Class AA/A Long Island Championships

BROOKVILLE, NY - Sunday was the premier day of the year on Long Island for boys’ basketball as LIU Post hosted the Class "AA" and Class "A" Long Island Championships.

In an interesting twist, while Suffolk County and Nassau County teams rarely face off during the regular season, both matchups on Sunday featured rematches from non-league games during the regular season.

Would the results prove to be the same the second time around, or would things be different this time around in the biggest game of the year for each of the teams, with the winners moving on to next weekend's NYSPHSAA State Final Four.

Having met earlier this season in the Baldwin Christmas Classic title game, a game that saw Hills West blow a 10 points halftime lead and fall 77-60 to the Bruins. If they wanted to get a win this time it was going to be critically important to put two strong halves together.

The Colts were also going to have to do a better job containing Baldwin star guard Shane Gatling '16 who went off for 27 points in their first meeting, but much like that game on December 28th, Gatling, with 25 points on Sunday, again had a big outing.

Hills West did play a better 2nd half this time, even taking a 55-50 lead early in the 4th quarter, but Baldwin fought back, staying the course the way that head coach Darius Burton wanted, finishing the game on a 15-0 run as the Bruins are moving on to the NYSPHSAA Class "AA" State Semifinals in Glens Falls next weekend having won their first Long Island Class "AA" Championship since 2012 in taking down Half Hollow Hills West 65-55.

Neither team got off to a great offensive start as championship game nerves in front of a sold out LIU Post seemed to have both teams fazed early on, but both snapped out of it late in the opening quarter as a pair of late Zion Stephens '17 scores in transition allowed Baldwin to take a 15-8 lead after one.

The second quarter started out with Gatling scoring on a crazy lay in using his left hand to finish around Hills West forward Cameron Jordan '17 to put the Bruins up 9, but the Colts were not going to go away as over the next 5 minutes they started to show a greater level of intensity attacking the basket, and there results in turn started to become better.

Richard Altenord '16 was strong at taking his man off the dribble scoring 9 points in the second to help Hills West close it to a 25-24 game, but Baldwin would finish the quarter strong as it was guys like Elijah Bovell '17and Jabeon Bivins '17 who stepped up to hit important shots, and with Gatling playing at a high level the Bruins finished the half on a 9-2 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.

It was a solid half of basketball for Baldwin, but Burton admitted that if the teams’ first meeting explained anything it was that a good lead doesn't mean much when playing against a team as good as Half Hollow Hills West, he was believing in his team, but knew that the Colts were going to give them every challenge they could.

Baldwin though came out playing just as well to begin the 3rd quarter as they did for the most part in the first half. Bivins connected on his second trey of the game with 6:02 to go in the quarter to put the Bruins up 43-32.

The lead stayed at a nice point at 50-41 for Baldwin with 3:12 to go in the 3rd as Hills West couldn't seem to get enough stops, and needed someone to lead the team and get them going offensively as well, and that player ended up being Altenord as the senior wing came alive at the time his team needed him to most.

Confident slashing his way through traffic in transition, Altenord would score 8 points in the final 3 minutes of the 3rd, while Kian Dalyrimple '16 punctuated a strong close to the quarter for the Colts, as with the crowd going wild, Hills West would close the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 52-50 lead going to the 4th.

The Half Hollow Hills West lead went up to 55-50, and with 3:04 to play in the 4th things were starting to look bleak for Baldwin as the momentum shifted completely towards the Colts, and the Bruins didn't know if this would be the end for them or not.

"I did start to think maybe this isn't our season," Gatling admitted.

It was hard to believe when things had turned 180 degrees the other way in such a short period of time, but Burton never stopped believing that his team could come back. He just kept telling his team to stay the course. Shots will go and things will start to go their way, and it was a Jared Rhoden '17 jumper that eventually broke the ice and got Baldwin in the scoring column in the 4th with 2:38 to go.

Hills West still led by 3 though, and that is where the biggest play of the game came. A bucket by the Colts could've put the Bruins back in a bad position, but a cross court pass by Dalyrimple was all Gatling said he needed.

"I saw the pass in midair and I said I got to get that ball," Gatling said about the play. "I got it and weren't in for the basket and got fouled and from there I knew we had it."

The bucket plus the Gatling FT tied the game for Baldwin and they never did relent from there. Burton went back to playing a man to man defense after switching to a zone because of foul issues and the Colts struggled to attack the lanes and couldn't get going from long range either.

It was closing time and that time always belongs to Gatling he said as he knew that as a senior it was his time as he closed the game with huge FT's after Hills West went 0 of 5 in the final 2:12 from behind the three point line, and in front of a raucous atmosphere at LIU Post, Baldwin closed the game on a 15-0 run to put away Hills West for good and win their first Long Island Class "AA" Championship since 2012 in taking down the Colts, 65-55.

Gatling was the man for Baldwin as the senior leader had 26 points in a brilliant all-around performance to pace the Bruins. Rhoden added 12 points as well, including some big buckets late, but Gatling knew the importance of his game in this one and said that even during that bad spell in the 4th quarter, he maintained his hope believing all would turn out ok.

