellano is going to make sure of it. I spoke with him for a few minutes today and have posted the audio below. He gives us some insight on Cornwall, which he’s watched film of the last two days, and discusses the mental state of his team. He also gives an update on Venson Constant, who could return this week.

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This is third installment of my tour of practices as we gear up for Section 1 championship weekend. It’s the last one for today.

I was reminded today how much I love going to football practices, which is amazing since I absolutely hated practice when I played.

My last stop of the day was Ossining, which was under the lights on the turf. Ossining’s practice, like Croton, had a very urgent pace to it. When I got there, the scout team offense ran through Nyack’s plays as they prepare for Saturday’s Class A championship. Then coach Dan Ricci turned up the tempo even more.

For a good 10 minutes, Ossining sprinted through various formations and plays. They literally ran back and forth to the huddle. Instead of giving the defense 12 seconds in between plays, they had six, at the most. And, with few exceptions, the linebackers made the right calls, they got in the right position and they made the stop.

Nyack in real-time on Saturday will be bigger and faster than Ossining’s scout team. But they won’t be moving quite as fast. Against a Wing-T team, half the battle is recognizing the formation, the motion and interpreting the play before it happens. If you’re one step out of place, it’s a 10-yard gain.

Ossining learned that on Saturday night when Yorktown stormed back from a huge deficit and nearly unseated the defending sectional champs. Watching that game today, I saw an Ossining team that got pushed around up front and tried to make too many arm tackles in the open field. Against Nyack, that’s not going to work.

Ricci and the Ossining players, like always, oozed confidence. I think they realized they dodge a huge bullet against Yorktown. They feel like they’re the favorites and Saturday was a reminder that it’s not going to be given to them. Fox Lane gave the O that reminder last year in the regular season with an ugly loss. Saturday was this year’s reminder.

I took a few minutes tonight to speak senior lineman Matt Dubray, a third-year starter at center and a star at defensive end. Here’s what he had to say about the state of the defending champs entering the weekend:

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This is my second stop of the day on my tour of the 10 teams playing for Section 1 championships this weekend

There might not be a funnier football coach in the area than John Catano of Croton-Harmon. He’s a big ‘ol lineman-type, who grunts when he whispers, peppers his sentences with expletives and yells loud enough for the folks on the other side of the Hudson to hear him. He speaks his mind and the majority of things that come out of his mouth make you laugh.

But beneath it is a layer of humility that you just don’t find very often among football coaches, especially not ones playing this deep into November.

Catano was laughing with me at practice this afternoon how he’s become the most popular guy in Croton. He got so many calls on his cell after beating seven-time champion Dobbs Ferry — and ending its 69-game winning streak vs. Section 1 — that his battery died. When he charged it in his car while eating dinner out that night, he returned to find 30 missed calls.

“I’m a popular guy,” Catano said. “Everybody wanted to congratulate me. The funny thing is this: Any idiot can call plays. The kids have to execute.”

Those words couldn’t be truer. Croton wasn’t bigger or faster and stronger than Dobbs Ferry. Finally, for the first time in seven years, somebody went out and executed better than the Eagles. And finally, somebody beat them.

When I got to Croton practice today, the execution was like a slap in the face. Every play was crisp. Nobody missed a block. And if they did, they went 100 miles per hour doing it. The speed and tempo were energizing. It wasn’t like the game was four days away. It felt more like four minutes.

It was such a good practice that I actually followed the players from Croton Point Park, where they practice every day, back to Croton once the sun went down. There, a light was set up and they went deep into the evening running plays. The tempo never changed.

Maybe the Dobbs Ferry win has infused a new level into this team. The Croton players have all put that incredible 22-21 win behind them and are focusing solely on Westlake. But there’s no mistaking the impact of that victory on the psyche of the Tigers. I’m certain that if Westlake beats Croton on Friday, the Wildcats will have to earn it. They’ll have to figure out a way to out-execute them.

I took a few minutes to speak to Dan Luntz, the Croton senior fullback who is probably the team’s unsung hero.

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This is stop No. 1 on my journey through all 10 teams playing for Section 1 championships this weekend at Mahopac

At halftime on Saturday night at Somers, a few people asked me if I thought the Tuskers were going to mount a comeback down 24-7. I told them that if Somers didn’t come back and win the game, it was going to come darn close.

Then I watched the Nyack players walk out of the locker room. Suddenly, my confidence plummeted.

The Indians walked out of the locker room with a menacing aura, like a pack of mean dogs. The red Somers jersey might as well have been raw meat.

Nyack outplayed the Tuskers for another 24 minutes, using a bone-jarring style of play to lock up a rematch of Oct. 4 with Ossining in the Class A championship.

At Nyack today, I had a similar feeling in my gut. When I walked in, they all sat there in silence in total darkness, getting dressed as they watched the game film of Ossining’s dramatic overtime win over Yorktown.

