Yorktown, Peekskill, Byram Boys Set to Tango at County Center

Panas, Mahopac Girls Will Square off in Class AA Final 4 

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays 

CLASS AA

In a star-studded Examiner-area battle for a Final 4 berth, No.2 YORKTOWN held off No.7 HORACE GREELEY, 64-61, Thursday to reach the County Center for a third-straight year. State-ranked (No.17) and third-seeded Rye, a 62-46 winner over No.6 Nyack, is up next for the Huskers in Thursday’s semifinal (4:45 pm).

Yorktown senior wing Brian Hansen had the game of his life, spotting up for a career-high 22 points, including five second-half 3s in an unconscious display. 

“He stepped up big time, ” Husker Coach Mark Pavella said of Hansen. “Brian is a capable shooter, and has been working hard in practice on his shot.” 

All-Section Husker G Kaden Gonzalez came out firing on all cylinders, setting the tone with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“I mean the game was just electric all around,” the All-Section Gonzalez said after going for 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. “The energy was great, and that’s what really fueled us. We are really deep this year and emphasize the little things. There’s still more work to do.”

When the state-ranked (No.13) Huskers (18-4) play with this type of balance – including senior C Ryan Duffy (10 points, 10 rebounds) and senior F Aidan Flynn (10 points, 8 rebounds) – they are a tough outfit to knock off.  

Greeley, which was led by Jake Sheehey’s double-double (19 points, 10 boards), and Quaker hotshot Zach Boyriven (17 points, 11 boards, 7 assists), would not go quietly. Trailing 54-46 with 4:24 to play, Boyriven dropped a 3-ball and then hit a pull-up with 1:10 left, trimming the deficit to four, 57-53. Hansen and Gonzalez responded in kind, hitting two apiece from the stripe for a 61-53 lead with 49.1 left, essentially sealing the deal.

Alex Horowitz added 15 points for the Quakers (16-6).

After taking out No.5 Poughkeepsie, 54-43, defending Section 1 champion PEEKSKILL is back at the County Center it once owned, winning five titles in a row from 2005-09 and six of eight dating back to 2002.

The return and paint-presence of F Marquette Webster (14 points) has been a big shot in the arm for the fourth-seeded, state-ranked (No.24) Red Devils (16-6), something they will need in Thursday’s semifinal bout with top-seeded, state-ranked (No.7) Tappan Zee.

Webster was a monster in the fourth quarter after All-Section Red Devils Isaiah Crawford and Jaden Chavis logged 16 points apiece, building a 48-40 lead off a strong Crawford drive at 3:36 of the fourth. If the Pioneers had a plan in place to steal the game late, Webster would have none of it, scoring three baskets down the stretch.

 

CLASS A

State-ranked (No.4) BYRAM HILLS, the No.1 seed in Class A, showed that it has the capabilities of winning ugly if need be in the Bobcats’ 41-29 semifinal triumph of No.4 Nanuet Saturday at the County Center.

Buckets were tough to come by at both ends of the floor. Defending Section 1 champion Byram Hills (21-2) allowed just four first-quarter points but were only up 9-4 heading into the second. Byram led 18-11 at halftime off a Chris Amenedo layup, then went up 23-13 when Max Miller found Ben Wolf (8 points) for a 25-13 lead at 5:00 of the third. Nanuet cut it 25-17 with 3:30 left in the third, but Brody Ceisler (11 points) went for a deep 3, at 2:05 and a 28-17 lead. Amenedo at 1:21 for a 30-20 lead. Bobcat big man Michael Nezaj hit two at the line to make it 32-20, which is where it stood after three quarters. 

In the fourth, Nanuet cut the deficit to six points at 4:48. But Amenedo scooped for an athletic layup for a 34-26 lead off an alley-oop. Nanuet hit a 3 to respond, 34-29. Byram had a turnover, then a stop before Kevin Kendall (6 points off the bench) hit a clutch pull-up for a 36-29 lead. A block by All-Section C Zach Efobi at one end led to a monster Efobi slam at the other end with 1:19 to play for a 38-29 lead off a put-back #DeathNail.

“Correct – Efobi’s block, followed up by an offensive board and dunk was special,” Byram boss Ted Repa said. “He’s an elite talent, and we are super lucky to have him.

“It definitely was a rough offensive night, credit to Nanuet’s game plan, and they have some strong athletic players that can defend,” the coach added. “But our emphasis this year has been all about the defensive end.  We have the ability – when properly focused – to make it very difficult to put points on the board against us. Super proud that we did not let the offensive struggles impact the effort and discipline on the defensive end.”

