Byram Boys Move On; Panas Girls Stunned at County Center

Yorktown, Peekskill Bow in Semis; Put Valley Cheer Team 3rd at States

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

The highs and lows were inevitable when it came to this point of the winter basketball season for our Examiner-area clubs. Class A Byram Hills experienced the highs on the boys’ side while the Class AA Walter Panas girls found an unexpected obstacle, something nobody saw coming on the Section 1 girls’ hoops circuit, much less the statewide orbit… read on, please.

BOYS HOOPS

Repeating last year’s Section 1 championship at the Westchester County Center was the goal from day one for state-ranked (No.4) BYRAM HILLS, and when the top-seeded Bobcats (22-2) returned for Friday night’s Class A title game they went back-to-back after eliminating third-seeded Pearl River, 44-37, behind their trademark stifling defense.

Tied 17-all at the half, Byram’s defense further stiffened in the second half, limiting the state-ranked (No.23) Pirates to a single field goal in the third and went into the fourth holding a 32-20 edge, doing so on the backs of senior MVP Chris Amenedo (15 points, 3 lethal 3’s, 3 boards), and All-Tourney choices senior C Zach Efobi (9 points, 11 boards) and sophomore Ben Wolf (10 points, 7 boards). Efobi, the best dunker in Section 1, slammed a patented two-handed dunk with 3:48 to play to provide the Bobcats a 38-27 lead. Kevin Kendall added seven vital points.

“Amenedo was spectacular,” said Bobcat Coach Ted Repa, who delivered the Bobcats’ fifth sectional title (1978, 2011-16-24-25). “I’m so proud of this team, showing the resolve they did despite not playing our best. We had an excellent third quarter, particularly on defense, and I thought our poise down the stretch was superb.”

This classy Byram club will head into Tuesday’s (6:15 p.m.) opening round of the NYSPHSAA tournament against state-ranked (No.7) Section 9 champion New Paltz at Yorktown High School. The winner moves on to the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton on March 16 to face Section 4 champion Seton Catholic; yes, another Catholic school sucking up space in the NYSPHSAA tournament #Shameful. The Visions Vet Arena will also host the preceding rounds, including the state finals.

FYI: Top-ranked Section 2 champion Glens Falls is on the opposite side of the bracket.

 

CLASS AA

Second-seeded YORKTOWN, ranked No.12 in NYS, finally met its match against third-seeded and state-ranked (No.16) Rye, the eventual runner-up, in last Tuesday’s 43-41 semifinal setback at the County Center, where the Huskers saw their season end for a third straight year.

Points were tough to come by against a stifling Garnet defense. Huskers Kaden Gonzalez (18 points), Aidan Flynn (7 points, 7 rebounds) and Sander Stone (7 points) paced the Huskers (18-5). Gonzalez, in his fourth varsity campaign, has felt this agony before.

“It’s most definitely going to sting for a bit… not being able to win one semifinal game, but the past four years playing varsity basketball at Yorktown has been amazing,” the League I-A MVP said after posting some gaudy numbers this season (19.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 steals). “It starts with the coaches to the players and just having the community to back you. There’s nothing better than that. Nowhere else is there a better place to play than Yorktown.”

State-ranked (No.24) PEEKSKILL could not solve No.7 Tappan Zee’s defense in Tuesday’s semifinal at the County Center where the top-seeded Dutchmen were all over the fourth-seeded Red Devils (15-7) in a 45-29 semifinal win over the defending champions in a Section 1 Class AA semifinal at the Westchester County Center.

Buckets were tough to come by against one of the best defensive schemes in Section 1 history. You might recall it was the Dutchmen that held Somers to just 15 points behind hyperactive defense in the sectional finals two years ago in a typical TZ win, 39-15.

Red Devil swingman Jaden Chavis was held to six points while freshman JoJo Brickhouse had nine points for Peekskill.

“Even though it didn’t end the way we wanted, we really brought basketball back here in Peekskill,” said Chavis, an All-Section selection. “Give a lot of credit to the coaching staff, and it feels good knowing we were a part of history here in Peekskill with all the legends that were here. Being a part of conversations with names like Elton (Brand), Hilton (Armstrong) and Mookie (Jones) and all of the others feels like a successful high school career.”

Chavis and company rejuvenated a once-proud program the last two seasons. In 2021-22, Peekskill finished 3-17. After taking over the reins in 2022, Coach Tyrone Searight, in his second season, led the Red Devils back to the County Center for the first time in over a decade last year.

