NYS Federation T.O.C. Semifinals

GLENS FALLS, NY- When you get to the NYS Federation Tournament of Champions you know you are taking on the best of the very best. Everyone who gets to this point are champions meaning there are no soft touches as we wind down to the very end of the season.

Both Class AA matchups were highly competitive contests that showed each of the teams making it this far were extremely worthy of the honor. Truly a great finish to the day, we have our title game matchup for Saturday night but as for how we got there, let's examine that now as we recap the play from the two semifinals at the Cool Insuring Arena.

Coming in it was a matchup of the CHSAA winner against the NYSPHSAA winner, and while the Wildcats were a worthy champion having beaten Brentwood a week ago, most didn't look at them coming in as a major challenge to the perennial powers of Christ the King.

Outsiders may have looked at this one as a definite Royals lean in terms of how the game would go, Christ the King guard Ryan Myers '20 said he was not falling into that trap understanding just how talented this suburban Syracuse team truly is.

"We knew it wasn't going to be an easy game," Myers admitted. "They won a championship too just like us so we knew we couldn't take them lightly."

Out of the gate that was looking to be more than true as Myers was draining them with ease from the perimeter hitting on three first half treys to give Christ the King a quick lead, and with Nathaniel Curry '19 and Moussa Cisse '21 on the inside controlling the game down low, the Royals went up by as many as 11.

West Genesee though proved to be stingy as Lucas Sutherland '19 was able to get free and connect himself from the outside as he had 12 in the first half to keep the Wildcats close down 30-25 at the break.

It was still anyone's game at the half which wasn't a surprise to Christ the King head coach Joe Arbitello as he seemed to echo what Myers said in giving credit to their opponents for getting to this point as well.

"It's the final four of the state championship, it is supposed to be easy?," Arbitello stated.

Far from easy it was as Will Amica '20 was doing a good job penetrating the lane and drawing contact to at least attempt to get Cisse in foul trouble. The 6'11" big man did pick up his 3rd late in the third, but while the Royals were dealing with that, Sutherland was tagged for his 4th foul in the third quarter putting him to the bench for the last 2:24 of the stanza.

Christ the King's lead was bumped up to 7 after three, but with Sutherland back in and him hitting a clutch corner three the West Genesee deficit was as small as 48-46 midway through the quarter. Each time the Royals looked as if they may have been in trouble though Myers was there hitting a big shot to keep Christ the King on top.

With 2:18 though Cisse was called for a technical foul for what the referee said was hanging on the rim after an alley oop dunk, fouling him out of the game just up 54-49. It was a frustrating foul for Arbitello though, and not because of it fouled him out but because of the call itself.

"What did you think? It was terrible," Arbitello said. "The guy was that high, he didn't do a chin up."

It could have been a major momentum shift at that point but on the next trip down the floor it was Jared Harrison-Hunte '19, Cisse's replacement into the game, who finished against contact inside for the bucket and foul. It was a dagger of sorts as it really stymied what the Wildcats wanted to do down the stretch.

Good perimeter defense as well-meant West Genesee weren't getting the looks from the outside they were earlier as Myers and Sterling Jones '21 did a solid job denying Sutherland late looks as it may not have been the prettiest game but Christ the King did what they had to do and ultimately pulled out a 59-53 hard fought win over the Wildcats.

Scoring 19 points had Myers leading Christ the King while on the other end it was the Siena commit in Sutherland pouring in a game high 26 points for West Genesee.

Advancing to Saturday's title game, the Royals will look to pull off the double and win both the boys’ and girls’ championships. That would be the first time since 2010 that Christ the King pulled that off, and while it's not a given that it happens the fact that both are there with a chance makes it quite a special moment for the Royals program as they look to once again make history.

"We were here all day, we were here supporting them too and they were here supporting us and that says a lot," Arbitello said. "They both want to win and both respect the fact they play for Christ the King and that's really gratifying so to have a chance to do that tomorrow it's pretty special."

Another game that may not have been the prettiest to watch, it was a slow down, drag them out type of hard fought game in the second Federation Class AA semifinal on Friday, and with Andre Curbelo '20 doing a great job of managing the tempo, and Tyler Stephenson '19 connecting on long range shots early it was Long Island Lutheran who were able to move on after taking down South Shore, 77-53.

Doing a great job in their zone, LuHi did an excellent job in limiting the perimeter outside looks for South Shore as they went into a strong zone and moved well in denying looks to the likes of Kadary Richmond '19 and Femi Odukale '19.

On the other end it was Curbelo slashing into driving lanes for baskets, and when he or Stephenson weren't connecting it was Essam Mostafa '19 cleaning up inside as he and Curbelo each had 8 in the opening half to put Long Island Lutheran up 26-18 at the break.

With Richmond being held to just 4 and Odukale to just 2 it was the perfect defensive half of basketball for the Crusaders, something that was echoed by their head coach in John Buck.

"I know I've become a better offensive coach and having Andre helps but we when we guard we put ourselves in a good position to win and that's what we did early on," Buck explained.

Into the third it continued to be a team dominating effort from LuHi, with Curbelo solidifying the Crusaders advantage when he went behind the back on fastbreak and then threw it down one handed for the slam to have Long Island Lutheran take their biggest lead of the game at 20.

It was a dunk so good it even had Curbelo smiling about what he was able to do wanting everyone to know he isn't someone who just can make plays happen for others, but someone who when given the chance can throw it down above the rest too.

"It's great because people are just used to seeing me with reverse layups but now I'm getting smarter and becoming more mature so every time I can throw the ball down I'm doing it," Curbelo said about his dunk.

To their credit South Shore never quit as Richmond had a couple of dunks himself in the open floor for the Vikings in the fourth quarter, but with the Long Island Lutheran lead up to 53-33 early in the final stanza it was all Crusaders for most of the rest of the way.

Led by the 31 points from Curbelo who paced all score it was a Long Island Lutheran type of game and day as they were able to take down the PSAL champs from South Shore to move onto Saturday's championship game 77-53

Going into the title game it will be LuHi taking on Christ the King, and while the matchup of perennial powers will be a big talking point going into the game, a win won't be enough for Mostafa who says he doesn't just want to win a Federation title, he wants to do it in style and make sure everyone in New York knows who the Crusaders truly are.

"We have lost when we come up here close so we don't want to have close games anymore, we don't want to win or lose by 5 points, that's not what we want," Mostafa said after Friday's win. "We said at the beginning of the year we want to destroy all teams, we are going to win by 20, 25, 30, that's what we want to do."