WAYNESWORD ON HOOP:
Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, 6/28/09
The Terrace Restaurant (formerly “Mario’s) in South Troy served as the setting for what turned out to be an excellent evening of Hoop reverence and acknowledgement for the inaugural class of Section 2 Hoop Hall of Fame inductees. There was an overflow crowd of about 370 people present, in a banquet room with a stated 300 seat capacity, so that some of the attendees unfortunately had to be seated outside the main room for the dinner, watching the proceedings, presentations and speakers on closed circuit TV from an adjoining room.
Before I note the names of some of those stellar people who were present, I’d like to clarify something that many of those attending did NOT seem to realize or appreciate—this whole event, and the inception of the Hall of Fame itself, was due to the organizational efforts, energy, and expense of a single man—Rene LeRoux—who was NOT backed by corporate sponsors or any behind-the-scenes philanthropists. Mr. LeRoux had just put together a book entitled 50 Years 50 Players which involved months of discussion and research with the help of a committee of local experts on the hoop scene. With the help of Albany County Executive Mike Breslin and some of the directors of the Times-Union Arena in downtown Albany, he had also arranged for the Hall of Fame Plaques to be arrayed there in the near future. While the Hall of Fame itself may end up being backed by some prominent local sponsors, this event to celebrate its inception was solely arranged for—and paid for—by Mr. LeRoux himself. I point this out because some people who stood in line to get in seemed surprised to find out that they had to pay to attend and enjoy the excellent three-course meal The Terrace staff produced for all present. Most, however, were happy to do so, and there was no denying how good the turnout had been—it became way more than sold out.
For an event that was slated to begin with a cocktail party at 5 pm, there was a line at the door from 4:30 onward, for two hours or more. Once everyone was admitted, proceedings went fairly smoothly, and almost everyone present seemed to agree that it was a unique and
exhilarating event.
A WHO’S WHO OF LOCAL HOOPDOM
Imagine a room filled with, among many others, the following luminaries: Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, NY Post Sportswriter Peter Vecsey, Siena Coach Fran McCaffrey, former NBA star Sam Perkins, Channel 13 Sportscaster Rodger Wyland (all at one table), the Honorable Barry Kramer, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, St. Rose Coach Brian Beaury, Albany Academy Coach Brian Fruscio,
Bishop Maginn Coach Rich Hurley, Schenectady Coach Mark Sausville, Shen Head Coach Tony Dzikas, Section 2 Tournament Committee Chair Mike Lilac, Executive Committee member Mike Apostel, NCAA referees Jim Burr and John Cahill, former Philip Schuyler Coach Ron Sontz, recently retired Coach George Mardigan, longtime area coaches like Jim Zullo, Don Landrio, and Joe Loudis, T-U Center Director of Operations Gary Holle, plus stars of the recent past like Craig Forth, Jason MacKrieth, Willie Deane, Tony Traver, Chris Ciaccio, Jason DeLuca, Mike Catino, Kevin McGraw, Jon Mueller, Tim Cain, Brendan O’Sullivan, Brendan Mitchell, Johnny Ray Wall, Antoni Wyche, and tons of others, many mentioned below. The place was loaded with talent and mutual respect.
Photo Credit Wayne Perras 2009
Sonny Gooden (Saratoga Springs, 1973) poses with Event Organizer and MC Rene LeRoux with his Hall of Fame Plaque, June 28th, 2009 at the Terrace Ballroom.
I don’t have space here to re-cap the entire list of attendees and those inducted—see my last piece for a link to Mark McGuire’s blog in the Times-Union which detailed that list, minus a few late changes. I will note my personal view of a few notables with whom I spoke: Skeeter Horne, Sonny Gooden, Joe Greco, and Nate Bland—all of whom were local demi-gods from the era when I was in school—were resplendent in their vested outfits, quite personable, and enjoying the accolades to the hilt, except perhaps for a quiet guy like Skeeter, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with the high praise heaped on him. Others reveled in it: John DiBiase was quite animated, for example, supported by a Watervliet faction including his HS coach, Joe Hogan, whom he literally hauled with him to the podium to collect his plaque. No one seemed more pumped to be there than Mr. DiBiase, and he got a rousing howl from his local friends when his name was announced—rivaled only by that of Sonny Gooden’s entourage when it was his turn, or Leon Simon’s faithful fans.
Photo Credit Wayne Perras 2009
Watervliet’s John DiBiase enjoys his time at the podium, flanked by Host Rene LeRoux (left) and his former Coach Joe Hogan (right). Former Columbia High star Craig Forth is seen to the lower left, and presenter Bob Weaver rear left.
Among the members of the nominating committee, Bob Weaver and Bob Pezzano seemed to relish their roles and enjoy the time at the podium the most—recounting tales of those present, as well as some who’d passed away prematurely, in reverent tones. Mr. Weaver in particular spoke in detail about his fanatic efforts to follow a young Barry Kramer’s collegiate career at NYU, after he had graduated from Linton. Weaver related in detail how he would walk from his home in Troy, and take two local buses to the Rensselaer train station, then arrive in Manhattan roughly 3 hours later, in time for the NYU game at the old Madison Square Garden. There he would diligently keep track of shot attempts and stats on Kramer’s game, only to reverse the traveling process at the end of the night, getting home at 3 or 4 in the morning afterwards. Now that’s a remarkable fan, and other than the parents of current players, I don’t know of anyone so devoted.
It was good to see so many elder members of the Hall of Fame present to receive their awards. In addition to keynote speaker Kramer—who was eloquent and hilarious at various times—others from his time frame or earlier were: distinguished gentlemen like Armand Reo and Joe Geiger (from the late ‘50’s at Catholic Central HS), Larry Sheffield, Bill Kirvin (and his lovely daughter), Dick Grubar, Billy Kalbaugh, Tim Kolojay, Phil Schoff (and his two stellar daughters), Billy Williams, plus his former teammate, the aforementioned Leon Simon, who is still an active referee in the area. Chris Fagan (CCHS, ’73) was also inducted as part of a Father-Daughter team with Kate (Niskayuna HS), who is now covering the Philadelphia 76’s for a newspaper in that Metro area.
Tribute was paid to ten or more Hall of Fame members who were deceased, and in many cases they had family members there to receive the awards and commemorations. Dave Modest, Milton Horne,
Mark Mondoux, Gary Pryzbylo, Todd Holloway, Jack Washington, Joe Quickley, Jim Traynham, Leon McDermott, Frank Pinchback, and Calvin Nicholson were among those so honored. I had the pleasure of speaking briefly with Mr. Mondoux’s parents as they came in, and Mr. Nicholson’s son Calvin Junior extensively after dinner in the outer hall. The latter told me that while his father—a star at Philip Schuyler, Class of ’65-- had passed away when he was only 10 years old, he still had fond memories of his dad taking him to the Albany’s Boys Club on Delaware Avenue to show him some hoop moves before that. While admitting that he had not achieved superstar status himself in his high school career, his father’s legacy was being carried out in his young granddaughter’s hoop career, as she was just about to embark on a trip to Russia to compete with a Syracuse-based Select team of 13U girls against the best European players of that age, though she was only 11 years old herself! I hope to find out more about Nicholson Senior, and the current Calvin’s talented daughter in further conversations, and may do a story on that subject in months to come.
