Class B Hoops Notebook: Putnam Valley Reaches Final 4 for 3rd-Straight Year
No. 5 Tigers to Face No.1 Woodlands; No.7 Croton Ousted by No. 2 Briarcliff
Try as he may, Putnam Valley All-Section G Ryan Basso simply cannot do it alone as he faces box-and-one defenses time and time again, and that was becoming glaringly evident last Wednesday night as his Tigers tested brinksmanship in fifth-seeded Putnam Valley’s 49-41 win over No.13 Ardsley in the Section 1 Class B quarterfinals.
Trailing 30-29 through three quarters and on the brink of early elimination, Coach Mike McDonnell’s listless Tigers (14-6) sought a spark, which came out of nowhere when junior G Anders Spittal scored all 10 of his points in little more than two minutes of the fourth quarter to help the Tigers reach the Class B Final 4 for a third consecutive season.
PV will now play No.1 Woodlands at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the semifinals at the Westchester County Center in a rematch of last year’s Class B final, which was won by state-ranked (No.7) Woodlands, 55-51.
Basso and junior G Harrison Deegan each scored 11 points for Putnam Valley, who can ill-afford a similarly slow start against the Falcons, who trailed the Tigers for much of three quarters last season before a 22-0 run – spearheaded by wing Brandon Johnson’s 3-point proficiency — sent Woodlands all the way to the NYS semifinals.
“Sure, we’d like another crack to get back at Woodlands,” said Basso, who is averaging 20 PPG this season and recently became the lone male to score 1,000 points. “We’re going to need everyone to step up again, especially the juniors. Tonight, those guys stepped up in the second half. Spittal got hot in the fourth and he was big. Harrison gave us what we need at both ends, and (Kevin) Gallagher controlled the point and really helped out when they were ‘box-and-one-ing’ me. It just feels great to get back to the County Center. We’re just focused on winning. I think when we play our best we can play with anyone.”
Spittal’s antics were unprecedented, a coming-out party if you will. Typically, the All-Leaguer is steady but not sensational, but during the two-minute span in the fourth he saved the day, stepping back to nail a pair of treys, a runner in the lane and a put-back, creating what he called his finest moment.
“Oh, without a doubt this is probably the best feeling I’ve ever had, to be able to come through like this,” Spittal said. “It feels great, my teammates had a lot of confidence in me. They were focused so much on shutting down Basso, and he trusted us to take the shots and we did. I just wanted the ball at that point, to keep shooting and help get my team to the County Center for three years in a row. We’ve really built a program here.”
That surreal feeling permeated throughout the gymnasium, which just four years earlier was a dungeon of despair when it came to boys’ hoops exploits. The Tigers were the perennial floor-mats opponents used to usher in double-digit triumphs, typically averaging anywhere between two and six wins per season while being habitually crushed. Despite the never-ending efforts of those who played prior to 2012 – like Nicky Ivezek and Anthony Tyndal — the Tigers failed to win a playoff game and often faded before qualifying.
All that changed in 2013 when Basso and classmate Zack Nolan, then sophomores, joined with then-juniors Jelani Bell-Isaac and Zach Coleman, who led the Tigers to their first Final 4 appearance where they were gonged by Lourdes before their down-to-the-wire championship appearance in 2014. Essentially, the only thing missing is the championship piece of the puzzle, which won’t be easy to find against a Woodlands team that returns everyone from its title team.
CROTON-HARMON (13-7), the No.7 seed, fell short of its Final 4 goal in a 73-63 quarterfinal loss to No.2 host Briarcliff in a border war between the two League III-A rivals. All-Section Croton G Teejay Searight scored 13 points and Lucas Curran added a team-high 14 for the Tigers, but it wasn’t the vintage effort they would need to defeat the balanced Bears (16-4), who seemed to come out with more fervor than the Tigers did, according to reports. While building a 32-13 second-quarter lead, Briarcliff built up enough of a cushion to counter the 31 points Croton scored in the fourth quarter when the sense of urgency increased but wasn’t enough to upset the state-ranked (No.17) Bears, with whom they split during the regular season.
Briarcliff (16-4) advanced to face No.3 Irvington (17-3), with the winner getting the PV/Woodlands survivor in Saturday’s Class B championship (5:00 p.m.).
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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