No.19 Brewster Busts up Class AA Bracket, Upsets No.3 Mahopac

Yorktown, Peekskill, Fox Lane Move on; Hen Hud, Byram Hills Advance in Class A

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

Friday’s ‘ho-hum’ opening round of the Section 1 Class AA and A tournaments produced a whole lot of nothing until the final game of the night; an evening that climaxed with Brewster’s finest basketball moment since, perhaps, 1992 when the Bears advanced to the Section 1 Final 4 at the Westchester County Center before losing to Somers, which won its one and only sectional title that season.

Nineteenth-seeded Brewster, a six-win club after an out-bracket triumph earlier in the week, did the unthinkable, though, busting up one side of the Section 1 Class AA bracket in a stunning 62-55 win over third-seeded host Mahopac, ranked No.21 in NYS at the time.

Otherwise, it was a pretty ordinary first round. Let’s dive in: With Westchester County Center Final 4 berths on the line in the days ahead.

CLASS AA

BREWSTER has been searching for that one signature win since 1992 when the Bears reached the County Center for one of just a few Final 4 appearances in their history. The Wolf Pac (18-3) came in brimming with confidence while the Bears (7-15) viewed the playoffs as a second season, one in which they could put the past behind them and start anew.

“I’m going to have to give most of the credit to our coaches,” said senior F Matt Thomson, who finished with 17 points, four boards, three assists and three blocks, two of which were in the waning seconds. “We had a lot of ups and downs this season, but the coaches told us before our play-in game that it’s a whole new season now. This is definitely the highlight of my career. It feels great to see everyone’s hard work finally paying off, and to see everyone so pumped up was great. After they beat us by 25 on our senior night at home, we wanted another shot at them, and when we matched up with them everyone was excited.”

Mahopac hasn’t been the highest-scoring three seed to enter the sectional tournament, so the Bears knew if they could ratchet up their defensive intensity they had a puncher’s chance #BusterDouglas1990.

“Yeah, I think our defense definitely won us the game,” the All-Conference Thompson said. “We haven’t been able to play great defense all year, but when we needed to today everyone stepped up.”

The Bears stepped up during a 22-6 run – bridging the third and fourth quarters – after Mahopac took a 33-26 lead.

Brewster also took an 8-0 lead to put the Wolf Pac in an early hole they eventually dug out from; Mahopac’s All-Section forward Liam Scanlon doing the heavy lifting as the Pac rallied for a 23-22 halftime edge. Mahopac wing Connor Ferrieri’s third 3 of the night at 4:50 of the third extended the lead to 31-26, and two more at the line from Pac senior F Daniel Dedvukaj made it 33-26 before Thomspon stopped the bleeding with a 3-ball at 3:15.

Mahopac senior John Kearney scored the next five points for a 38-29 lead; the Wolf Pac looking well on their way at the time before Brewster junior Will Dignan hit from distance to make it 38-32 with 2:00 to play in the third, which is when Brewster mounted its comeback. Brewster G Kevin Fox hit a 3, Thompson followed with two, and after a Scanlon bucket, Bears tri-captain Lucas Cabiati tied the game at 40-all with a buzzer beater from downtown.

Mahopac kept swinging behind Kearney, who hit a 3 to open the fourth, but Dignan knotted it up from long range, 43-all at 7:30. Cabiati began to assert his will in the fourth, tying the game at 45-all off a strong move before Thompson hit a pair at the stripe for a 47-45 lead the Bears would not relinquish. A Dignan bomb from distance made it 51-45 at 2:26 of the fourth, adding fuel to the fire within, with Thompson’s two key blocks denying Mahopac a couple of decent looks. After Brewster turned it over twice to give Mahopac a chance, the Wolf Pac missed a pair of good looks, leading to a pair of free throws from Cabiati for a 57-50 lead at 22.1. Dedvukaj and good-looking Mahopac sophomore Matt Reilly squared up and sank back-to-back buckets to make it 57-55 with 9.4 left. However, the wheels came off the wagon when Mahopac picked up a pair of technical fouls that allowed Cabiati to sink 3-of-4 from the stripe to seal the deal.

