Change of scene

With our beloved Lions short handed, exhausted and in the nausea inducing death spiral of a season killing five game winless streak, Mrs. Smith and I took solace in a pair of ducats for Saturday’s hottest sporting event in the north Bronx .  Thus we found ourselves headed to the foothills attaching NYC to the rest of America for the CHSAA Class AA basketball league final between the Mount St Michael’s Mountaineers and the Ravens of  St. Raymond’s. The trip did not take us totally off  reservation as one of the anticipated stars of the match has been sought by Columbia and another one of the featured dazzlers will be playing against the Lions in next year’s edition of the ancient eight.  In any case, the contest promised scholastic basketball as good as it gets.

Last spring the Mount’s Coach Tom Fraher had bemoaned his squad’s promotion to AA ball after several year’s of dominance in the less haughty Class A circuit.  Nonetheless, his kids had run to a 20-6 record and battled to the title match against Coach Oliver Antigua’s perennially tough crew.  The key to Coach Fraher’s success, as last year (when the Mountaineers went all the way to the state A finals), was his 3 headed backcourt of Anthony Maestre, Andrew Utate and Dartmouth-bound team leader Malik Gill who at 5′ 9″ has yet to see an interior defense that can stop him getting to the rim or a perimeter capable of shutting off his jumper.  The trio’s routines bear a fair resemblance to Columbia’s drive and kick offense though performed at higher revs and with better shooting percentages.  These backcourters would have to counter Saint Raymond’s slickly powerful down low duo of 6′ 7″ Daniel Dingle and the muscular, 6’5″  Nkeruwem  Okoro.  These big boys are fed by the Ravens’ dynamic guard Shane Rector (recruited by our Lions among many others) whose end to end play can justly be considered the equal of  Mr. Gill’s.

Though these inside/outside tendencies may have distinguished the two squads as much as their unifoms’ colors, both teams scrapped and screened, drove and dished, boxed out and banged the boards.  Above all they defended, defended, and defended some more for 32 minutes of thrilling basketball.  Baseline to baseline and tip off to final buzzer, much to the increasingly vociferous delight of the fortunate crowd packing the Mount’s championship banner festooned gymnasium, the kids battled.  And all praise to the refs who let ’em play.  We know the stripers did their calling proud because all three of them caught heckfire from both coaches.

In the end, the Mountaineers’ active 3-2 zone could not close off the Ravens’ deft, ball handling bigs.  Daniel Dingle especially made one tough bucket after another, despite the zone collapsing around him, down the stretch.  At the other end of the floor, Coach Antigua’s gambit of playing Mr. Nkoro on the Mount’s spark plug Gill proved decisive.  The 6′ 5″ Raven hitched up his shorts, dug into his defensive stance and dared the 5′ 9″ Gill to beat him off the dribble.  The Dartmouth frosh to be did not refuse the challenge but was constrained enough by the big man’s exertions that Gill was left heaving a desperation 3 as time ran out on a 58-60 loss for the home team.

Post-game we collared Coach Fraher briefly.  Sorry for your loss, but what a great game!  How was his squad taking it?  “Oh kids are resilient.  They’re already talking and joking,” he said, smiling not quite sadly and looking over our heads for familiar faces.