Mt. Vernon Downs Scarsdale in OT; Wins Section 1 Class "AA"

WHITE PLAINS, NY- It was 12 months of agony, frustration, and anger for the Mt. Vernon Knights. They fell in shocking fashion in the Section 1 Class "AA" Championship Game last year to Fox Lane, and were bound and determined to make sure that they got the Gold Ball they so covet back this season.

To get that done they would have to take down Scarsdale on Sunday afternoon at the Westchester County Center for the Section 1 Class "AA" Championship, and at the start it was all Knights as Jason Douglas-Stanley '18 put together a great opening half to give Mt. Vernon a comfortable lead.

That comfortable lead though started to slowly but surely dwindle as Scarsdale guard Max Bosco '17 started to put his imprint on the game in the second half, hitting shot after shot to creep the Raiders back into the game.

A once 26-point deficit midway through the 3rd quarter kept getting chipped away, and when Will Hoffman '18 drained a three just before the final buzzer, the Raiders had come all the way back and tied the game at 55 to send the game in OT.

Mt. Vernon's seniors though, not wanting a repeat of having last year, came back in the extra session strong as Eric Monroe '17 stepped up with two huge long distance shots, enabling the Knights to once again take the lead, and this time hold on for the prestigious Section 1 Class "AA" Gold Ball, taking the title 67-61.

Ever since that Sunday last year when Fox Lane knocked off the Knights 67-60, the thought on everyone associated with Mt. Vernon's mind was to right that wrong. Getting their hands on the championship Gold Ball was the only goal they had from the start of the season, and wing Noah Morgan '17 said it coming into this game they were focused and ready to make that happen.

"After that loss that was on all our minds since then. That loss hurt, and we didn't want to go back to Mt. Vernon this time without a championship," Morgan stated.

To a man, each Knights player knew that Scarsdale would be a challenge, knowing the Raiders very well as they are in the same league and played each other twice during the regular season. That gave them an added level of respect for the Raiders, knowing this would not be easy if they wanted to realize their dreams of a sectional title.

As a team, Mt. Vernon came out playing with passion and a desire, clearly motivated and hungry to get the job done this time around as Douglas-Stanley hit on 4 of his 6 three point attempts in the opening half, scoring 17 in the first two quarters to set a tone and put the Knights in front.

The Knights also did a very good job in denying Bosco's touches, limiting his scoring opportunities, and when the Raiders missed from the outside, Mt. Vernon did a great job on the glass, pushing out in transition using their athleticism to beat the defense up the court for easy buckets.

It was a dominant opening half all around for Mt. Vernon, allowing them to open up a big gap and take a. 37-15 lead into halftime, a seemingly insurmountable lead for the Knights when they have everything clicking the way they did early.

Going up by 22 points at the half had everyone with Mt. Vernon feeling good, but Knights head man Bob Cimmino admitted that even though things were looking good for them, they knew not to let up as there was still 16 minutes of basketball to play.

"We needed to keep momentum, I knew momentum would be big and we couldn't let them take it, I felt as if the first few minutes of the 3rd would be big," Cimmino said.

While the goal may have been to keep attacking and making sure the lead stayed at a comfortable margin, Bosco had different ideas as Scarsdale put the ball in his hands and allowed him to make more decisions, paying off for them as he came alive in the 3rd to the tune of 14 points, helping the Raiders chip away at the Mt. Vernon lead.

The once 22-point lead, that had expanded early in the 3rd to 26 was down to just 46-31 after three, and while it was still a 15-point game, Cimmino knew that they needed to do more to ultimately get the job done.

"We needed to close out more defensively and do a better job defensively than we did in the 3rd quarter," Cimmino explained.

Bosco though wouldn't let that happen as while Mt. Vernon did a solid job on everyone else on Scarsdale, he was scoring any way possible on the floor be it from long range, deep behind the three-point line, or taking it to the rim going at the Knights defense.

Mt. Vernon struggled from the FT line late as well with big man Greg Calixte '17 being fouled on a pair of occasions, sending him to the line late in the 4th, going 0 for 4 in his two trips and giving Scarsdale a shot to tie in the closing seconds.

With everyone expecting Bosco to get off the final shot, Mt. Vernon would triple team him, leaving Hoffman wide open on the right wing where he connected with 2.7 seconds left in the game to tie the game up at 55. Mt. Vernon did get off a fairly good look at the buzzer from the left side, but Douglas-Stanley's shot missed and the game was headed to OT tied at 55.

All of the momentum that Cimmino wanted on his side was gone as Scarsdale had come all the back to make this anyone’s ball game, but even though they had given up a 26-point lead, the coach felt confident that his group of seniors, not wanting to have the feeling of defeat for a second straight year, would pull through.

"We just wanted to play better and finish it for the seniors, and the fellas I knew wouldn't give up," Cimmino said. "It was a dagger the way Scarsdale came back, but I believed that my guys would react well."

Quickly Cimmino found out that his group would respond as off the OT tip it was Monroe who would take the ball all the way for the bucket and the lead. He would then stroke a long ball to put Mt. Vernon back up 5 just over a minute into overtime as the heartbreak of losing the lead didn't last.

Scarsdale did have a chance to get the lead for the first time all game when Bosco had a look at a 3 when it was 63-61 for Mt. Vernon, but with two defenders closing in on him, the shot was short and it was a FT contest after that with under a minute to play.

The Knights were solid from the charity stripe in the closing seconds, and when Bosco and Hoffman again missed long three point attempts, it was all over as Mt. Vernon had overcome the demons of last season to claim the Section 1 Class "AA" Championship, defeating Scarsdale in a classic, 67-61.

Douglas-Stanley was the high man for Mt. Vernon as the junior had 23 points, while Demetre Roberts '18 had 13 points, and Morgan, who was named Section 1 Tournament MVP, added 11 points and 15 big rebounds.

It was all about Bosco for Scarsdale as the senior had a game high 35 points, doing just about everything in the second half to bring his team back in what was a fantastic individual effort to claw the Raiders to the brink of a title.

After 12 months of heartbreak though the Gold Ball goes back to Mt. Vernon, a memory that Morgan says he and his Knight teammates will remember and treasure forever.

"To do this as a senior after what happened last year and now be able to bring Gold back to Mt. Vernon, it's amazing."