AMONG THOSE NOT ATTENDING…
Even among the living and still vibrant among us, there were a few unfortunate no-shows. Foremost among them was Ticky Burden, a resident of South Carolina these days, whom I wrote about in my prior piece, and was hoping to meet. Pat Riley, as President of the Miami Heat, was also understandably busy elsewhere—scouting talent in Italy at the time, I was told. His name came up often, however, as did Ticky’s—clearly the two of them were thought to be among the Top 5 in the area’s hoop history by most if not all observers, and we missed having them there. Likewise for two Saratoga County all-stars, who shared the distinction of having won National Championships in their NCAA careers—Greg Koubek (Duke) and Scott Cherry (North Carolina). Mr. Koubek resides in Southern California now and comes back to the area for his famed basketball camps in August, while Mr. Cherry has recently been appointed to a head coaching position at Division 1 High Point (in Carolina) and is certain to be busy prepping for the fall season in an intense fashion. The two of them, in addition to attendees Craig Forth (Syracuse) and Sam Perkins (North Carolina also), were not only inducted individually but were singled out for having reached the pinnacle of NCAA team success, in their careers subsequent to high school. Also missing from the scene that night was Schuylerville’s reputed best player of all-time, Eric Stover (Class of ’78).
Recent NBA player Lionel Chalmers was not present, but was proudly represented by his parents from the Albany area, as he was reportedly playing in Europe (or was it Russia?) at the time. Warren Prehmus (of Scotia HS and UVM fame) is a highly successful businessman in Georgia who could not attend either. Likewise, Ron Carrington and Elander Lewis, who had also starred at Albany High in the early 70’s and later ‘80’s respectively, did not make the trip that night. Jim Town, a dominant center in north country lore from Glens Falls HS, could not be there, but his sister was, and she joked with me about her thinking that her brother could NOT have been “all that great” while they were growing up, but a night like this made her believe he had been!
Another notable presence, and distinctive voice, that was missed in the proceedings was that of Bob McNamara, former local TV sports broadcaster, who had made famous his “TV Ten Top 10” back in the day, given many in the assembled audience heavy doses of media attention in the 70’s and 80’s. He received an award for his work, but it would’ve been really great to see him there.
One other unfortunate absence was that of Sidney Edwards,
a pre-eminent center from Linton High in the late 60’s and early 70’s who went on to stardom at the University of Houston under the legendary Guy Lewis. Sidney was as dominant a big man as the area ever produced, in an era when there were seemingly a lot more of them
than we see now, and we are sorry that his serious illness caused him to miss this sublime event in honor of talents such as his. We wish him well.
MORE OVERSEAS PRO LEAGUE CONNECTIONS
I realized at this event what a wealth of talent our area has contributed to the European basketball scene—with many players still active there, in addition to Chalmers. Willie Deane was one of the most gracious and pleasant people I met that evening, and he told me that he had been playing for a few years in Bulgaria, but had a good lead with a team in Spain for the upcoming season, and he seemed psyched about the prospect of a better-run league, higher salary no doubt, and better weather, all in one move. I want to wish him well and hope we can follow his continuing success—he and Sam Perkins are the only inductees whose autographs I asked for that night, so he’s in good company. Barry Kramer himself commented that he was a huge Willie Deane fan, and felt he should be in the NBA right now.
Other former Schenectady stars have made a nice living and a name for themselves in Europe as well: Rashaun Freeman was voted MVP of the French League this past season, after a stellar career at UMASS, and James Thomas (Turkish league) was still looking to be in game shape after almost a decade of flying back and forth between the NBA and Europe. The dapper and debonair Jason MacKrieth had also put in some time in Europe, I had heard, but returned to civilian life in the Los Angeles area as an apparently successful young businessman. I told him my son and I had enjoyed watching his and his team’s amazing run through the Sectionals, States, and Federation in 2001, and he was humble in accepting the praise. As with many in the crowd, Jason MacKrieth and Willie Deane just radiated class and confidence, combined with a lack of ego which was refreshing to see.
Antoni Wyche, of Bishop Gibbons in the mid-90’s, is also keeping his hand in the game by recently garnering an assistant coaching position at Lehigh, a ember of the Patriot League, I believe.
Among the youngest of the nominees for inclusion in the Hall of Fame, 2006 graduates Jimmer Fredette (BYU) and Talor Battle (Penn State) were also unable to be there. Jimmer’s dad Al was present to accept his award, and Talor’s Coach Rich Hurley did the same for him. As it turned out, young Mr. Battle has been chosen that week to be a part of the USA Select team in the World University Games, being played in Serbia this summer, so he was busy overseas as well, and the Times Union subsequently provided tidbits of news about his performances there. Each of these two local heroes has two more years to go in their college careers, and we are not betting against either or both of them advancing their hoop prowess even beyond that level later on.
THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
I could have easily spent hours walking around talking to any and all of those assembled, if given the time and chance to do so. As I was working at the door when people came in, and things were pretty hectic for 2 hours, I missed the whole cocktail chit-chat section of the evening, and had to grab conversation here and there while I could. It turned out that when I was conversing with Calvin Nicholson Junior,
Raymond Pickens (from Milne Academy, another forgotten school of Albany’s past), Pleasant Foy and others in the outer hall after dinner, I was missing many of the inductee’s introductions, and a humorous speech by Jim Boeheim taking place in the main banquet room. Unfortunate, as Peter Vecsey pointed out later, who knew? that the usually dour Mr. Boeheim—whom Vecsey commented had been under consideration for a “personality transplant” at times in the past --could be that funny? I am still awaiting a look at the videotape of the gathering before I believe it.
But what I do believe is that, after Mr. Boeheim’s departure, Sam Perkins and Barry Kramer both gave eloquent, respectful, and at times comical speeches that were the highlight of the evening in terms of content. Though at times he was so soft-spoken that I missed some of what he was saying, Sam Perkins came across as one of the most grateful and well-mannered men ever to have achieved 17 years of success in the upper ranks of the NBA. He gave repeated thanks to Herb Crossman, who had been instrumental in helping him move to the Capital District from NYC early in his high school career, and to the Elacqua family of the Latham area, who essentially took him in as one of their own, even though they were not huge hoop fans themselves. Sam heaped praise on his late high school coach, the great Julius Grimindl, for guiding him through those years and helping him make the “right choices” scholastically and later on in his college search. Sam also gave props to his high school teammates (one of whom, Tim Cain, was also inducted), and the opponents he played against in his fabled career in the Capital District. He gave great anecdotes about some of his college and NBA teammates also—men who have helped define the game in the past 20 years. He gave some insights into his current work in Indianapolis with the Pacer organization, working alongside NBA legend Larry Bird, in Player Development, relating how he tries to provide the same kind of beneficial guidance to younger players and prospects as he received. His entire speech and demeanor spoke of “paying it back” to others down the line, in return for all the riches—both real and abstract—that he had enjoyed in his journey. One could only marvel at how humble and unspoiled he had remained through that journey, and what a likeable, even loveable, guy he was. Well beyond when the dinner and the speeches were over, he stuck around, giving out autographs and photo opportunities to whomever asked that of him, gracious to the end.
It was a pleasure and an honor to be in the presence of this massively-dreadlocked, broad-shouldered 6’11” man who could stroke 3’s with the best of them.
Photo by Wayne Perras 2009
Nate Bland (Philip Schuyler, 1972) in the snappy white suit poses for a photo with two of his family members and Keynote Speaker Sam Perkins (Shaker, 1979) at the Inaugural Capital District Hall of Fame Banquet, June 28th, 2009, Troy NY.