“Amazing atmosphere, amazing win,” Brewster Assistant Coach Jay Weltman said.

“A rough one, truly unbelievable,” Mahopac Coach Matt Calabro admitted. “Brewster played great, I mean great. Competed, jumped us early, hit 11 or 12 threes, and got to the free throw line over 30 times. Good recipe for success. They made more plays than us. We didn’t make plays when it mattered, and in the playoffs that’s what ends seasons.

“I love this team so much, and my heart breaks for my boys,” he added. “Selfishly, I am really struggling with processing it’s over and we aren’t getting ready for Eastchester. I had such a great time with this team, but that’s high school sports.”

History will show an 18-win regular season for Mahopac, its best ever. Brewster will travel to No.6 Eastchester with a berth for its first potential County Center venture since the mid-90s.

Top-seeded and state-ranked (No.11) YORKTOWN, ranked No.5 among teams eligible for the NYSPHSAA tournament, showed out before a packed house and delivered a 83-56 win over No.17 CARMEL. The Huskers (19-2) were led by their All-Section trio of Brandon Montero (21 points, 11 rebounds), Billy Feeks (19 points) and Kaden Gonzalez (13 points).

Rams Joey Loughlin (17 points, 5 3’s) and Aiden White (13 points) paced the Carmel attack, which had no ability to run with the Huskers, who took a 12-5 lead off a Justin Price 3-ball midway through the first quarter. Feeks added another 3-bomb for a 15-7 lead at 2:45. White scored five of the Rams’ first seven points to keep it close, before Gonzo scored his ninth point for an 18-7 lead. Feeks, Montero and Ryan Duffy followed with hoops for a 24-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Once Feeks came out to start the second quarter with another 3 off a Montero steal for a 27-7 lead, the game was in the bag.

The Y-Town win sets up Thursday’s quarterfinal round against No.8 FOX LANE, which worked a 48-33 home win over No.9 Clarkstown South behind the antics of All-Section senior Kevin New (19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists). James Minotti (4 points, 3 assists, 10 rebounds), All-Section senior G Arthur Shevick (16 points 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Evan Mayers (3 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds) and Eli Daglio (3 points, 2 rebounds) were all in on the action for the Foxes, who will look to overcome a 51-28 regular-season loss to host Yorktown with a County Center Final 4 berth on the line.

“It was a great game by the boys,” Fox Lane Coach Mike Tomassi said. “Our defense was fantastic and we played with a lot of passion.This is a great group of kids that work extremely hard. We had a tough schedule and we are battle tested. It will be a nice test for us on Thursday against a great Yorktown team.”

Fox Lane vs. Yorktown is up for grabs Thursday, no matter who you ask

“It won’t be an easy game at all,” Feeks admitted. “Our team is going to come in hungry and humble. We still haven’t accomplished our goal, we want the gold ball, and we haven’t got it in our school in over 50 years. Fox Lane is a very well coached and disciplined team and we are going to be ready for the challenge.”

Second-seeded and state-ranked (No.14) PEEKSKILL continued the feel-good story of the year by knocking off No.18 Spring Valley, 75-60, in the House That Lou Built. The Red Devils (20-1), behind a career-high 34 points from junior point forward Jaden Chavis, moved on to Thursday’s AA quarterfinals when it will host surging No.7 Poughkeepsie, winners in seven of the last eight, including a head-scratching 38-32 loss to Mahopac; just 70 combined points.

It took Coach Tyrone Searight just two years to turn the program on a dime, redirecting it toward its previous greatness, when Peekskill was winning five sectional titles in a row between 2005-09 and 10 between 1993-2009. History buffs know what we mean when we suggest Peekskill as Section 1’s second finest program – behind only Mount Vernon – during that historical period.

At 19-14 in the second, unheralded but steady All-Conference G Travis Brown and All-Conference swingman Zeke Jones got things started before Isaiah Crawford, Chavis and Jones piled on for a 37-22 halftime lead. A Chavis layup at 3:34 of the third made it 46-33 and Brown then stuck an elbow jumper for a 51-35 advantage at 2:45 before Chavis finished off the third quarter with a 58-44 lead.

