Alzheimer's All-Star Classic Thriller
BAY SHORE, NY - If you stayed for just the first half of the Alzheimer's All-Star Classic Boys Game on Sunday at Bay Shore H.S. you would have left thinking that Nassau County won in blowout fashion as they led Suffolk County by 18 at the half, and led early in the second half by as many as 25, but boy did things turn around in a hurry.
Suffolk County came storming back, tying the game for the first time with 10 seconds left in regulation and having a chance to win it at the buzzer. The shot didn't go though and OT was needed to settle a winner. Suffolk grabbed their first lead of the game in the opening seconds of overtime, but it was Nassau who took over the rest of the way fighting back from losing a 25-point lead to come away with the 87-82 overtime victory.
From the midway point of the first half on you would've thought this was going to be a wipeout of epic proportions. After a Tyrone Lyons (St. Anthony's '18) tip in of a missed Alex Merhige (Harborfields '17) three that tied the game for Suffolk at 12 it became all Nassau.
Tyler Small (Holy Trinity '18) knocked in a corner 3 ball to give Nassau the lead back and that was the start of a 27-4 run for the Nassau squad as struggled to get anything going around the basket as big KC Ndefo (Elmont '18) blocked anything that even came near him in the lane, and. With Donatas Kupsas (Long Island Lutheran '18), Chris Coalman (Long Island Lutheran '17), and Elijah Bovell (Baldwin '17) all feeling it from long range, the once 12 all game became 39-16 Nassau with just over 6 minutes to go in the first half.
Boubacar Diakite (Our Saviour New American '18) broke up the run with a ferocious two handed slam inside, and Osbel Caraballo (Upper Room '17) was a versatile offensive weapon from all over the floor late in the opening half but the damage was already done.
Even with a strong close to the first 20 minutes, Nassau was in firm control doing near anything they wanted offensively, and with Ndefo controlling the game on the inside, they took a 52-34 lead into halftime.
The crowd thinned out a bit at the half with Nassau holding an 18-point lead, and that lead continued to grow early in the second half as well with Nassau getting the lead to as big as 25 when Harrison Warnock (Long Island Lutheran '18) hit on a long 2 from the right wing to make it 66-41 with 14:50 to go in the game.
Maybe it was being up by so much that made the Nassau team complacent, or maybe it was just the Suffolk team waking up, but from the moment Nassau took a 25-point lead, Suffolk seemed to start to play better.
Caraballo threw home a dunk off an offensive rebound, and then his high school teammate Lester Quinones (Upper Room '18) came back and hit back to back threes from the identical spot on the floor, and slowly but surely Suffolk was chipping away at the Nassau lead as they scored 10 straight to make it 66-51.
A big time throw down by Ndefo got the Nassau crowd back on their feet, but that was short lived as Diakite put in his 4th dunk of the game, and then with Caraballo and Quinones each hitting on jumpers, another big run broke out for Suffolk and with 4:45 to go Suffolk had trimmed the deficit to single digits for the first time since midway through the first half at 72-64.
Nassau was clearly tightening up a bit as usually reliable FT shooters began to struggle with the intensity and crowd noise starting to rise, and when Rashan Allen (Copiague '17), with a smooth lefty stroke, drained a three from the left side with 2:38 to play it was a 76-73 game.
That was Allen's 2nd three in less than a minute time span, and all the momentum was clearly now on the Suffolk side. Coalman seemed to stem that tide though when he finished a beautiful feed from Thornton Scott (Holy Trinity '17) down low while being fouled by Diakite with 1:50 left in regulation, a foul that fouled out the St. John's commit out of the game.
Coalman was good on his FT pushing the lead for Nassau back up to 6, but Merhige hit a pair of FT's, and off a Kupsas miss, Caraballo got fouled on the other end, hitting his FT's to make it once again a 1 possession game.
A put back by Lyons made it 80-78 for Nassau with 21 seconds left, and off a Nassau turnover off the ensuing inbounds play, Suffolk had a chance to tie the game late. They would succeed in tying the game at 80 off a nice finish inside by Caraballo, and while Nassau had a chance for the last shot, they once again turned it over giving Suffolk the last shot, and while Quinones got a good look, his 3 at the buzzer missed sending the game to OT tied at 80.
It was a dramatic comeback from the Suffolk All-Stars as they could've rolled over after being down 25 in the second half, but there was no quit in them, and when Merhige hit 2 FT's to open the overtime session, Suffolk had their first lead of the game at 82-80.
There was some sloppy play that led to some turnovers and missed easy shots inside early on in the 5 minute OT, but when Scott hit his first three of the game with 2:50 left in overtime he gave Nassau back the lead at 83-82, and it was a lead they would finally hold on for good.
Ndefo would block a Lyons shot on the inside and then run down the floor the other way and get the feed from Bovell where he then finished with authority to make it a 3 point Nassau lead with just over a minute to go.
Quinones missed on a 3 that could've tied it with 55 seconds to go, but that fell off the side of the rim, and then off an offensive rebound Allen had a shot to tie it as well, but he missed as well. Bovell was eventually fouled with 12 seconds to go and he calmly sank both from the charity stripe to seal the game for good.
After Suffolk scored the opening points from the FT line in overtime they would never score again in the extra session as two more shots missed in the closing seconds as Nassau had to fight hard after losing a 25-point lead, but they rebounded strong down the stretch of OT and were able to make it 2 for 2 for Nassau County on the day as like the girl’s team, they were able to come away with the win as well, taking down Suffolk, 87-82.
Coalman was the leading scorer for Nassau with 16 points in what was a balanced scoring attack for Nassau. Kupsas added 15 points, Warnock had 11 points, Bovell chipped in with 10, and while he only had 5 points, Ndefo added well over 10 rebounds, and nearly had 10 blocks in what was a Game MVP performance.
For Suffolk, Caraballo and Diakite each had 16 points to lead the way, with Lyons and Quinones adding 15 points and 13 points respectively in what proved to be a great comeback effort.
It may have not started off looking like it would be a true classic game to remember, but with all the twists and turns late, it was another memorable Alzheimer's All-Star Classic with a great game for a truly great cause.