Barry Kramer then proved to be both more humorous and humble than I expected a Surrogate Court Judge to be, as well. His speech also gave thanks in myriad directions—from those who had nurtured him early in his hoop quest to those who competed against and played with him later on. He seemed to take as absurd the notion that he had been “the best player in this room” as some had said earlier, and went on to note the greatness he had witnessed in the span from his era up till the present tense, inclusive of many gathered that night, and some not (yet) invited. Certainly he was able to put his own talent in perspective, relative to other Hall of Famers on the list.
With the timing of a Borscht-belt stand-up comic, he related how, when he was in his prime, there were distinct geographical differences in how his game was perceived in the Capital District. He said, in Troy, for instance, they thought that he “was pretty good.” In Albany, they considered him “not that bad…” But in Schenectady, where he had grown up and gone to Linton, the locals claimed that he “really wasn’t that good at all.” Therefore, he concluded: “With that in mind, I’m very glad that this event is being held tonight in Troy!”
He spoke of his time at Linton and NYU and then his stint with the New York Knicks, and later, his time with the Schaefer Brewers and Wedekind Motors semi-pro barnstorming teams with equal ardor. I had heard stories from other former Schenectady-area players who came along 25 years after his heyday, who told how he could still come out of nowhere and swat shots when he was in his late-40s in pickup games or scrimmages. Bob Weaver had testified about the “leaning bank-shots” that Kramer was so adept at, and how he had come in second in the Nation in D-1 scoring one year in college (by a tenth of a point or so), while playing against the highest level of competition such as NYU faced back then. Enough other people had touted his accomplishments and given first-hand impressions of his talent that Barry Kramer could afford to remain modest, just like Sam Perkins. He teased some of his contemporaries, guys like Billy Kirvin and Phil Schoff, Arm Reo and Jim Zullo, that he had played with on the Brewers, about their “swagger” back in the day, and they all laughed at such references, good natured as they were.
The most important, and telling, point that Judge Kramer made that night, however, concerned the fact that over the course of the past 50 years, Capital Region/Section 2 basketball had developed to a point where “we take a backseat to Nobody” on the national scene. He felt that the recent successes of Schenectady, Bishop Maginn, CBA and the like had put upstate hoop on the National map, following up on successes of programs like CCHS, Troy High, Philip Schuyler, Linton, LaSalle, and Mount Pleasant in the distant past. Even though he was “preaching to the choir” (so to speak) on this particular occasion, everyone present was nodding their heads. I thought it was a great moment, and wished my son Miles were in the room listening at that point instead of taking a texting break outside. Mr. Kramer and Sam Perkins both received standing ovations for their wonderful monologues, and rightfully so.
The final major speaker of the evening was the always droll Peter Vecsey, the prototypical wise-cracking New Yorker who has elevated sarcastic, incisive, hip hoop talk to high art, both in print and on nationally televised broadcasts, at TNT and NBC in recent years. He spoke at length early on about baseball, interestingly enough, in regaling the crowd with tales of watching the Brooklyn Dodgers as a bleacher bum, and figuring out which of his National League heroes were actual gentlemen (like Carl Furillo) or virtual Bums (let’s just say Duke Snider—one of my early heroes—didn’t come out looking so good).
When he turned back to Hoop talk, he regaled the local fans with anecdotes of how good Barry Kramer was at NYU, and went on to paint a vibrant verbal picture of the early ABA and Rucker Park Summer Leagues and then the NBA, centered around his relationship with the phenomenal Dr. J, Julius Erving. He has not only covered the pro hoop scene in the Metropolitan area for the better part of 3 ½ decades, but had coached and to some extent played in the Rucker League and other notorious Streetball tournaments prior to that span of time as well. In that regard we can forgive him if he rolled his eyes a bit at Judge Kramer’s claim that Capital Region ball was as good as any—out of the assembled crowd, perhaps no one other than Perkins himself, or maybe Jim Boeheim, cumulatively, has seen the depth and breadth of talent that Vecsey has witnessed up close. Consequently, when he admitted that NYU’s Kramer in the early 60’s was one of the best college kids he had seen up to that point, it carried some weight.
Mr. Vecsey’s tone was clearly more irreverent and off-color than either of the keynote speakers, but his style is well-established and highly entertaining. Shortly after this appearance, ESPN reported that he (along with TV color commentator Doug Collins) would be elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. this coming September, as a sportswriter who has significantly contributed to the legacy of basketball. Rene LeRoux’s timing was good; Mr. Vecsey might have required a much larger appearance fee had he known about that honor in advance!
When Peter Vecsey’s speech was done, Mr. Robert Curley, Chairman of Citizens Bank, made a presentation of paintings, one of which featured Sam Perkins as he had appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated during his college years. I believe these will be part of the inaugural exhibit at the Times-Union Center on Pearl Street in Albany once the Hall of Fame is formally instituted later this year. To conclude the evening, a highlight video—combining recent scenes with grainy black-&-white footage from the past—was shown while the crowd mingled and lingered for an hour more, reluctant to let such a dynamite evening end. I know almost everyone there was thrilled to have been a part of it, and for those who did not go, but would like to read the book that engendered the concept behind the evening, and the Capital District Hall of Fame itself, you can contact me to have one mailed to you wayne@waynesword.com. Cost will be $20. per book, plus shipping, for the commemorative volume which Rene LeRoux self-published locally.
If local, you can find a copy of the book at: Eastline Books in Clifton Park, on Route 9 just a half-mile north of Rte. 146, where a book signing was recently held, featuring Greg Koubek and Barry Kramer themselves. Another is slated for a downtown Schenectady book store soon, so look for that.
To all those who love Section 2 Hoop, I hope to see you at some games this winter and beyond, and hope you get a chance to see the Plaques and Exhibits at the newly enshrined Hall of Fame at the Times-Union Center starting this winter. Look for more news on that in local reporting, and continue to support your Section 2 hoop stars and upstarts in years to come.
--Copyright Wayne Perras 2009
PS: If you dig into the online archives of Mark McGuire’s “2nd and Long” Blog on the Times Union website, originally dated May 23rd,
and scroll down past his short but excellent article on the Hall of Fame,
you’ll note that some people on the list were not actually inducted, and a couple of others were added. One of the criteria was that the Inductee had to actually accept the honor, whether they could be at the Banquet or not. One prominent name on the list chose not to accept, for reasons of his own. Another was left off due to the fact that he did not attend college and it was pointed out that in this first round of nominees, at least, a player’s entire history was considered, not just their high school
career.
If you scroll down the list of Comments on that blog, you will also find excellent arguments for the list to include such names as: Joseph Roberts, Jr., Philip Harris (Class of ’64—went on to play on the famous Texas Western team that beat Pat Riley’s Kentucky team in the NCAA Final of 1966), Lonnie Lefevre, Herb Bowen, Gene Coles (all from Philip Schuyler!); Luther Rackley and Roosevelt Phillips (Troy High, ’65—see above); Fred Shear (Waterford High & Siena); Adam McGuire (Burnt Hills); Bob Miller (Gloversville); Rich Campoli (St. Mary’s); Joe Girard (Shen); Barry Cavanaugh (Rensselaer); Jeff Robinson (LaSalle), and Bobby Sherlock (CCHS). I attempted to lobby for Curtis Blackmore and Pleasant Foy of my alma mater (Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) as well, to no avail. Not everyone can be appeased with the first round of selections, there is no doubt about that. But consider that this discussion was not even taking place a year ago, and now all these names are part of the hoop-speaking consciousness once again, and more names will be added to the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame year after year from this point on.
