We saw Elmont HS take down Hills East HS at the buzzer to capture the Long Island Championship for the AA. They then traveled up state to Glenn Falls, New York where they beat Jamestown HS 52-38. The Spartans were now one game away from the state title which they haven’t captured since 2016.

They faced off against a tough West Genessee HS squad that had Elmont on the ropes as they lead 13-11 after the first quarter. The teams went back and forth trading buckets and feeling each other out as the crowd filled up. Elmont was having success inside and on the glass which was forcing West Genessee to get a little more physical than they are used to.

The Spartans defensive effort of only allowing 6 points in the quarter gave them a nice 23-17 lead at halftime. A big factor of the Wildcats struggle in the first quarter was when their 5’11” PG Jordan Cain (West Genessee HS ’24) had to sit out because of foul trouble. He had 6-points early in the game and looked like he was their go to guy especially late in the shot clock so him being out was definitely huge.

Elmont was up by seven but still hadn’t really had a spark on offense until their leader 6’0” G Cassius Moore (Elmont HS, NY ‘24 ) got hot! He got the Spartans going with a few pull up jumpers, tough takes to the rim and some threes. The bigs for the Spartans were grabbing every rebound and their point guard was causing the Wildcats fits defensively. When the whistle blew to end the third quarter Moore and company found themselves up 39-24 as it looked like this one was over.

The Wildcats started the fourth quarter on fire with a big 7-1 run to cut lead to 9 with 5 minutes to go. Moore scored, Wildcats got a bucket, Spartans missed and West Genessee got an offensive putback to cut the deficit to seven. West Genessee couldn’t convert a few good looks while Elmont started to get a little tight offensively. A Wildcat bucket cut the Elmont’s lead to just five with 1:24 left on the clock.

The Spartans got fouled, made their free throws, West Genessee went 1/2 from the line and they had to play the free throw game. Moore and Elmont made plenty down the stretch as the Wildcats tried desperately to make up the deficit but unfortunately ran out of time. Elmont won 51-44, stormed the court and was able to capture the New York AA State Title. West Genessee was led by Cain who impressed us and finished with a team high 18-points. Moore was MVP with a game high 24-points. He had some huge moments plus the team played spectacular defense as a unit. This was a great team who deserved it and a coaching staff who has put Elmont right back on track as one of the best Section VIII programs Long Island has.