Chavis hit five shots from distance and nabbed eight boards while Crawford (11 points), Brown (10) Jones (10) were central figures to the Red Devils’ success.

“The boys are playing good basketball right now and I am happy with where we are at this point,” second-year Red Devil Coach Tyrone Searight said. “Like I’ve said, our short term goal was winning the league and everything else will fall in place for our program. Poughkeepsie and (Coach) Cody (Moffett) are going to be tough, though.”

This epic battle between two of Section 1’s all-time greats will take place Thursday, 6:00 p.m. at Peekskill High. Pioneers Kadien Birdsong and Victor Nelson will surely pose some issues for the Red Devils, who will need to find their highwater mark earlier than expected.

Fifth-seeded SOMERS, the 2023 Class A runner-up, ran roughshod over No.12 Pelham in a 71-49 thrashing of the visiting Pelicans, who had little to no answer for Tusker senior G Nate Cohen (20 points; 14 rebounds, 4 assists), who might have played his finest all-around game.

It wasn’t all roses for Somers, which didn’t hit the mark Coach James Loughran had set during a sub-par first half.

“Our first half was questionable,” the coach said. “We had to adjust coming out in that second half because of how well they were shooting the 3. But the way our defense was looking and our turnovers, we needed to adjust big time. We wrote on the scout that every kid could potentially become a huge threat from beyond 3, and that’s what happened. We lost ourselves a bit.”

Veteran teams often come out of the first half with more focus, and the 2023 sectional runner-up Tuskers (14-6) did just that. The usual suspects stepped up, including Tuskers Mac Sullivan (15 points, 11 rebounds), Andrew Violante (13 points, 6 boards, 5 assists) and Brady Leitner (10 points, 6 boards, 4 assists); a Big 4 that will be tough to match up against.

“We refocused,” Loughran said. “Nate was big for us. His will to hunt down offensive rebounds and put backs was big, and his overall presence on both ends was huge.  I gave a ton of credit to Mac (Sullivan). He was frustrated at times in that game, but the way that kid has been playing down the stretch after dealing with such a tough beginning of his senior basketball season, it’s one kid I’m rooting for. To see how he is in these huge games, just makes me happy, because he deserves it. All of our guys had a great second-half showing. Look, when four guys (Brady, Violante, Cohen and Sullivan) balance our scoring, it helps a ton.”

The Tuskers will need that and then some if they are going to go on the road and knock off No.4 Suffern in Thursday’s quarterfinal with a County Center Final 4 berth on the line.

No.11 HORACE GREELEY pushed it to the limit in the Quakers’ season-ending 63-58 double overtime setback at No.6 Eastchester. All-Conference Quaker G Benji Ricardo (21 points) drained a 3 at the buzzer to force the first overtime and a season-type highlight for Greeley (11-9) while Nick Tasso (14 points, 9 rebounds), Zach Boyriven (9 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists) and Filip Vujanic (7 points) were all major players in the near upset of the Eagles.

“We came out with a ton of energy and played great,” said Greeley Coach Matt Simone, a 2020 Section 1 champion at Greeley. “We controlled tempo and had the lead most of the game. Eastchester turned up the pressure mid-fourth quarter and hit three 3’s, part of an 11-0 run for them to take a two-point lead late.

“Benji hit a clutch 3 in overtime to send it into double overtime,” the coach added. “He played a great game. We battled through many injuries and major illnesses this season, more than I have seen or experienced in my career, but these boys kept fighting all season regardless of the circumstances. This group was as united and together more than any team I’ve had. Their camaraderie was exceptional and a big reason we had the success we did this year. Our five seniors all lead by example and will be missed next year. It was a tough way to go out but an incredible and exciting game to be a part of. Hats off to Eastchester and Coach DiCarlo for the resolve they showed and the big plays some of their kids made down the stretch in big moments.”

CLASS A

Fourth-seeded and state-ranked (No.24) BYRAM HILLS played host to No.13 PUTNAM VALLEY, which simply could notch match up physically with the Bobcats (15-6) in a 63-47 decision that catapulted Byram into Wednesday’s quarterfinals against No.5 Ardsley.