Amen to that. Keep the discussion going!
--wp
Posted July 24, 2009
HOOP NATION 17U – SPRING 2009 SEASON
As of this writing, the Hoop Nation 17U team is 19-4 overall, and 10-0 in the B Division of the Adirondack AAU League. After an 0-3 start in the first Tourney at LeMoyne College in Syracuse in late March, facing 2 tough Canadian teams and the Southern Tier Rage to start the season, they won the next day over the eventual Tourney Champion from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and have gone 18-1 since then. They were 4-1 in the first local Tournament they entered in April, then won 3 games in succession in the recent Mass Elite Tourney at Brandeis University and won their division there, featured with a picture, I’m told, in the Boston Globe on June 1st.
Their only loss in the past 20 games was to the Ballston Blizzard
in the Semis of the Capital City Classic—they are another excellent local team, also made up of an all-star aggregation from multiple schools.
Our team this season has been comprised of only 8 players, so there have been few complaints about playing time, perhaps one of the keys to good chemistry. The team members are:
LUCAS WAGER 6’8” C Doane Stuart, Junior
MILES PERRAS 6’2” G/F Catholic Central, Junior
ANTHONY LUCIANO 6’3 SG Saratoga Springs, Junior
CHRIS COUGHLIN 6’0” PG/SG Queensbury, Junior
JUSTIN BARNETT 5’8” PG Shenendehowa, Junior
MATT BERTHIAUME 6’5” PF Waterford/HMoon, Soph
DEREK MARCHIONE 6’3” SF Waterford/HMoon, Junior
ADHAM STEWART 6’3” F/C Doane Stuart, Junior
Coach John Wager
Home Court: Spa Catholic, Broadway, Saratoga Springs—
and we thank them for the use of their space!
SYNOPSIS OF THE AAU SEASON:
BEFORE THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN TOURNAMENT
& THE SUBSEQUENT LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
The cool thing about this team so far has been the chemistry, the fact that no one player dominates the action, and they are all pretty good passers and team defenders. They are not the kind of team that scares anyone in the warm-up line—other than Lucas, none of them are physically imposing at all. Their team quickness, especially on defense and finishing at the rim, has surprised a lot of teams that looked more athletic than them to begin with… often the other teams have not understood why they lost. But this team averages double- figure steals each game, with a high of 22 during one game in Massachusetts, and 19 in 2 other games—Justin, Chris, and Miles have each had as many as 8
steals in a contest.
Those three, plus Anthony, Lucas, and Matt have all taken turns leading the team in scoring, so there is never only one guy on offense the other team can key on. All 8 guys on the team have hit double-figure scoring at least once during the season so far. Six of the eight guys on the team are capable of hitting 3-pointers, and the other two do most of their work inside. The team has scored as many as 82 points in a 32 minute game, and went over 70 in nine games out of twenty-three so far, and high 60’s in several others. The top 6 scorers on the team all average between 8 and 12 points, and five of them have over 200 points so far. Anthony Luciano has had a season-high of 22, Justin Barnett’s high game was 21 so far, Miles Perras has hit 19 twice, and Lucas Wager hit 18 in a recent game against the Troy Raptors. Chris Coughlin scored 18 also against a Grizzlies team we played our best game against—all of them coming in the first half of that game on 7 of 8 shooting. Matt Berthiaume hit 16 when we beat a very good Wilkes-Barre squad , likewise Derek Marchione scored 14 when we surprised that loaded Rotterdam Grizzlies team early on, and Adham Stewart scored his season-high 12 points in our last Massachusetts game against a very big front line.
Four of the eight players compete at the AA level in local HS hoop:
all four of the guards in fact. Miles is in the Big 10, Anthony and Justin
are on very good Suburban Council teams, and Chris is in the Foothills,
up north. The four big guys are likely to dominate the C and D leagues
they will respectively play in next year: the two Waterford kids—Matt and Derek—and the two big guys from Doane Stuart—Lucas and Adham-- in the Central Hudson Valley League.
In short, it has been a pleasure watching this team develop and gel— and that is not always the case in AAU hoop, where parental expectations can frequently be derailed, or unmet.
For Miles and Lucas it has been a reunion of sorts, since they started out on the same Rec League teams earlier this decade-- when they were roughly half the size of now-- and Travel Ball after that. Miles and Anthony also played several years together in Saratoga Travel Ball (CDYBL) and AAU in different combinations over the years. Other than those times, and the fact that there are two sets of HS teammates here, none of these guys had played together prior to this season, and in fact had only one practice together before heading off to the first tournament, which was against very good competition. Since then, they have coalesced as a team and shown great cohesiveness and unselfishness, which are hallmarks of a decent team, win or lose.
*****
I’ll have more on their outcomes to re-cap the final weeks of the season and playoffs, and will post a few pictures soon as well. We wish the team in blue a successful ending to a well-played year.
Wayne Perras, statistician & archivist, Hoop Nation 17U, June 2009
June 19, 2009
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Waynesword on Hoop May 2009
RENE LEROUX’S PROJECT:
50 YEARS, 50 PLAYERS
A Discussion of the Best of Section 2 Basketball
For the past several months, I’ve been lucky enough to share in tidbits of hardcore hoop discussion with my friend Rene (pronounced “Rennie”) LeRoux. He is the “Clifton Park man”-- whom Mark McGuire referred to in his blog about this subject-- who has executed his grand idea to write a book detailing who would be considered the Top 50 Players in Section 2 History of the Past 50 Years.
As I began to write this in May 2009, he was nearing completion on his book, and better yet, has arranged for the 50 (or more) named Inductees to be enshrined at the Times Union Arena in a newly inaugurated “Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame.” This is a monumental achievement, in my mind, as I know how much work and research Rene has put into this, trying to come up with an expert consensus of who should be included, out of the hundreds of names considered and put forth.
The first point I would make on Mssr. LeRoux’s behalf is that he did not come up with this list solely on his own, but solicited and elicited the opinions of dozens if not hundreds of consultants (wait till you hear some of his contacts) and then checked with five other local experts as his decision committee:
*The Honorable Barry Kramer
*Bob Pezzano
*Dominick Reo
*Mike Lilac
*Jay Gervin, Esq.
Any name that was brought up as a possible Top 50 candidate was
discussed with different sources—former coaches, teammates, competitors, and observers of the game from various eras. Then Rennie would poll the above five for their thoughts on the individual in question to establish who would make the cut, so to speak.
(The list can still be previewed at Times Union writer Mark McGuire’s 2nd & Short blog at: timesunion.com/mcguire/hoops-heroes-
of-yesterday/3071 …I’m not going to attempt to replicate the whole list of names here.)
Name Dropping as Part of the Art…
The 50 Year period is a bit loose, as the earliest graduation date I could find on the list among players was 1958 (Armand Reo of Catholic Central). The phrase “Hoop Heroes of Yesterday” is also just a bit misleading as two of the consensus choices graduated as recently as 2006 (Jimmer Fredette of Glens Falls, and Talor Battle of Bishop Maginn). Even the number “50” is stretched a bit, as there are also 10 players noted who unfortunately are now deceased, plus there are three father/son combination entries, as well as three father/daughter entries—making a total of 66 names, last I knew, actually oOne point of emphasis on the overall criteria used for compiling this list was that the candidates’ post-high schoolhoop experience was the deciding factor—whether the players in question continued their excellence elsewhere in college or pro ranks was the critical question. Thus some high-profile scholastic stars who never stuck with a college team were eliminated, despite some highlight reel local careers. Also, players who went to college locally, but did not grow up playing in a Section 2 high school, were apparently not eligible, even if they still reside in the area. Current players were not under consideration either.