Given the fact I hadn’t seen the Ossining-Yorktown epic, I pulled up a seat next to Nyack coach John Castellano. He’d already watched the tape a few times but, like me, was in awe of how things unfolded.

Castellano didn’t say it, but I will admit after watching Nyack on Saturday and this tape today, I like Nyack’s chances of pulling the upset even more. I’m not sure I’m going to pick in the Indians’ favor. But it’s going to be as tough a game to call this weekend.

There still seemed to be a sense of surprise around Nyack yesterday; not that they beat Somers on Saturday, but that they won by a 30-7 margin. Frankly, I’m still stunned it went down the way it did.

At practice, I got a glimpse of a few things Nyack was working on before I darted out (cannot mention; privileged information).

But I didn’t spend a few minutes with quarterback Raymond Nichols, who played excellent on Saturday and was the difference in the game, depending on who you asked. He threw a huge touchdown on a pretty pass late in the second quarter and rushed for another score. And without Nichols, they don’t score either of their other two TDs. He had big runs all night.

Here’s the audio of my interview with Nichols:

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(Updated with podcast below)

I cannot believe that I’m about to sit down and write another story about a local team losing.

Peekskill got blown out in the morning. Mount Vernon squandered a fourth-quarter lead and lost at the buzzer in the afternoon.

It’s one of the most crushing days in Section 1 basketball this decade; definitely the worst that I’ve been a part of. I’ll come back later with more thoughts on these two games. Honestly, I can’t begin to fathom the fact that BOTH teams lost. I could understand one. But I never imagined both.

Well, as Mookie Jones said, and then Kevin Jones echoed to me a few minutes ago:

“Life goes on.”

Update, 8 p.m.: Listen to the podcast for my thoughts on both games:

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Following tonight’s Class B state regional semifinal between North Salem and Section 9 champ Red Hook, I recorded a podcast on my thoughts of the game, as well as some looking forward.

North Salem won the game, 59-52, at SUNY New Paltz. It’s the Tigers’ 23rd straight win and puts them in Saturday’s regional final. Another win and they’re headed to Glens Falls for the first time ever.

Hope you enjoy the podcast. I had a little fun with it.

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Rockland basketball guru Jeff Gold and I sat down and recorded a podcast on next week’s games at the County Center.

It’s pretty lengthy, but we go through every game starting from Class C and working our way up. We dedicate about five minutes to each conference.

Hope you enjoy.

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• We had a wide-ranging conversation this week that hits on a lot of different teams.Take and a listen and let us know what you think.Download:

Go ahead, if you’d like, jump all over Briarcliff for losing tonight.

Most of you already have and you’re entitled to do so. The unbeatable Bears were beaten at home by Lincoln Hall in the biggest upset of the season. The reigning Class B champs blew a 12 point lead and lost, 70-64, to a United team that could have, and probably should have, beaten them three weeks ago.

Section 1 was supposed to have its champions penciled in since December with Mount Vernon and Peekskill destined for Glens Falls, and with Briarcliff a heavy favorite to make the trip with them.

Hold the buses. Class B just got interesting.

Lincoln Hall did it by having its key players avoiding foul trouble, rebounding and defending about as well as it probably could, and simply outhustling and outplaying a Briarcliff team that looked like it was just waiting for the switch to be flipped and would find a way to win. It never happened.

With the entire Pleasantville team there watching (and rooting), Lincoln Hall exposed a few things about this Briarcliff team that we didn’t really know. The United proved they can rebound with the Bears. They proved they run on them. They proved they could force turnovers, draws fouls and rip through.

They proved that, under the ideal circumstances, Briarcliff can be beat.

Sir Aaron Taylor had 18 points and 19 rebounds and Darren Brown added 16 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. The lead changed hands seven times over a six-minute span from the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, before Lincoln Hall scored 13 of the games 18 points.

I detail the game pretty extensively in my podcast tonight. I go over why Briarcliff lost the game, the X-factor for Lincoln Hall, and why Lincoln Hall is a bad matchup for Briarcliff — and a team the Bears should fear playing in the postseason.

View video highlights of the game here. You can listen to my podcast below. I was pretty tough on the Bears. But when expectations are as high as they are with team, you have to expect that. I called out their character and effort. As I note, last year’s team wins this game:

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If you’d like, my interview with Lincoln Hall coach Henry Taylor after the game was interesting. Taylor was great in the interview, crediting a scrimmage on Saturday against Peekskill for the team’s win over Briarcliff. You can listen here:

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What struck me most about Lincoln Hall after this game was the players and coaches attitude. When Lincoln Hall shocked Kennedy two years ago, becoming the first Class B team in Section 1 to beat it in three years, the United players talked about two things:

1. Winning the section.
2. Going to Glens Falls

They were beaten in the first round of sectionals. As I discuss in the podcast, this team is far more level-headed and have better perspective. There wasn’t the crazy celebration after this win as there was two years ago. I think the teams two years ago was too cognizant of Kennedy and thought beating them would guarantee their place in the County Center. This team doesn’t look at Briarcliff any differently from any other team.