All-Section swingman Tyson Repa led the Bobcats with 23 points and six assists while Max Miller (17 points), Chris Amenedo (16 points, 5 assists) and Zach Efobi (7 points, 12 boards, 5 blocks) were instrumental in getting the Bobcats within a win of the County Center Final 4. Repa, among the all-time great Bobcats, is just one shot from distance shy of the 1,000-point career milestone.

“Putnam Valley played us tough,” Bobcat Coach Ted Repa said. “We would play 30 seconds of great defense, then have a breakdown, which led to good looks for them. Credit to their patience.

Over time, I think we just had a little too much for them.  People often think Tyson and Efobi are our only threats, so they face guard and deny Tyson the ball, and pack in the rest on Efobi, but with Amenedo, Miller, Kendall, Dreilinger and the rest, teams don’t realize we have some knock-down shooters. Over time, it often works in our favor to have teams key on those two.

Nonetheless, we were very impressed with Putnam Valley’s toughness, and are just happy to get a chance to play for a trip to the County Center.”

Junior swingman James Apostolico led PV with 16 points in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate. PV senior Angel Munoz had 13 clutch points for the Tigers and big Dylan Tucker added 11 points and a sorely needed paint presence against Efobi, whom he battled tooth and nail.

Sixth-seeded HEN HUD hosted No.11 PLEASANTVILLE at the Donovan Gym where the Sailors (14-7) knocked off the Panthers (11-10), 56-45, in Friday’s opening round.

Hen Hud’s dynamic duo of All-Section G Gino Wamack (18 points, 6 boards, 4 steals) and All-Conference F Jeremy Heady (17 points, 8 boards) were superb on both ends of the floor, enabling the Sailors to reach Wednesday’s quarterfinal round at No.3 Hastings. Sailor F Connor Prokopiak (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) was all over the gym. Sailor Jack Hiltsley may not have scored a point but did crash the boards for eight caroms while dishing three assists.

Pleasantville was led by Dermot McSpedon’s 13 points, which helped trim the deficit to seven, 45-38, midway through the fourth, before consecutive 3’s from Heady spotted the Sailors a 51-38 advantage the Panthers could not recover from.

“Pleasantville is a group of tough-minded and physically gifted athletes; they were certainly a tough task for us in round one,” Hen Hud Coach Jordan Hirsch said. “I can’t say enough about the team we have. They play connected and with grit. It’s pretty incredible the energy they show up with every day and how they put real intent into every practice, so it’s really cool to see that spill over into games.

“Our guys came out with a ton of energy and then rode the waves of the game,” he added. “Pleasantville’s physicality forced us into some difficult shots and I thought we made up for a relatively tough night from the field by staying the course and sticking with our game plan defensively. Our home crowd was awesome and made the night fun for both our team and our girls team after. There aren’t many better sources of adrenaline than a playoff atmosphere, so we’re excited to be able to have another playoff opportunity Wednesday.”

No.14 LAKELAND went down county to No.3 Hastings in the hopes of busting up a bracket, but came up short in a 56-53 despite 16 points from Ryan Tucci.

CLASS AAA

Top-seeded and state-ranked (No.10) WHITE PLAINS will face visiting John Jay EF Friday before the Tigers (20-1) see either No.4 North Rockland, the defending sectional champs, or No.5 Mount Vernon, the 12-time NYS champs. Yeah, White Plains drew a full-bodied draw, a semifinal challenge the Tigers will need to be up for at the Westchester County Center on Feb. 28.

Sixth-seeded OSSINING (14-6) got one of the toughest opening-round draws in the field, having to travel to face state-ranked (No.19) New Rochelle Friday.

CLASS B

Fourth-seeded WESTLAKE received a first-round bye and will host No.5 Blind Brook today in another tough draw with the winner advancing to the County Center for a Feb.24 semifinal where state-ranked (No.20) Woodlands will likely lie in wait.

Sixth-seeded VALHALLA, the reigning Class B sectional champ, also caught a first-round bye and will pay a visit to third-seeded, state-ranked (No.25) Dobbs Ferry today with a County Center berth on the line.