Whenever possible, Rennie tracked down and spoke to each of the actual nominees who became inductees, all of whom will likely be quoted to some extent in the book. Just recently Rennie told me about conversations he’d had with Luther Rackley (Troy High, 1965) who now lives in NYC, and Ticky Burden (Philip Schuyler, 1971) who not only lives in North Carolina, but has mentored NBA pros Chris Paul (!) and Josh Howard when they were young schoolboys in that area.
Other times, when I tried to reach Rennie during daylight hours,
he was unavailable and I had to call him back—when I began to bust his chops, he’d say something like, “Sorry, I was on the phone with Dean Smith…”
and I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not, so I’d say: “About what?...”
To which he would give a verbal shrug and matter-of-factly explain: “I had to ask him about UNC guys from the area like Sam Perkins and Scott Cherry, and to see if he remembered some of these other guys who played against North Carolina in the past…” Well, excuse me for interrupting, I guess I understand my place in the pecking order of your contacts now, I’d tell him.
His persistence was enviable. He tracked down virtually everyone on the list (at least among the living), and several dozen others who were runners up, or teammates of the stars on the list—many of whom will be quoted in his book. The older the ex-players were, it seemed, the more adamant they were about reviving the memories of their stalwart contemporaries—some gone already, some still with us--guys like Skeeter Horne and Joe Quickley, Dave Modest and Sid Edwards, Jack Washington and Billy Kalbaugh, Bill Kirvin and Phil Schoff. Most of these names I had heard of, read about, and in some cases idolized. Others (only a few though) I had not heard about before, or known. One such was the name “Tim Kolodziej” from Amsterdam HS (’64), who later attended Duke—I had no idea of his significance until I learned that Pat Riley had paid tribute to him and his Amsterdam teammates for being his Linton team’s toughest local opponent during Riley’s high school years. Similarly, I hadn’t heard of Billy Williams (LaSalle, ’61) but apparently he teamed up with esteemed and durable local ref Leon Simon of that same school and year for one of the more formidable frontlines of that era. I was also schooled about great guards of the past like Dick Grubar of Bishop Gibbons (’64) and Larry Sheffield of LaSalle who went onto greatness in the NCAA ranks. It pays to know who the serious hoopers were before your own era, if you want to know the complete and true history of the sport.
One of the gurus of the local AAU scene has previously remarked that players of the current decade are far faster and more athletically talented than those on the list who came before. He is presumably talking about players such as Talor Battle and Taran Buie of recent years, maybe going back to Jason MacKrieth of the great Schenectady team of 2001—lightning quick guards who could rebound, dunk, sprint the court on defense, and hit threes. No doubt the overall depth of talent and extent of athleticism is greater now as more and more urban, suburban, and even country kids have embraced the game as their favorite sport. But were the above named Capital District stars any faster or better than Johnny Ray Wall (Albany HS, ’79) who was recruited by Assistant Coach Rick Pitino to go to Syracuse, only to follow Pitino when he took the head coaching post at Boston University, where Wall got his degree in four years? Or were they better or more athletic than Elander Lewis (Albany,’86)? Knowledgeable locals like Greg Koubek and Brendan O’Sullivan (Dartmouth) —both Shen ’87 grads who made the list—do not think so, after having competed against Lewis directly— they both lobbied hard for Elander’s inclusion on this list. Lewis went on to play 4 years of college ball, recruited to St. John’s and then transferring to VCU where he was leading scorer his last two years there.
As one who watched hoop intently in the late 60’s and early ‘70’s, I’d say that you could put the guards of that era—Ticky Burden, Dave Modest, Milton Horne, and Paul Mason (of Colonie, who did not make the list, yet)—up against any recent stars of the Section 2 hoop scene, without any drop-off in jaw-dropping talent. It’s too bad there are no video highlights archived from that era to prove the point, because if you saw the blurs that were Modest and Milton Horne streaming down the court, or saw the up-close power and killer instinct of all-round guards like Burden and Mason, you’d be careful what you said about comparing eras. And since Burden excelled in the pros (ABA first, then NBA), and both the late great Modest (for Providence) and Horne (for New Mexico) appeared as starters for Final Four teams in the NCAA, many current household names still have a ways to go to match their achievements.
Speaking of Final Fours, not only Shen’s Greg Koubek can stake a claim in that regard to college fame—one recent East Greebush grad, seven-footer Craig Forth (Columbia, 2000) started for all four years at Syracuse, and of course was a key part of the 2003 Championship team that featured Carmelo Anthony, Hakeem Warwick, and Gerry McNamara.
There are also several coaches (mostly retired) and two referees to be inducted into the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame—both of the latter who are still extremely active: Jim Burr and John Cahill. Burr himself mentioned that he has officiated at seven Final Fours in NCAA competition, and even the casual college hoop observers will recognize Burr and Cahill’s names regularly on ESPN and Network TV during the season.
Every local hoop fanatic’s frame of reference will be somewhat different on this subject—whether you are discussing the players or the coaches, whatever era you grew up in or played in yourself will form the core of your preferences, no doubt. For me, I was happy to see the era of my youth (the early 70’s in particular) well-represented: (Ticky Burden the best I ever saw up close; John DiBiase (Watervliet, 1972), whom I’ve written about recently on this website; Chris Fagan (CCHS, 1973) whom another notable inductee (Gary Holle, CCHS, 1972) called the best shooter he’d ever seen; and Warren Prehmus (Scotia, 1973), Jim Town (Glens Falls, 1973), Sonny Gooden (Saratoga, 1973)—guys who I always heard about but whom I never saw play even though I graduated in the same year. Then there was Nate Bland, who played the Scottie Pippen role to Ticky’s pre-Michael Jordan presence back in the day…I was happy to see him included. One reason he was is that he went off to Centenary College, where he was high scorer on a team that also featured NBA Top 50 player Robert Parrish of the Boston Celtics. I didn’t know that little tidbit till my fellow fanatic hoop fan Bill Luciano mentioned it to me when reviewing these choices. His father Tony Luciano’s Hudson Falls teams got the chance to face Philip Schuyler’s juggernaut in the B Finals back then, as did my alma mater Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk. Bill saw Joe Greco (Whitehall, 1971), Sonny Gooden and Jim Town up close in the north country, while I watched in awe as a junior high player when guys like Milton Horne
(Schuyler) and Dave Modest (Linton) were stunning at guard, and big men like Skeeter Horne (Schuyler) and Sidney Edwards (Linton) were dominating the urban scene at the highest levels of Section 2 comp at the time. Other stalwarts of the day, whom I never saw play in high school since I was roughly the same age and in a different league, were Gary Holle (Siena later on) and Chris Fagan (Colgate, Irish Pro League) of CCHS, and Scotia’s Warren Prehmus (University of Vermont). Ron Carrington of Albany High did not make the cut, although he was one of the best summer ball players I ever saw at Lincoln Park, and went on to play at St. John’s in NYC on the college level. There were so many players back in the ’71-73 era who were tremendous that picking a Top Ten team was a real challenge, and I admit being jealous of the guys in that rarified air that I read about in the papers so often.
As an R-C-S alum from the tail end of that golden age, I would’ve like to have seen Coach Howie Tucker on the initial list of coaches to be inducted, and I lobbied hard from outside the inner circle to get the man Coach Tucker often said was his best player ever—
Curtis Blackmore—selected to the list as well. Despite a stellar career alongside fellow big man Pleasant Foy (aka, “Junior”) at RCS and then the all-time career leader in rebounding at U. Buffalo, Blackmore did not make the list, though he was one of those not reachable by Google search or phone records, which worked against his inclusion. As ardent basketball fans locally, we will all have favorite players that missed the cut on the first round, but the Hall of Fame, like its counterpart in Springfield, Mass., will have subsequent additions elected to its shrine.
But Mr. LeRoux cannot be accused of being a hometown cheerleader, either—he graduated from St. Peter’s HS of Saratoga Springs, now known as Spa Catholic, a school with only one alumnus among the entrants—Scott Cherry, Class of ’87— who went to North Carolina, as mentioned. Likewise, only one player from Saratoga Spring HS is listed—Sonny Gooden. Tim Parker, who many agree was the best individual talent ever on display in Saratoga, did not make a successful impact at Providence College, and did not make the cut when the big picture was considered. When I told him that one blog writer had pushed hard for a kid from Burnt Hills—Adam McGuire, ’02—in a very convincing fashion, Rene quickly asserted, “there are a hundred ahead of him.” Hence, the competition is intense.
If you read the comments on this subject on the T-U blog
referenced above, you will note that many people are tossing out names
from the school they attended. Devotees and alumni of schools such as
Philip Schuyler, Linton, Mont Pleasant, and St. Joseph’s of Albany will
contend that their hoop stars are under-represented at these now-defunct academies. Older ex-players will extol the golden years of Troy High and CCHS, and would lobby for more names than are already on the list. Clearly there are hundreds of hoop players who could be debated about—but there is no scientific means of comparing players from different eras, different leagues, different levels of competition.
One thing fans should realize about the criteria used to compose this list is that simply excelling on the high school level was not enough—as with Tim Parker and others-- almost without exception those chosen had gone on to notoriety and success in NCAA Division 1 College ball, and in some cases, pro ball as well. The most eminent members of the Top 50 list-- one before and one after my own era, as noted above—were judged to be Barry Kramer himself (Linton, 1960), who went on from fame at NYU to play with the Knicks in the mid-60’s, and of course, Sam Perkins (Shaker High, 1979), who shared the NCAA championship stage with James Worthy and Michael Jordan at North Carolina under aforementioned Coach Dean Smith, and then went on to a 17 year career in the NBA, reputedly making the cover of Sports Illustrated on 5 different occasions during his career.
Perkins was an exceptionally high profile case of a Section 2 athlete ascending to the big time—many of us saw him hit clutch threes in huge playoff games on national TV while playing with the Sonics, Pacers, and especially the L.A. Lakers, even if we didn’t catch him on the high school scene, playing right here in Latham and other Suburban Council gyms. But what struck me about many of the men now on this list is that their college careers were not well-documented in local papers once they moved outside the Capital District to play elsewhere. How many people knew back then that Watervliet’s John DiBiase started alongside future ABA pro John “Hot Rod” Williamson at New Mexico State when they were ranked as high as 7th in the nation? Or that Albany’s version of “The Roadrunner,” lightning-fast Milt Horne, played in a Final Four a few years before that at the University of New Mexico?
By the time Ticky Burden left the University of Utah after 3 years to play in the ABA himself against the likes of Julius Erving, and later played briefly for the Knicks, we knew about his feats, but I don’t remember hearing about how he scored 44 for Utah against UNC’s Walter Davis down in Chapel Hill one night in college—that stuff just wasn’t widely reported back then. Nowadays we have Talor Battle (at Penn State, leading them to their first NIT title ever this year) and Jimmer Fredette (who already appeared in two NCAA tourneys in his first 2 years at BYU) getting major local publicity for their collegiate efforts. The last time I remember that happening on such a regular basis was when Greg Koubek (Shenendehowa, 1987) went on to play under Coach K. at Duke and competed in four consecutive Final Fours,
as either a starter or a sixth man, a feat that still has not been duplicated, as far as I know, by any D-1 college player in the country.
In the more modern era, we have seen nominees James
Thomas (Schenectady, 1996) and Lionel Chalmers (Albany, 2000) make their way to the NBA stage for a few years. But how many youngbloods these days would recognize the name Luther Rackley-- formerly of Troy High and then excelling at Xavier before embarking on a 10-year ride in various NBA locales? Or that some of our local standouts are continuing to shine in International ball: both James Thomas (in Lithuania) and Schenectady’s Willie Deane (Class of ’98, who also starred in the Big 10 at Purdue), now playing in Russia, have just won league championships in those countries?
It would serve the hoop youth of Section 2 well to read this upcoming book and learn something about the exquisite history of Capital District basketball, which existed at a very high level long before the current Class of 2009’s generation was born.
For lovers of hoop lore who are older than the current generation
of players, there is much to be learned and/or brought back to life in these hoop histories that are now being shared, both in print and in the Hall of Fame at the Times-Union Center on Pearl Street in downtown Albany.
This is a great thing, and long overdue—but it took someone with the know-how, energy, and tenacity of Mr. LeRoux to pull it all together and make it happen. I am proud to have been a peripheral part of the process of his production.
For more of these Section 2 (extended Capital District) Basketball stories, anecdotes, quotes, and evaluations—check out a copy—in fact, BUY a copy-- of Rene LeRoux’s locally published book, as soon as it comes out—slated for late June, 2009.
I will post the places it is available as soon as I hear, and they will also be available through this website, so check back.
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Subject 1: *Quick Re-cap, Section 2 AA Semis…
Subject 2: *Rennie LeRoux’s Project…Top 50 of All-Time
Subject 3: *Hoop Nation 17U for 2009 Spring Season
Subject 4: *Times Union’s Big & Small School All-Stars
Subject 5: *CCHS Prospects for 2009-2010
1.Section 2 AA Semis: Shenendehowa against CBA
Bishop Maginn vs. Albany Academy
Shen Within a Foot of an Upset
Early March was about 2 months ago as I write this—but both of these games are still fresh in my mind. The crowd at the T-U Arena was nearly a full-house on that Tuesday night, and they all got their money’s worth in that double-header—two of the best high-level games I’ve seen in the Sectional Playoffs around here, back-to-back.
In the opener I spent the first half thinking that the
Suburban Council team (Shen) was proving they were no match for the
perennially strong Big 10 Brothers, and the second half thinking I was wrong. Junior Matt Miner was a major reason—after shooting only about 1-7 and looking tentative in the first half, he got things rolling in the third quarter and stayed hot in the fourth, and overtime, to end with 21, scoring inside and out. In the first half it had been CBA’s speed (Gilal Cancer and Kam Ritter) combining with size (eventual AA MVP Andrew Stire) to build a seemingly safe 8 pt. lead at the break. But the real surprise turned out to be sharpshooter Max Weaver, who hit a season-high 19 pts. to lead the CBA team overall. Our school had played CBA twice earlier in the season, and I hadn’t seen him shoot like that before, though I’d heard he could, just like his clutch older brother Luke a few years back. Since he was their 4th highest scorer for the season according to the T-U website I shouldn’t have been surprised I guess.
I won’t attempt a lengthy review, but what stood out was the image of a driving Miner, finishing on the break to climax the Shenendehowa comeback, pumping his fist and riling up the green crowd in the stands. At that point I think they had a brief lead. Senior big man Ryan Murphy rebounded admirably against Stire that night, and Manny Hernandez came off the bench to offer a 4 pt. + handful of rebounds spark, but ended up with the points being credited to another player on the Times-Union webpage, and his name left off. But I was surprised that guard Danny Lee was not used down the stretch; after he drained a nice three early in the first half, he hardly played from then on. His brother Matt, however, a year older, finished regulation with a dramatic deep two off a quick upcourt push with time running out—when he hit it I thought it was a three that had just won the game, but he was apparently just inside the arc, making it a tie. Still, it was a great moment for any player, but especially one in a pressure-packed game, in a packed house, with probably over a thousand Clifton Park fans cheering like mad for him and the team. I’m sure Matt Lee still wishes he had pulled up one step further out on that shot, and they might’ve been on their way to the Finals.
Just before that, Kam Ritter had hit a key pull-up J
to break the late-game tie, temporarily re-establishing the CBA lead. It looked like a game-winner at the time, until Lee’s heroics after a Shen timeout. In overtime the CBA guards took over, however, and Shen’s troops seemed to have run out of gas, after a valiant effort. CBA ended up winning by seven--63-56-- but had come within about a foot-and-a-half of losing it, if Lee’s shot had been a 3.
Weaver’s work at the line was in fact what won the game for CBA, when you looked at the stat sheet. He hit 9 of 10 from the line, while the rest of his team was only 12 for 25 combined.
Academy Takes Maginn
In the Finale, I had to believe that either of these teams would easily beat either of the above. Even though the first game
was exciting, it did not seem to be played by the same caliber of athletes
as the second game featured. That turned out to be wrong, but we’ll get to that.
This game was the most highly-anticipated match-up of the season, and maybe even more so than the sold-out battles between
Maginn and CBA in recent years. While Academy had played out-of-state tournaments and beat some high-level downstate teams to ascend to the #2 ranking among big school in New York State, most people I know (and most writers on the T-U blogs) seemed to believe that Maginn’s greater speed and depth would result in a win for the Griffins. But Nolan Hart hit an early three to push the Cadets ahead, and from the start, it was a scrappy, closely-contested game. Maginn’s Jerel Scott and Taran Buie each answered with threes of their own, while Tyler Foster hit one for Academy as it went back and forth. Buie ended up 2 of 4 from deep for the quarter, not really driving till later in the game. James Torres, giving up about 6 inches in the post to Academy’s Chris Pelcher, was fighting him hard, one of the area’s few guys who was just as strong as the Iona-bound big man. It was 14-14 at the end of the first, and the ringside fans sensed an epic battle.
Buddha Attempts a Takeover
Jamel Fields for Academy (aka Buddha, for unknown reasons, ever since he was a youngster) had been somewhat quiet in the opening period, with 2 assists, a break layup, and 3 points. But in the second quarter he came alive and propelled a burst that made Academy look to be the superior team. First he hit a three, a putback, then after a turnover drove effectively twice and went to the line both times, hitting all four free throws. Another slicing drive and a 26-foot pull-up just before the half gave him 14 points for the quarter and the Cadets went bouncing off into the locker room with a surprising margin of 36-25, and all the momentum seemed to be on their side. Buddha had 17 at that point, Nolan Hart 8, Pelcher 6, and Foster 5.
Buie had hit another 3, plus a beautiful twisting left-handed curl shot in the period, but also had missed 5 shots, and had taken 8 of the Maginn team’s 12 in that quarter. He had 14 at the break, Jerel Scott had 5, Torres, Trahson Burrell (off a Buie bullet pass), and Bunduka Kargbo had 2 each. Two things became apparent at that point to students of local ball: Buie was going to be taking the majority of the shots for Maginn; and Kargbo, though widely touted for his defensive skills, was not able to cover or contain Jamel Fields. Kargbo is and was a battle-tested hoop warrior and a finely-tuned athlete, but did not have the hard-core hoop fluidity of Fields—he was, as I have noted before, more suited for football, and in this game the true hoop freak was winning out, at least up to that point.
Defensive Chess Match in the Second Half
Credit Coach Hurley for noticing the latter (it would’ve been hard not to), and making an adjustment at the half. He put Buie, the legit D-1 hoop star himself, on Jamel Fields, who would then hit only 1 of 8 the rest of the way, plus a few foul shots, for 5 more points. As a team, Albany Academy hit only 2 of 11 from behind the arc in the second half, though each of the 2 was important at the time—point guard Jimmer Bennett, who handled Maginn’s pressure well, with no turnovers in the game, hit an open top-of-the-key three in the third period, and Foster hit another to partially quell the Maginn rally that everyone knew was coming.
Buie limited Fields to 2 free throws in the 3rd, and took a barrage of shots for 11 points of his own, as Maginn won the period 17-10, trimming the lead to 46-42 heading into the final period. The fourth quarter was a battle of attrition (or lousy shooting, however you like to look at it), and it’s shocking to note that the score for the quarter was only 9-5 in favor of Maginn. The defense was ramped up on both ends, but for these high-powered teams to both be held in single-figures for an entire quarter was pretty amazing, and probably a first for each team on the season.
According to my unofficial stat line, Academy was only 2 for 12 in that pivotal period, with both buckets coming inside on Pelcher rebound/putbacks. All four other starters missed 3s in the quarter, and were 0-9 overall. As a team, they were 1-4 from the line. They scored just enough to force the game to overtime, a 51-51 tie in regulation.
Bishop Maginn certainly had their chances to win in the 4th quarter but could not salt away the comeback victory. Buie went 0-5 from the field and 2-4 from the line, though that gave him 27 points in regulation. Late in the game he missed the first and hit the second at the line and you could tell he knew that first miss could come back to haunt him. James Torres also went to the line at a critical time in the last minute, and missed both…but without his brute strength Maginn would not have kept Pelcher in check as much as they did. When he fouled out late in the game and did not play in overtime, it hurt Maginn in a big way.
Jerel Scott hit a beautiful 3 from the right wing in the 4th to aid the Golden Griffins comeback. Trahson Burrell had 11 rebounds in the game (by my book, at least), including 7 in the 4th and O/T. Scott was 4-9 from the field, and Burrell only 1-7, but both could’ve taken more shots in my opinion. In Bennie Kargbo’s defense, he came through with two nice hoops in the 3rd and one in the 4th when Maginn made their run. But Academy transfer Shavar Fields, who I thought would be greatly motivated to play against his former schoolmates, was barely given any chance to do so, and talented big man John Scurry really only played once Torres fouled out. Chris Jeffers, another excellent junior big man, contributed 2 rebounds and an assist in spot play. So if anything could be critiqued about the coaching, Maginn’s depth up front was not used to maximum effect.
On the other hand, for Academy, I always thought Pelcher—who rarely if ever went against guys as big as him in local play—would tire in a tough game against athletic front lines, but I must say he got stronger toward the end, despite playing the entire game. I had him for 15 points and 13 rebounds, scoring 7 of his team’s final 14, with 7 of his aroms coming in the 4th and O/T. But if you weren’t there, here’s my take on how this classic game ended.
A FINISH YOU COULDN’T HAVE PREDICTED OR WRITTEN…
I didn’t have the exact sequence of the first few minutes of overtime written down, but it was riveting to watch, so forgive any inaccuracy. Pelcher hit 2 early free throws (once Torres was out of the game, he could push his way inside again). So did Jimmer Bennett, the Academy PG who was only 1-5 from the field at that point, but was clutch from the line. Jerel Scott hit a clutch two to put Maginn on the board. Then Jamel Fields got his last bucket of the night (he ended with 19 points), sandwiched inside a couple of missed three-balls. Academy was ahead 6-2 in the extra session, and their crowd was starting to whupp it up, understandably enough.