"We were struggling but we never quit, we couldn't quit," Gatling said after the win. "We kept believing because we wanted that Long Island Championship so bad."

It was a tough loss for Hills West though because they did come so close. Altenord had a team high 21 points for the Colts, while Dalyrimple added 14 points, and Jordan added 10 points in the defeat that put a close to a fantastic season for Half Hollow Hills West.

The champions of Long Island are Baldwin though, grinding one out with a big run late. They now will play Middletown in the NYSPHSAA Class "AA" State Semifinals on Saturday afternoon from Glens Falls, and it will be the team's first trip up there since 2012.

Burton did note after the win that once again his team was able to pull out a title in a Presidential Election year. They won it the LIC in 2008, and again in 2012, and now in 2016, so even while drenched in sweat and exhausted from a hard day on the sideline Burton was proud of winning yet another championship.

"I feel like I played but I am so happy because the guys bought into everything and found a way. We have this winning every four years thing too and going up to states and I said in 2016 we were going again, and that we are."

It was another rematch in the Long Island Class "A" Championship Game as Elmont and Harborfields met earlier this season as a part of the Nassau/Suffolk Challenge in a game won by the Tornadoes 61-60.

This matchup from the get go was primed to be as close and competitive as the first one, and with both teams playing for a spot in the Class "A" State Semifinals in Glens Falls next weekend, just about everything was on the line, and in the 4th quarter Elmont held Harborfields scoreless, attacking with a fantastic zone to pull away late and take the rematch and the Long Island Championship, 41-32.

The stakes could not have been higher as the spot in the NYSPHSAA Final Four was on the mind of everyone before the game, and Elmont head coach George Holub who said it would take everything necessary from his team in this one to get the job done.

"When you have two teams playing to go upstate to the final four it is whatever means necessary time," Holub said about what kind of intensity would go into the game. "You have to dive on the floor for loose balls, you have to go after every rebound, you have to treat this like your last game ever."

It would take that kind of mindset for both teams to get the job done, and from the beginning you could tell that is exactly how each team was looking at it as everything was on the line at LIU Post in this Long Island Championship.

In the early going it seemed to be a three point shooting contest as both teams were hoisting up shots from long range time after time, and with both guard Yasir Lawrence '16, and wing Jalen Burgess '16 knocking them down in the early going, Elmont was able to take a 16-10 lead after one.

Harborfields though started to come back midway through the second quarter as Danny Morgan '16 started to heat up from long range, and when Kyle Stolba '17 connected on back to back triples with 2:42 to go in the half, the Tornadoes had grabbed the lead back at 21-20.

It was a solid opening half though for the Spartans guards as all seemed to get into the act of scoring both inside and outside, and when Travis Morgan '16 scoring on a pull up jumper from just inside the FT line with under a minute to go, he was able to give Elmont a 22-21 lead, which is where the game stood going into the locker room at the half.

Both teams had to be happy with where the game was, though both also had missed opportunities missing open threes, and struggling to finish their chances around the rim, things both head coaches would preach to their teams at the half to clean up.

The team that seemed to be clicking more to start the 3rd was Harborfields as the Suffolk County champions had star guard Malcolm Wynter '16 looking for his shot and connect on back to back buckets helping give the Tornadoes a lead of as big as 5 points midway through the 3rd.

Back came Elmont though as the Spartans started to feed Burgess to get back into the game, and big man KC Ndefo '18 put them in front as he capped off a 9-2 run with a putback inside on his third offensive rebound of the possession to give his Elmont squad a 34-32 lead heading into the quarter of the season for one of these two teams.

It was a matter of who wanted it more in the 4th, and the zone that Elmont was applying started to really take effort. They were closing out on the shooters and not giving Rob Pecorelli '16 any room to operate on the outside to get off his shot, and while the Spartans weren't firing on all offensive cylinders themselves it was the defensive effort that was carrying them through, something Burgess said he expected.

"We are all 6'3" or bigger on the front line so we had a big length advantage on them and we were hoping the zone would do us well, and it did," Burgess stated.

The zone wasn't apart of Elmont's game plan until midway through the season, just after the first Harborfields game to be exact according to Holub, and the zone proved to be the difference maker late in the game as with Burgess coming up with clutch shots late, and the length blocking any attempts from the perimeter, the Spartans held Harborfields scoreless in the 4th quarter, which ended up propelling them to a 41-32 victory and Elmont's first Long Island Championship ever.

It was a big game from Burgess who had a game high 16 points for Elmont, while Morgan had 9 points and Ndefo had 7 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans.

For Harborfields it was Pecorelli who closed out a great high school career with a team high 10 points with Wynter adding 7 points of his own in the defeat.

It's Elmont's time though as they are now officially Long Island Class "A" Champions for the first time ever. It's a huge accomplishment for the team and the program, but as Holub said after the game, they can celebrate today, but it's back to work tomorrow to shoot for their next goal, a State Championship.

"It's great for our community and or school. These boys worked so hard for this and deserve it but we are still on a destination here and definitely want to finish it out with state title next weekend."