TZ, which has molded itself as a Section 1 powerhouse, went on to win its fourth gold ball, and second in three years after a 44-32 win over Rye.

 

GIRLS HOOPS

Second-seeded Rye High’s Phoebe Greto, the game MVP, scored all 14 of her points in the second half in a stunning 53-47 Section 1 Class AA championship upset of top-seeded, state-ranked (No.1) WALTER PANAS Saturday at the County Center.

Truth be told, few – if any – hardcore observers of Section 1 girls’ hoops saw this coming. Take nothing away from Rye, but the two-time reigning Section 1 champion Panthers (22-2) were on the fast track and heavy favorites coming in, but as “they” always say: That’s why we play the games.

Panas fans will still look back fondly upon the 2021-2025 reign of terror as perhaps the greatest run in school hoops history, an express that included two Section 1 championships, one state title (2023), and another run to the state finals (2024), all prior to Saturday’s shocker at the County Center.

“What a great group of players and young adults I have had the pleasure to coach,” Panas Coach  Matt Evangelista said. “I hope that the focus when people look back at these girls is on all of their accomplishments, which are many and quite impressive.”

From the start, state-ranked (No.26) Rye let Panas know the Garnets were in it to win it, taking a 21-12 lead into the second quarter. Panas answered and trimmed the deficit to 25-20 off a Katie Hoffman 3-ball and a subsequent hoop from All-NYS senior G Cadence Nicholas made it 25-22. All-NYS Panas senior G Sofia Taveras found senior F Kiera Wiliams for a hoop that made it 25-24 before Nicholas gave Panas the lead just before the half, 26-25. Rye hit one at the line to send it into the third quarter tied at 26.

In the third quarter, Rye scored six straight points to take a 33-29 at 5:20 before Nicholas tied it at 33 at 4:23. Rye then scored off a lob, 35-33, before the Garnets held a 40-35 lead at the end of three.

In the fourth, Panas missed crucial shots at the free throw line, which proved costly down the stretch. The Panthers trailed 42-35 at 6:40. Nicholas scored but the and-1 try rolled out, 42-37. A Nicholas steal and two at the brought Panas within, 42-39. Rye had a strong finish by Paige Tepedino at 4:51 and up 44-39. Panther Jillian Cinquina two in the lane cut it to three, 44-41 at 3:30. Rye went up again by five before Panas missed three of four shots from the charity stripe, then four of six with just under two minutes to play, allowing a disciplined Rye club to close on a 9-6 run.

Panas made just two 3s all game, denying their bread and butter approach. Still, the duo of Nicholas and Tavarez were simply the best guard pairing in school history, setting a standard that may never be matched.

“Rye played very well,” the coach said. “It was one of our lowest scoring games of the year.  They did a great job of not letting us have runs.”

The Panthers advanced to the Section 1 Class AA championship game with a 60-36 win over No.4-seed MAHOPAC, doing so with their trademark defense-to-transition game off 10 steals. Nicholas had three of them, scored a game-high 34 points and added six rebounds. Tavarez had three steals, 17 points and seven rebounds. Cinquina (four points, 9 boards) was a monster on the glass — including five offensive boards — to go with three steals and a block.

Mahopac, which will return the bulk of its lineup next, finished at 15-8 with All-Tournament senior F Caily Salon knocking down a team-high 14 points while sophomore Giana Puckhaber, who will take on a much bigger role in 2026, had eight points.

Don’t put it past Mahopac to make a return to the County Center next year #ThatsTheGoal and then some, so long as someone can fill Salon’s big shoes. If, indeed, it takes a village, Mahopac has one…

CHEER NOTE

There’s something about cheerleading and PUTNAM VALLEY High School that go together. The 2025 Tigers continued what happens to be the strongest sports tradition in PV school history while taking third place in the NYSPHSAA Class C tournament Saturday at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. Working in the PV Town Park for nearly 30 years, I know when I hear the wailing sirens and see PVVFD Chief Frank DiMarco leading an entourage out of town, the PV cheerleaders are likely the ones aboard a fancy coach bus seeking yet another state title.

Coach Kelly Wilson’s Tigers have shined for much of the last decade, and they won their ninth sectional title under her guidance a week prior to states, the same day the Wilson, a Mahopac grad, buried her beloved grandmother before heading off to states #ThatsSomeSeriousDedication.

 

DAVID TABER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ PHOTOS