Boys’ Hoops Notebook – Then There Was 1: Yorktown Last of Locals to Survive, Advance No.7 Huskers Hit County Center Final 4 for 1st Time Since 2009 vs. No.3 Scarsdale

It took a few years, but Yorktown High hoopers are now, officially, cut from the cloth of their Coach, Kevin Downes. If Downes isn’t the Class AA Coach of the Year after No.7 Yorktown’s dramatic 59-58 Section 1 Class AA quarterfinal victory over No.2 host Spring Valley last Friday, just who the heck is?

The Huskers (17-5) reached the Class AA Final 4 and the Westchester County Center for the first time since 2009 in Downes’ third year at the Yorktown helm; the coach taking a superb group of athletes beyond their basketball means.

Yorktown looked Spring Valley’s 12-game winning streak in the eye and failed to blink, despite riding a roller coaster to the finish line: The finish was as frantic as it was unthinkable.

Yorktown forward Tanner Dyslin, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds, snapped a 52-all tie with an ‘and-one’ floater with one minute left in the fourth quarter for a 55-52 lead. Tiger Michael Maynes answered to cut the Husker lead to 55-54.

Yorktown senior guard Sol Barer, the Doctor of Dish, found Dyslin with a nifty dime off a screen on an inbound pass under the hoop for an easy deuce that put Yorktown up three (57-54) with only 15 seconds to spare. Spring Valley’s Mavenson Therneus answered with a George Gervin-like finger-roll (Google it!) with five seconds left, cutting the deficit to one, 57-56.

Yorktown junior guard Marc Spinelli hit two of the clutchest free-throws he’ll ever hit after drawing a quick foul on the ensuing in-bound for a 59-56 lead. However, an overly-exuberant Spinelli turned the ball over when he tossed it into the rafters before the clock struck zero. The Huskers were dealt a double-whammy when Downes called for a timeout he didn’t have, but Yorktown, despite surrendering two points at the stripe for the ensuing technical foul, managed to work around that “Chris Webber Moment” (just Google it) and prevailed when the Tigers’ (19-3) last-ditch effort failed at the buzzer.

“It’s a tremendous win for the whole program and it is definitely something that none of us will ever forget,” said Spinelli, who finished with 16 points.

The subsequent celebration was the grandest in eight years, since the day the Huskers defeated Mahopac, 66-54, in the 2009 quarters, thus advancing to the Class AA semis where eventual champion Mount Vernon worked a 54-47 semifinal win over the Huskers.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the way our kids played. We said going in we needed to limit their 3-point shooting (they were 9-20 in the first round vs. Suffern),” Coach Downes said. “We limited them to three made 3’s. We needed to keep the game in the 50’s and were able to accomplish that. We held our own on the glass as well. We turned it over a more than I would like but the kids really battled.

“I thought our toughness really came through in the game,” Downes added. “The kids didn’t get frustrated when the fouls were 9-0 against us in the second half. They competed and played hard, which is what we want. These kids are so resilient, unselfish and do whatever it takes to give themselves a chance to win.”

Husker captain Matt Severino, the yeoman of the unit, knocked down eight points, collared eight rebounds, dished four assists and made two steals.

“Tanner and Marc were very solid offensively for us,” Downes said. “Matt Severino really played a terrific all-around game. He just played tremendous defense. He really is the heart and soul of this team. We got great play from Tommy Weaver off the bench. He hit two crucial 3’s and his toughness and defense were huge. Kyle Casey also continued his stellar play off the bench.”

So 1971 is what the Huskers are chasing now; as in the last year the Huskers were crowned Section 1 champions. No.3 Scarsdale (17-5) is on tap first in Friday’s 6:45 p.m. semifinal, with the winner of 5:00 p.m. tip between No.1 Mount Vernon (17-4) and No.4 New Rochelle (17-5) lying in wait, should the Huskers survive the Red Raiders.

“This is really just a great group of kids,” Downes said. “They don’t care who gets the credit; they support each other hold each other accountable and work hard. I wanted this so bad for this group. We got off to a great start to the season, had some injuries and lost some tough games in the middle of the season and the kids just stayed together. A lot of people wrote this team off when we lost some close games but they never wavered. What a great accomplishment for this team. To win on the road against a very good Spring Valley teams just shows the character of these kids. They are a special group.”

Even more special would be a win over Scarsdale and Yorktown’s first championship appearance since Richard ‘Tricky Dick’ Nixon sat in Donald Trump’s chair in the oval office…

CLASS A

SOMERS was the lone team from the NWE/Putnam Examiner region to advance to the quarterfinal and the visiting 10th-seeded Tuskers (11-11) were simply not made to match up with No.2 Tappan Zee in a 57-38 season-ending loss. The state-ranked (No.7) Dutchmen (21-1) are one of the best defensive teams in Section 1 this season and the Tuskers were never going to be considered and offensive juggernaut, so, even on paper, it was a tough matchup for Coach Chris DiCintio’s Tuskers, who will return key portions of the squad next season. Senior Matt Pires led the Tuskers with 16 points.

TZ will play No. 6 Albertus Magnus in the semifinals at the County Center at 6:30 on Wednesday night. Top-seeded, defending champion Byram Hills, ranked No.1 in NYS, will return in the other semifinal at 8:15 Wednesday night against No.5 Lourdes.

CLASS B

PUTNAM VALLEY trailed Pleasantville by seven points coming out of the halftime break, but a pair of quick 3’s turned a three-possession game into a 13-point deficit the 10^th-eeded Tigers (11-11) never recovered from in a 56-42 Section 1 quarterfinal loss to the 2nd-seeded Panthers (15-7). Panther G Mike Manley was a menace, too strong for the youthful Tiger backc court to contend with. Manley dropped 27 points and rangy F Quentin Lupo added 12 for the Panthers. Playing through fever, Put Valley forward T.J. Brescia scored 21 points while F Darnell Shillingford was held to 11. The Tigers would need more from “Shill” if they were going to advance to the County Center for a fifth-straight year, but the 2016 Class B finalists will go back to the drawing board and return with a deep, promising unit in 2018.

With Shillingford and Brescia plying their craft in the frontcourt, the Tigers will need to develop a consistent back backcourt scoring threat or a wing who can score on the perimeter. If they can do that in the off-season, the Tigers will make some real noise next season and in 2019.

“We’re not far off from contending again,” fourth-year Tigers Coach Mike McDonnell said. “We’ll play spring, summer and fall ball and we’ll have this group ready to grind next season. We know what we need to work on.”

CROTON wasn’t really supposed to be this advanced under first-year Coach Ben Martucci, but there they were in the quarterfinals as the No.8 seed and a 14-8 record. The 67-53 setback to No.1 Briarcliff may have ended their season, but the Tigers are optimistic that their best days are ahead, despite the losses of key seniors Charlie Goldberg (22 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), who earned an All-Section nod, and Rory Parker (11 points). Sean Macarchuk (9 points) and Miles Ackerman (6 rebounds) also contributed for the Tigers.

“It wasn’t for a lack of effort, I can assure,” Martucci said. “Briarcliff proved to be too deep, too talented, too experienced, and too tall for us. I’m just so glad we competed. Every time we would make a big shot, they’d come right back with one of their own. We just couldn’t string together 2-3 positive possessions in a row.

“But what a great season, and what a ride with this group of kids,” the coach added. “We went 14-8! Nobody thought we’d even be 8-14. This group believed in themselves, and followed the lead of their tremendous Captains Charlie Goldberg and Rory Parker. These are great memories for these kids.”