Taran Buie came downcourt off the dribble and without hesitation buried one of the deepest threes I’ve seen him take: it dropped through the bottom, barely flipping the net. One crowd hushed while the other one roared. That gave him 30 for the game, and he was clearly primed to be the hero here. But his team was still down one—57-56 I believe at that point.
Pelcher got fouled again, and hit the first, missed the second. I then recall thinking Bunduka Kargbo was taking too much of a chance crashing into the lane, fearing he might get a charge called, but he not only put in the shot to tie the game at 58, he went to the line and sunk it.
Maginn was ahead 59-58. Fields missed his final attempt at a 3, which would’ve been a killer if he hit it. Buie gets fouled and inexplicably misses both, still up one. There was a skirmish under the boards, the ball goes out of bounds I think at that point, under Maginn’s hoop, just a couple of seconds left, Academy calls a time-out, has to go 94 feet as they say to score. Right now it looks like Kargbo’s three-point play will
be the storybook ending for Maginn. Something like 4, 5 or 6 seconds remain. The crowd is buzzing as it comes down to this.
But here’s the crazy part:
Tyler Foster takes the ball out of bounds, playing the Grant Hill role. Jamel Fields looks like he wants the ball off a curl but he is just a decoy. Pelcher sets a pick for Jimmer Bennett (a record-setting wide receiver in football, mind you, though he seemed more the quarterback type to me), who goes long for the bomb. Taran Buie is all over him, knowing the breaking pattern might be their option. He is slowed by the screen but recovers. Foster’s pass release is actually shorter than needed for the Hail Mary to win the game, and Maginn’s John Scurry is playing safety mid-way above the key, to prevent it from happening anyway.
Scurry seems to have the floating interception easily lined up, but unfortunately, so does Buie, who is looking back over his shoulder to pick off the pass himself, or at least knock it away to kill the clock. He has no idea Scurry is in his path, also poised to leap.
Frankly, almost everyone in the place thought the game was over
and Maginn would be celebrating in 2 or 3 seconds.
But as Scurry is in the air with his hands outstretched, almost touching the ball, Buie crashes into him and both are suddenly tangled in flight like 2 teammates clamoring for the same easy rebound. In a moment of hoop horror for both, they mutually collapse in a heap to the floor, and the ball sails safely and miraculously into the hands of an all-too-willing Jimmer Bennett, who calmly scores a simple lay-up. 60-59 lead, Academy.
Then it turns out, though the Academy players and their crowd are roaring, that there is still time left on the clock, though only a scant couple of seconds still to play. After the obligatory timeout to set up the final drama, Bishop Maginn does the predictable thing and gets the ball in Buie’s hands, to make it or break it. Assistant Coach Jimmy Hart for Academy—who has been Buie’s advocate and AAU mentor since TB was in 5th grade—had to have known that not only would Buie get the ball, he would not give it up in such a situation. Academy triple-teamed Buie as he crossed half-court, and Taran tried to go through, but the ball squirted away and the horn sounded.
Meanwhile, Jerel Scott, their next best jumpshot artist, was on the right wing behind the arc, arms up, reading to stroke it from a spot he’d hit from before, calling for the ball. Either Kargbo on the inbounds, or Buie after catching it, didn’t see him, or their minds were made up already. I really thought Buie should’ve been the decoy and Scott the designated assassin, but he did not get the chance.
Academy reacted like they’d just advanced to the State Finals by beating mighty Maginn, a celebration which was also understandable. Nobody but CBA had beaten Maginn in Section 2 in the past 3 seasons, and since they had not met in the regular season, this game was a hotly debated “pick ‘em” going in. There was woofing and shirt-puffing and chest-pounding on center court, and who can blame them? As the Maginn guys dejectedly headed off the court, it seemed a tragedy had just occurred to them, and their supporters were stunned, in full disbelief that the season was over, as well. I realized how NOT used to losing Taran Buie was. Only Class A Federation champs Jamesville-Dewitt, and Lincoln of Brooklyn (in the AA Federation Finals) had beaten them last year, and then a couple of downstate powers this year. To have fallen off the pedestal in the Sectional semis was a huge come-down to them. It would likely be Buie’s last game in the Capital District on the High School scene, though he was only a junior.
AFTERMATH, & ANTI-CLIMAX…
Buie has declared his intention to join his brother Talor Battle
(recently given a small photo feature in SLAM Magazine’s July 2009
edition—did you see that?!) at Penn State in the Fall of 2010. He will reportedly go to prep school in Pennsylvania next year, and I heard he is trying to talk Trahson Burrell into joining him there, though this is
unconfirmed as I write this.
Maginn will lose James Torres and Bunduka Kargbo to graduation. They had another potentially lethal scorer named T.J. Jefferson as a senior on the bench who never got much burn, though he could’ve started anywhere else locally. If Buie and Burrell are gone, then Jerel Scott, Chris Jeffers, and John Scurry will be their experienced returnees next season, and they will re-load with JV guys
and transfers in their pipeline. I don’t know the fate of Shavar Fields,
a 6’7” leaper with great raw talent who never really found favor in Coach Hurley’s system. There are a lot of teams who could use him,
including CCHS in Troy, but perhaps next year will be his time to shine.
Don’t feel too sorry for Maginn; they will be back one way or the other.
Albany Academy was making plans for their run out to Syracuse to play in the Regionals, no doubt, at the point of victory over Maginn. They were heavy favorites to beat CBA in the AA Final. But a week later, on the same floor, at about the same time of night, they realized that they had underestimated A) the coaching genius of Dave Doemel;
and B) the center match-up among the area’s best two big men—
Chris Pelcher of the Cadets, and CBA’s Andrew Stire, who I thought was the most underrated player in Section 2, based on how he had
played against CCHS in the past.
I did not see this game, and therefore won’t try to report on it.
All I know is that Stire won the Section 2 MVP award for the Playoffs,
and thus the local Goliath, Pelcher, finally met his match on the local scene, in his last high school game. Kam Ritter and Gilal Cancer also played well, and the CBA system of controlled tempo and tenacious D won out over the offensive juggernaut of Academy by keeping the game in the 50’s instead of the 70’s or higher.
CBA of Albany would go on to lose to CBA of Syracuse in the Regionals, and the latter team lost to Niagara I believe on the way to the State Finals. Without the expected arrival of Maginn or Academy in Glens Falls, the upper echelon of the State Tournament did not draw me north this year.
Academy will lose seniors Tyler Foster, Jimmer Bennett, and Chris Pelcher to graduation, and Jamel Fields to prep school as he has
reached the age limit for scholastic eligibility. That leaves Nolan Hart
as the only returning starter for them next year. Two freshmen were the only reserves to get significant time—Hunter McCarthy and Matt
Laclair—who functioned mostly as passers, spot-up shooters and effective zone-busters --this year. I’m sure Academy will re-load as well, but it will be a completely different squad from this point on.
After the rigorous schedule Coach Fruscio put them through this past year, they had every right to think it was their turn to go to the State
AA Championships in Glens Falls with that team, especially once they beat Maginn, but it was not to be.
That concludes my all-too-lengthy re-cap of Section 2 for the 2008-2009 season. That double-header at the T-U in the AA Semis will be tough to top, but I’m looking forward to next year’s season (my son’s senior year) with a largely new cast of characters and stars.
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Copyright Wayne Perras May 2009
May 19, 2009