With a combination of things on my plate that a workaholic would cry about (school, 2 jobs, modified coaching), I can admit 2 things: I haven’t been able to make as much sectional action as I’d like, and I definitely haven’t posted as much as I’d like. C’est la vie, as they say over in France. However, I did spend Wednesday watching hoops (and getting parking tickets) at OCC, along with all of Sunday. I spent a lot of the time… hmm, you could say information gathering. And getting my name thrown into staple chants in student sections. Thanks again Mills! There are a good number of things that have sparked my interest about these upcoming matchups & things revolving around them – so here goes. The 10 most interesting things about the sectional finals, in no particular order!
1.) Can anyone touch C-NS? Sure, Breanna Stewart’s a Husky now. The Northstars are still rollin’. 17-3 on the season, but 15-0 against Section 3 schools and winning by an average of about a million points per game. They have Corcoran in the AA final. They just played Corcoran 2 weeks ago.. won 63-28. So I guess this isn’t interesting after all. C-NS do what C-NS do. (Oh, by the way, they played a favorite in AA out of Section 2 already in Albany.. beat them 90-27. Yikes.)
2.) In the same vein, how many of these games will actually be competitive? Don’t expect it out of AA girls. The 2 finalists in Class D girls (Oriskany & NYM) have played twice – Oriskany won both 55-31. At the D level for the boys’ side, after watching the Faith Heritage/NYM game and portions of Cincy/McGraw, I feel that the last 2 teams NYM has played to get to the Dome were better than who they’ll play there. Although Cincy showed resilience Sunday, that doesn’t make up for size & skill that NYM wins out on. Westhill & Skaneateles (boys B finalists) played each other early in the season, Westhill 58-43 victors there. However, that one seems like it could be a game. Throw in factors in other games, such as the fact that both teams in the girls A finals (Whitesboro/J-D) have spurtability, along with Cooperstown in C, and if they get going, it could be quite a long night for the opposition. Throw in New Hartford/Ludden in the As for the boys. A lot of these games have good written all over them, but an equal number have good night written all over them, too.
3.) Is this the year for Mohawk? They’ve been knocking on the door the last couple seasons. The Mohicans, 19-1 on the season and winners of 18 straight (though their non-league schedule had more Boeheim cream-puff games than Tom Izzo challenge games), face Fabius-Pompey in the C2 final at HCCC (we’re going to get into this with another point). If this year isn’t it for Mohawk, it never will be… literally. With the Mohawk/Ilion merge a done deal basically, this is the last season of Mohican hoops as we know it. With basically all of Mohawk’s impact players being seniors (sans Mitch Werenczak), this is a core that’s been through the ringer. The fact that their sectional final is practically a home game doesn’t exactly hurt. It’ll be a dogfight against the Falcons – but I’m thinking they’d love to have a matchup at the Dome against Beaver River, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs at the semifinal level last year.
4.) Speaking of Mohawk and HCCC… Section 3 preaches that these games are at “neutral sites”. However, I have to ask myself, is this really a neutral site? Sure, it’s not at Jarvis. Couldn’t get any closer though! I’ve made the Herkimer-to-Fabius drive multiple times before (seriously). It’s about an hour and a half, give or take a few depending on if there are any cops or Amish on the roads. Better chance of seeing the horses & carriages. I’ve also made the Herkimer-to-Mohawk drive multiple times before (again, seriously). It’s about rock-throwing distance. I know Mohawk’s the #1 seed, so the game deserves to be closer to them. However, the section has always said that these games should be half the distance to the higher seed as it is to the lower seed. Wait… how about RFA? Sounds about right! As a Herkimer resident, the proximity is cool with me, and I’ve made enough pointless trips to Syracuse to gladly take this (such as Herkimer/Cooperstown, Little Falls/Cooperstown, and Mohawk/WCV at OCC this past week). It’s still a pain in the ass to see Section 3 be so hypocritical on things such as this, though.