No.7 CROTON-HARMON will visit No.2 Hamilton in today’s quarterfinal with the winners advancing to face the Dobbs/Valhalla winner at the County Center on Feb. 24.

CLASS C

Top-seeded HALDANE, ranked No.2 in NYS, will have a lengthy layoff before taking on the Laffell/Tuckahoe survivor in the Class C championship on March 2nd.

Outbracket rounds provided some great theatrics for the locals, including Class A Putnam Valley and Lakeland, plus Class AA Carmel and Brewster. Their determination to crack the field of 16 was rewarded with victories.

Put Valley came from behind to knock off visiting Edgemont, 59-53, in overtime, in a game that featured PV Coach Al Morales Jr. coaching against his son Al Morales. The two lifetime hoopers shared a terrific memory with grandpa, Al Morales Sr., too.

But it was Tiger G  Jack Moriarty, who dropped a career-high 24 points to lead all scorers in an impressive shooting display that determined the outcome, as much as it was a buzzer-beating 3 by Apostolico (9 points) to force overtime with one of the great shots in PV postseason history.

Brewster won a very tough game at Clarkstown North, 57-50, after being down 31-23 midway through the second quarter.

“The coaches demanded that they play better defense if they wanted to win the game,” Assistant Coach Jay Weltman said.

The message got through when the Bears went a 9-2 run to close the half, led by big plays by senior F Matt Thompson (17 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks) and junior G Will Dignan (19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 turnovers, 4/8 from distance). Brewster started slow in the third before going on another big run to end the third, leading 47-39. Brewster was up nine points with four minutes left, but Clarkstown battled to get it to 54-50 with 2:00 left. Brewster made several big stops to close out the game and saw Kevin Fox (10 points) drill some clutch hoops down the stretch while Harrison Schmitt provided five assists and three blocks.

“Will Dignan played phenomenally,” Weltman said. “Matt Thompson added 17 key points and Kevin Fox added some big buckets at the end of the game. This was a huge team win as all the guys who played tonight contributed.”

Carmel showed some resolve after playing much of its 68-56 win over host Lincoln without the services of junior G Aiden White, who was plagued by foul trouble all game but still managed a team-high 15 points and six steals. Teddy Galbraith (13 points, 11 rebounds) notched a double-double while K’Vaughn Lynton (11 points, 3 steals), Jair Johnson (8 points, 4 assists), Joey Loughlin (7 points, 6 assists), Alex Berardi (7 points, 7 rebounds), Joey Vickery (4 points, 2 steals) and Nate Antonuik (3 points, 7 rebounds) were solid contributors.

“We got off to a slow start and Aiden White was in foul trouble all night and all of our guys stepped up,” Carmel Coach Joe Loughlin said. “We had a very balanced attack . All eight guys that played scored and we did a great job defensively, but just struggled on the boards and gave up way too many second and third shots. It’s our program’s first playoff win in 20 years, so we’ll take it. I’m happy for our guys and proud of them.”

Lakeland needed 19 points from Grady Leonard and 11 more from John Batolotta to hold off No.19 Briarcliff. No.18 Panas had its season come to an end in a 65-45 outbracket loss to No.15 Albertus Magnus. The combination of multiple key graduates and several key injuries doomed the Panthers in 2024.

Exam. Area Conference I All-Section Honorees:

Logan McCormick, Miles Johnson, White Plains; Liam Scanlon, Mahopac; Arthur Shevick, Kevin New, Fox Lane; Asher Cort, Ossining

Exam. Area Conference II All-Section Honorees:

Brandon Montero, Billy Feeks, Kaden Gonzalez, Yorktown; Jaden Chavis, Peekskill; Tyson Repa, Zach Efobi, Byram Hills; Gino Wamack, Hen Hud

Exam. Area Conference III All-Section Honorees:

Matt Nachampkin, Haldane; Nick Castellano, Westlake; Etai Nunberg, Pleasantville

ANDY JACOBS/DAVID TABER/TONY HUMBERTO/GIL MCMAHON/BILL KENNEDY/RAY GALLAGHER PHOTOS