No.3 Pearl River (17-6) lies in wait. The state-ranked (No.24) Pirates are young but chomping at the bit as they are ahead of schedule. The Bobcats will face Pearl River in the championship game on Friday at 7 p.m. The first meeting between the two, a 56-29 Bobcat win on Dec. 17, is a thing of the past, according to Repa, who is seeking Byram’s fifth Gold Ball since 1978 (2011-16-24). 

“To beat Pearl River and win the Gold Ball, we will need to be even better – at both ends,” the coach said. “It definitely won’t be easy, but nothing great usually is.”

In the quarters, Byram Hills eliminated No. 8 Irvington 65-48 when Ceisler (19 points), Wolf (11), Miller (8) and Efobi (8 points, 19 boards, 3 blocks) handled the bulk of the scoring, particularly during a 21-3 closing run.

Second-seeded WESTLAKE, ranked No.27 in NYS, failed to guard the perimeter and paid dearly in a 61-59 quarterfinal overtime loss to No.7 Albertus Magnus, which hit on 12 shots from behind the arc to offset strong offensive efforts from All-Section G Marcus Jackette (25 points), Anthony Marzziotti (14) and Brayden Lingeza (13). The Wildcats (18-4) were hoping to challenge for their first sectional title since 1969.

 

CLASS B

BRIARCLIFF fell behind 19-8 with 6:10 to go in the second quarter and found it tough to recover in the third-seeded Bears’ 65-49 semifinal loss to No.2 Blind Brook Saturday at the County Center.

Seeking their sixth sectional title since their first in 1933 (1989, 2007-16-18), the Bears (13-9) fell behind 26-8 after a pair of Noah Brookman 3s with 4:48 to go before the half, adding to a 20-0 run the Bears never fully recovered from. But Briarcliff’s Jason Lawlor nailed a 3, capping a 7-0 run to make it 26-15, Trojans. All-Section Blind Brook F Tyler Taerstein was having his way in the paint, leading to a 32-15 lead. A bench tech was costly for the Bears near the end of the half, leading to two at the line and possession, which led to a 34-18 Trojan lead at the half. 

In the third quarter, the Bears trimmed the deficit to 36-25 off a Luke Lawlor layup at 6:25. The burly Taerstein, who finished with a game-high 28 points, willed his way in traffic for yet another hoop and a 40-26 edge, which extended to 44-28 and then 46-28 at 2:20. Bear Luke Lawlor cut it to 46-34 just before the end of the third.

In the fourth, a steal and hoop by Blind Brook made it 48-34 to open the scoring. The Bears went back-to-back to cut it to single digits after an and-1 try from Luke Murray, 49-41, Matt Suarez then drew an offensive foul for the Bears. An ugly series of turnovers by both clubs then saw Bears F Xavier Prekelezaj  cut it to 49-43 before Taerstein answered again. Will Allenstein nailed a trey for the Bears to make it 51-46 with just over 3:20 to go. Taerstein hit two from the line, 53-46. Then 55-46. It went to 55-49 off a ’Cliff 3, but Terastein, again, scored in the lane at 2:00, 57-49. Blind Brook then had a sick close to run it up to 64-49 with under a minute to go. 

The Bears advanced to the semis after a 59-29 throttling of visiting HALDANE, which had a rough day by the Blue Devils standards.

The hard hat player of the game for the Bears was Tim Davis. Jason Lawler (18 points, 3 rebounds), Luke Lawler (13 points, 5 rebounds) and Will Allenstein (11points) paced the Bears. Fallou Faye (14 points) and Luke Bozsik (10) paced the seven-time defending League III-E champion Blue Devils (12-8) in their initial Class B season. 

Briarcliff was on fire from distance in the first quarter, taking a 21-4 lead into the second, while leaving little doubt about the outcome. The lead extended to 26-5 at 4:21 of the second. It extended to 31-7 off Jason Lawlor’s third 3-ball of the game with just under 3:00 before the half and then 33-11 at the half. Haldane was lost in its offensive and defensive sets, to a point where we’d not seen anything like this previously. 

At 37-16, Haldane clawed back at 5:13 of the third and then 39-20 off a Faye layup, but Luke Lawlor had the answer, 41-20. The lead ballooned to 47-25 at the end of third quarter, the Bears feeling the County Center vibes.

 

GIRLS HOOPS

CLASS AA

Top-seeded and state-ranked (No.1) WALTER PANAS got off to a torrid 8-2 off a hoop by Kiara Williams and never looked back in its 69-54 win against visiting No.8 Nyack Thursday.