Some interesting stats from the game:

— Joe Lombardi had three fouls in the game. All three were offensive.
— Lincoln Hall outrebounded Briarcliff 20-14 in the second half
— Lincoln Hall only attempted six free throws in the game, five of which were in the final 30 seconds.
— Four players scored in double figures for Lincoln Hall.
— Briarcliff only got four points from its bench.
— Briarcliff had only 27 second-half points. It had 52 in the second half on Monday versus Byram Hills.
— Kyle Beechum had 23 points and 11 rebounds. He’s played so well of late.
— Garth Muratori had all nine of his points in the first quarter for Briarcliff.

“They gave us five pizza pies and a few meatball heroes. Those are the only good things we’ll take out of tonight’s game.”
—Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino after tonight’s unsettling 60-53 loss at Linden (N.J.)

As much as I laugh thinking about that comment, it’s completely true. Mount Vernon lost a game tonight that it should have won… and it strung together more turnovers, defensive lapses and poor decisions than I had seen the Knights make in a tight game in a long time.

I recorded a podcast on my drive home from the game, which is below. It’s only about six minutes long. I’ve never done one like this. If you guys like it, I’ll do it more often. It was pretty fun and made the drive go by fast.

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Anyway, in short: Linden deserved to win tonight and Mount Vernon didn’t. Linden’s two star players — point guard Desmond Wade, who’s headed to Houston, and 6-foot-9 David Bruce — saved their best basketball for the fourth quarter. The Knights collectively saved their worst. They led for most of the game before letting the emotion of a sellout crowd and television audience take over. Wade scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the final period and carried his team to the victory.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t exactly a bad loss. Mount Vernon played bad in the fourth quarter. But it wasn’t a bad loss in the grand scheme. Linden is “the Mount Vernon of New Jersey” according to some, a large public school that contends every year and churns out quality players. Were they better than Mount Vernon? They were tonight, and that’s all that matters.

I could tell immediately that this was a disciplined, well-coached team. Watching so much basketball as I do, I define good coaching based on how players move without the basketball and how they defend. There’s a big difference between AAU defense and quality high school defense. These guards tonight were always in a good stance, using their feet and being active with their hands. It reminded me a lot of the way White Plains defends in the backcourt. Always active.

Mount Vernon dealt with the pressure, meaning it didn’t turn the ball over too much in the first three quarters. The turnovers in the fourth quarter can be attributed to not handling the pressure of the pro-Linden crowd or magnitude of the game well. There was a slight sense of panic on some possessions; a sense of desperation on the others.

Kevin Jones and Sherrod Wright did their best to carry the Knights again. Each scored 18 points and Jones had 13 rebounds and six blocks. But Ketema Brooks, who played excellent defense on Wade in the first 24 minutes, struggled to create offense in the fourth and fouled out on a reckless drive to the basket. There was still 1:45 left and Mount Vernon was only down four. But it took all the air out of the Knights.

Mount Vernon will survive and likely sweep through White Plains, New Rochelle and Long Island Lutheran this week. I wouldn’t be alarmed by this loss. When you play this much great competition and are constantly in close games down to the wire, you’re going to win some and lose some. The Knights beat Paterson Catholic and Union. They lost to Mason County (Kent.) and Rice.

Linden is a two-time state champion in New Jersey, so there’s absolutely no shame in losing to them. It’s just the way it happened that stings a little.

We recorded a new podcast this afternoon, which you can listen to below.

In it, we discussed the big slate of games tomorrow night — White Plains-New Rochelle, Kennedy-North Salem and Blind Brook-Tuckahoe. We also debated the top contenders in Class A and posed the question: Who is actually the best team in Rockland County?

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Before I run out of the office to get to the Scarsdale-New Rochelle game, I wanted to give you the link to the latest podcast.

Joe Lombardi and I recorded it this afternoon. Be warned, I made a list of things to discuss, which DID NOT include anything Mount Vernon or Peekskill related, and handed it to Joe. The first topic he brought up was Mount Vernon. So please, don’t grouse to me.

Enjoy. I’ll be back later.

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Joe Lombardi and I recorded a new podcast this afternoon. I don’t know how many of you listen to it (it was popular in football season). Should we do podcasts more often than once every three weeks.

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Over the weekend I sat down and spoke with Blessed Sacrament senior Jhared Hall.Playing in the CHSAA B Division has made Hall somewhat of an unknown in the area. He guided Blessed Sacrament to its second straight Catholic state title and berth in the Class B Federation final.Hall, a Mount Vernon native, is one of the only leftovers from last season’s team. The Irish are off to a tough start but Hall has played extremely well. Listen to his interview and discover that there’s yet another potential Division I recruit in the area this season.Download: