Christian Brothers Academy put its quick hands and aggressive backboard work on display Saturday night in its state Class AA regional championship game with Cicero-North Syracuse.
The Brothers turned three steals into three baskets in a critical third-quarter run, and piled up 14 points on putback baskets, in a 61-48 triumph over the Northstars at Hudson Valley Community College.
“At halftime, coach said we had to be more aggressive on defense,” said CBA senior swingman Kameron Ritter. “We weren’t making any shots except for [Max] Weaver, and we had to make offense with our defense.”
The Brothers (22-1) did that, and combined with their relentless effort on the offensive glass, claimed their third regional title since 2004 and earned a state semifinal date with Newburgh Free Academy Saturday at 12:30 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
“We played pretty good defense in the second half,” said Ritter. “That definitely won the game for us.”
Weaver scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, Ritter netted 17, which included 7-for-8 from the line, and Galal Cancer totaled 10 points and nine rebounds. Cancer and Jack Reilly both had three steals among CBA’s 13.
“Our press kind of became our offense in the second half,” said CBA coach Dave Doemel, whose team forced 22 turnovers. “It helped us get that double digit lead.”
CBA held a 36-31 third-quarter advantage when Joe Krong hit a foul shot with 2:09 left to begin a 7-0 run. The sophomore missed his second attempt, but stole the ball down low from Northstars center Andy Falvey and dropped in a layup, and Josh Dennis picked off a pass right after that to set up Ritter’s layup. Another steal by Reilly led to Ritter’s putback basket, making it 43-31.
Josh Williams made two free throws for the Northstars (19-3) to end the quarter, and the Section III champs got as close as seven on Zach Coleman’s three, at 43-36, early in the fourth. Cancer made three baskets in a follow-up 8-0 run as the state No. 2-ranked team locked up its 15th straight win.
“That third quarter gave us momentum and got the crowd into it,” said Ritter. “It was big.”
So were CBA’s 19 offensive rebounds among its 34, and those 14 points on seven putback baskets.
“When we watched film on them we noticed that Falvey blocks out well, but if he doesn’t get it, their other guys had some difficulty keeping people off the boards,” said Doemel. “We thought we might be able to have some success rebounding against them.”
Weaver had great success finding the net in the firt half, going 5-for-7 from the field which included four three-point hoops. The junior’s two free throws and Taylor Mulvey’s jumper started and finished a 10-2 run to close the first half as CBA opened up a 32-27 lead.
“That’s the beauty of this team,” said Doemel. “A lot of different guys can get hot. Max had it going in the first half, and some other guys came on after that.”
Coleman led C-NS with 15 points, Deyon Smith had 14 points, and Falvey notched eight points and 11 rebounds.
SPARTANS OUSTED
Section III heavyweight Jamesville-DeWitt (22-0) closed the first quarter with a tone-setting 13-0 run, and used a pair of third-quarter spurts to put Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake away in a 67-32 Class A regional victory at HVCC.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my kids,” BH-BL coach George Dudas said. “They came out and competed. The bottom line is, they got beat by a better team.”
Burnt Hills stayed with the state’s No. 1-ranked team early on, tying the game at three, five and seven before 6-foot-9 sophomore Daquan Coleman scored 10 unanswered points and Lamar Kearae nailed a three to close out the first quarter.
The Spartans cut their deficit to single digits once after that, when Keaton Flint hit a three and Zack Morton followed with two free throws to make it 25-16 late in the second quarter.
“Coleman is a monster. It’s like guarding a wall. He’s a special player,” Dudas said. “You put those perimeter players around him and they’re tough.”
Coleman, who is rated among the nation’s top 10th-graders by several scouting services, finished with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting and 15 rebounds, and Kearse had 17 points and four assists. Kearse scored 12 points and Coleman collected nine in a 30-8 third-quarter outburst which included 9-0 and 10-0 runs. Coleman’s two-handed jam gave the Red Rams a 58-24 lead heading into the final stanza.
Flint led BH-BL with 12 points, and Morton had seven points and 11 rebounds. Burnt Hills was outrebounded, 53-33, had 18 turnovers and made 11 of 53 shots.
“I told my guys we had to play a perfect game, and we had to knock down shots,” Dudas said.
Burnt Hills (11-12) had won a season-best four straight games to reach Saturday’s state quarterfinal round. The Spartans edged South Glens Falls on a last-second three-pointer by Phil Neumann, 28-27, and then beat Gloversville, 50-38, and No. 1 seed Lansingburgh in overtime, 55-49, to win their third Section II title in seven years. The Spartans overcame a 2-for-24 first-half shooting effort in Friday’s 39-31 comeback victory over Massena.
Burnt Hills’ 7-11 regular season record included a six-game losing streak.
“It was a great run for these guys. This is a team that lost six in a row, and they just took off,” said Dudas. “These are memories that will last a lifetime.”
Maple Hill defeated Ticonderoga, 68-42, in Class C and Germantown topped Chateaugay, 56-48, in Class D.
CLASS AA
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY 61, CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE 48
CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE
Smith 6-0-14, Howell 2-0-5, Falvey 4-0-8, Jackowski 0-2-2, Coleman 6-1-15, Williams 1-2-4. Totals: 19-5-48.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY
Weaver 5-4-18, Lott 3-1-7, Cancer 4-2-10, Ritter 5-7-17, Mulvey 1-0-2, Reilly 1-0-2, Krong 2-1-5. Totals: 21-15-61.
Cicero-North Syracuse 15 12 6 15 — 48
CBA 15 17 11 18 — 61
Three-point goals: Smith 2, Howell, Coleman 2, Weaver 4.
CLASS A
JAMESVILLE-DEWITT 67, BURNT HILLS-BALLSTON LAKE 32
JAMESVILLE-DEWITT
Kearse 5-4-17, Mitchell 0-1-1, Nanaj 0-1-1, Firestone 1-2-4, Kinsey 2-1-6, Coleman 10-3-23, Schunck 1-2-4, Cavanagh 4-1-9, Stone 1-0-2. Totals: 24-15-67.
BURNT HILLS-BALLSTON LAKE
Flint 5-1-12, Meyers 1-2-4, Neumann 1-2-4, Batty 1-0-2, Beatty 1-0-3, Morton 2-3-7. Totals: 11-8-32.
Jamesville-Dewitt 20 8 30 9 – 67
BH-BL 7 9 8 8 – 32
Three-point goals: Kearse 3, Kinsey, Flint, Beatty.
Categories: High School Sports