A Cadence Nicholas (19 points) runner made it 10-2 before Sofia Tavarez (20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) went to the line and made it 11-2, the two menacing All-NYS guards working in tandem. Tavarez hit again at 1:20, 13-2. The lead ballooned to 22-7 off a Nicholas layup at 4:00 of the second. A Tavarez layup at 3:00 made it 29-7 #GameSetMatch! And if the Panthers needed more, another Tavarez layup made it 40-16 just before the half. Steady Katie Hofmann added 18 points, and the Panas seniors walked off to a huge ovation early in the fourth (though they were reinserted because Nyack did not sub).

“I subbed out our senior starters,” Panas Coach Matt Evangelista said. “By the 3-minute mark the lead was cut to 14, so we called timeout and subbed the starters back in. Nyack’s shooting guard made eight 3s in the fourth quarter.”

Panas has had a special run with this unit, losing to Put Valley in the 2021 Covid-induced regional tournament when Nicholas and Tavarez were eighth-graders. Then, they lost in the sectional finals in 2022 before winning back-to-back titles in 2023-24. Another title would, possibly, cement a legacy that might last forever. 

“This group of girls is special,” the coach said. “They are better kids than they are basketball players, if you can believe that.” #ImagineThat.

No.4 MAHOPAC will get a load of Panas next. The youthful Wolf Pac (15-7) might be a year away from challenging Panas for a Gold Ball but they were County Center-bound, nonetheless, after a tremendous defensive effort sparked a 61-36 quarterfinal win over visiting FOX LANE Thursday. The matchup against Walter Panas will be Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. 

Fox Lane (15-7) actually did a solid job of defending Mahopac senior Caily Salon (8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), holding her well below her scoring average (17.5 PPG), but teammates Giana Puckhaber (14 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Ashley Koch (11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) and Mady Ford (10 points, 2 assists) made up for the diff.

“Our goal was to come out and play what we believed is Mahopac girls basketball,” first-year Coach Jason Conklin said. “That’s getting into it on the defensive end and using our athleticism to create turnovers and turn them into points. It clicked and what a great day that it did.

“Puckhaber is our X factor for sure,” the coach added. “She doesn’t always put up the most points; heck not even top 3/4 a lot of games, but she literally fills the state sheet with rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. And the Kellehers and Koch have been rocks on defense. As for Caily, she had a great breakthrough year. She has been someone we know we can go to for offense any given night and has been a great team leader and captain.”

Fox Lane Coach Kris Matts was quick to praise Mahopac on a job well done before heaping praise upon his youthful Foxes.

“I watched four Mahopac games and compiled stats for others, and those girls have never played like that in their lives,” Matts said. “Congrats to them, but I wish they could’ve picked another team to have their perfect game against.”

Foxes Riley New (15 points) and Cora Moore (11) both hit for double digits against a stingy Pac defense.

No.2 Host Rye handled No.10 YORKTOWN 47-20 defeat to end the Huskers (13-9) solid season in the quarterfinals where Sofia Boucher and Ava Costello each scored six points against an aggressive Rye defense.

 

CLASS A

The Final 4 was not kind to our Ex-area teams as both No.3 HEN HUD and No.5 WESTLAKE were knocked off in Saturday’s semifinal round at the County Center.

Ranked No.18 in NYS, Hen Hud was considered a slight favorite ahead of No.2 Pelham, ranked No.28 in NYS, but the Pelicans eliminated the Sailors, 61-50, while advancing to the finals to face top-seeded Ardsley, ranked No.25 in NYS, so the state pollsters had the Sailors in mind when it came to reppin’ Section 1. 

Hen Hud’s 52-50 win over Pearl River, was, as we predicted last week, the game of the Class A tournament. The Sailors advanced to the Final 4 after Kayla McCarthy’s super-clutch game-winning buzzer-beater from All-Section senior Kaitlyn Raguso (19 points) for a 52-50 win. Elyse Smith added 13 for the Sailors (16-6), who saw their 13-game win streak come to an end in the semis.

WESTLAKE finished its amazing season in a 54-36 semifinal loss to Ardsley at the County Center Saturday. Westlake was led by senior Maggie Plotkin’s 15 points. 

Westlake advanced to the County Center for the third straight year after defeating Bronxville, 55-48, last Tuesday when junior Oliva Celaj notched a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). Plotkin added 15 points and Megan Nebel chipped in 10 for the Wildcats (16-7).

 

CLASS B

Yonkers Montessori picked off No.4 VALHALLA, 66-32, to advance to the finals Saturday at County Center. YMA went up 29-12 at the half and the Vikings (12-10) never recovered. En route to the semis Valhalla secured a nip-and-tuck 56-53 win over No.5 Hamilton behind three double-digit scorers, including Violet Mattoni (22), Giulia Rutigliano (18) and Isabella Mattoni (10).

 

DAVID TABER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ/GIL McMAHON PHOTOS