5.) How many people actually care about the best game of the event? I normally wouldn’t make a comment that sounds so ridiculously biased, but I think this one is obvious after looking at the facts. There haven’t been many more games to me that have been more interesting on paper and in mind than Notre Dame/South Jefferson in the B girls final. 2 absolutely dominant teams. South Jeff comes in undefeated and ranked #6 in the state, Notre Dame at #19, which is bogus. There are not 18 teams in NYS Class B better than Notre Dame. They might get at you differently on the offensive end. South Jeff spreads the love (Austin Stevens leading the way at 13.5 ppg, 5 players around 7 or more). Although Notre Dame has plenty of scoring threats, when all is said and done, the rock is in Emily Durr’s hands. Both teams make their living by shutting you down defensively. Notre Dame came into Westhill’s house (ranked #5 in B) and beat them by 20. South Jeff played Caz at OCC (ranked #11 in B) and beat them by over 30. No one has touched South Jeff up north in years. Notre Dame is next-to-untouchable in the Utica area. Two powerhouse programs meeting up. Get your popcorn ready.
6.) Can New Hartford hang with Ludden? Very interesting game – well, at least it could be. One of the rare games at this point in the season where I look at it and think it could be extremely competitive or a complete blowout. If Ludden exploits where they have the advantage (SIZE SIZE SIZE), this one could be in the books. However, NH can really get hot from deep. Each Henderson could give you 20+, each one could hit 5 or 6 treys. Tom Clifford’s in the game to give you a long-range threat, and he hit 2 big ones in succession against Carthage in the 4th. Not to mention pretty much anyone else that they put on the floor can give you a deep threat, with the general exception of their 2 post players. If Ludden pounds the blocks, gets NH in foul trouble, and defends the 3 point line, this one could get nasty. If NH hits a few treys and Ludden lets Sparty get some confidence, this could be a shootout at the OK Corral!
7.) Is this the year that Henninger beats Proctor in a sectional final? Proctor is the defending AA champs at the boys side, and they beat Henninger to win it. Proctor/Henninger used to be the battle back in my high school days, with Proctor guys such as Deandre Preaster, Wes Jackson, Ron Tarver, Akeem Flagg, and Henninger guys such as Ben Cronin, David Simmons, Stefan Gage, Kihary Blue. The last time Henninger was the top dog in these battles was back in the ’03-’04 days, where Proctor had one Josh Wright (Syracuse University), but Henninger had one Cornelious Vines (Hofstra) and Andray Blatche (NBA). They’ve played each other twice this season, with each team winning by double digits on their own floor. Can’t wait to see the madness that ensues! Hopefully not in between the two student sections and next to Tevin Chisholm’s family like last year.
8.) Whose student section will be the best?! Through the regular season, I said it wasn’t even a competition: Ludden’s kids BROUGHT IT. Original, entertaining, and besides the idiot who ran on the court at the end of their game against Grimes, legal. However, NYM’s Marauder Maniacs gave them some stiff competition over the weekend during the Faith Heritage/NYM boys game. I know Proctor and Henninger will both bring it. So who will it be? The favorite Bishop Ludden, the upstart NYM, the always tough Raider Nation, the equally-as-tough Henninger crew, or will it be a darkhorse? Bring your A+ games, student sections! Even if that means including my name in a chant…
9.) Who will make their name here? Last year, Tyler Cavanaugh came out and impressed. Shannon “Every Day” Van Shufflin iced it for her Oriskany Redskins. Little Falls made the story of a lifetime with 7 strong winning the C title. A couple years ago, Anthony DelCoro went from Del”Who”ro to DelHero in one game for C-NS. Who will it be this year? Nick Comenale is looking for it – he played well in the Dome last year, too. Carson Murphy, with over 1,600 career points, could cement himself here. Chris Simmons? Austin Stevens? Liz Millea? Or will it be someone else? Someone we don’t expect? Only time will tell…
10.) Who’s ready for an MVT invasion? We won’t be there Wednesday or Thursday – previous obligations. However, the boys finals will get the MVT takeover on Sunday. Get your popcorn ready!
– Jeff Mlinar
Most Valuable Table 