NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Brian Crockett, a 2001 Yorktown graduate, died in a car accident early this morning in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.

The Record first reported the news.

A 26-year-old man was killed in a car accident on I-95 early this morning, police said.Brian Crockett of New York City rear-ended a UPS tractor trailer at high speed at 12:42 a.m., said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones. He was driving an Audi A4 registered in New Jersey, Jones said.

Crockett suffered major head trauma. He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m., Jones said.

Jones said police do not expect to file any charges against the UPS truck driver, Denis D. Cadet. Cadet was not injured in the crash.

Crockett was an All-American attackman his senior year at YHS. He ended his high school career with 217 points, which was good for 10th all-time. He then went on to play at Syracuse University, winning a National Championship in 2004.

The Red Devils and Red Rams square off today at 1 p.m. at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

In a rare twist, Peekskill will be fulfilling the underdog role of Rocky.

DeWitt, who has garnered national attention, is undoubtedly Drago — sans communism and steroids, of course.

Get updates as the drama unfolds from our twitter feed: http://twitter.com/ncnsport

Peekskill’s Daquan Brickhouse purees opponents like an Iron Chef does vegetables.

The junior point guard’s combination of lateral quickness, elite ballhandling ability and cheetah-like straightaway speed make him one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the state.

Essentially, he’s the human razor blade.

But a severe ankle sprain — which he suffered against Lakeland in the sectional finals March 1 — dulled down his edge.

Brickhouse would never be confused with a butter knife, but he didn’t have the same deadly precision against Norwich in the regional quarters and Cornwall in the regional finals. He admitted as much, saying it was a mental challenge to trust the ankle’s stability.

In the Class A state semis against the East Hampton Bonacs, Brickhouse finally cut loose. He was sharper than ever in the Red Devils’ 55-48 win, scoring a team-high 15 points dishing out five assists and pulling down five boards Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

“The first two games after the loss to Lakeland I wasn’t focused on the game — I was more focused on my ankle,” Brickhouse said. “Now that we had the big stage I wasn’t worried about it anymore. I had to bring my team back to the state championship. It’s an experience that everyone has to have before they graduate.”

Peekskill will play defending state champ Jamesville-Dewitt in the finals tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Red Rams dealt the Red Devils a lopsided loss in last year’s Class A  state semis.

“They exposed us last year,” senior guard Ralph Watts said. “We didn’t come in too focused.”

Revenge?

“Oh, yeah,” Watts said. “It goes through my mind everyday that we lost to them last year. This year I’m coming for my state championship.”

Read a ton more about both games in next week’s NCN (3/25)

With 1:42 left in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Class A regional finals, the lights went out.

Players from Peekskill and Section 9’s Cornwall milled around the SUNY New Paltz gym, killing the eerie 20-minute intermission by cracking jokes, dancing to the awkward K104 jams and stretching to stay loose.

Red Devils junior point guard Daquan Brickhouse was merely charging up.

When the lights turned back on, Brickhouse was electric. He scored four of his team-high 16 points in the final 1:42 of regulation, surging the Red Devils to a remarkable 57-54 victory.

Right before the players broke from the bizarre break in the action, the Peekskill captain gathered his players into a huddle.

“We can either go to Glens Falls next Friday or we can can say goodbye to our seniors early,” Brickhouse said to the squad.

After the game, he said the underclassmen simply “didn’t want to say goodbye.”

Brickhouse added that he had watched Syracuse’s Johnny Flynn lead the Orangmen over UConn in a miraculous six-overtime game the previous night.

“I’m the same [as Flynn] on this team, so I had to do the same thing tonight,” he said.

The Red Devils will play the Long Island champ — either Section 8’s Roslyn or Section 11’s East Hampton — March 21 at the Glens Falls Civic Center in the state semis.

Read a ton more about this game in next week’s North County News (3/18).

Lincoln Hall, who overcame a sluggish start, lost to the Burke Catholic Eagles, 67-64, Wednesday in the Class B regional semis at Vassar College.

The United trailed by 12 points with 2:35 left in the second quarter. From there, they revved the engine into overdrive, outscoring Section 9’s Burke 13-1 to tie it at 31 apiece heading into the locker room.

“To fight back from such a deficit took the legs out of us,” United Head Coach Henry Taylor said. “But I told them in the locker room at half that they have 16 minutes to fight. And they did that. They fought to the end and that’s what the United are about.”

Tysean Saigo led the United with 23 points and Jonathon Bryant added 14.

Read a ton more about this game in next week’s North County News (3/18)

Peekskill, paced by a team-high 12 points from senior forward Darien Thomas, took down Section 4’s Norwich,  47-36, in the Class A regional semis Wednesday at Vassar College. The Red Devils will take on Section 9’s Cornwall in Class A regional finals Friday at SUNY New Paltz at 7 p.m.

The Red Devils — a notoriously high-scoring offensive juggernaut — struggled igniting their blazing transition game, resulting in an abnormally low-scoring affair.

“They didn’t let us get any transition,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “They got back well and that’s why it was low-scoring. We have to work on getting [the transition] going and getting that intensity. It’s a matter of everybody running together.”

Star point guard Daquan Brickhouse (7 points) — playing with a tender ankle that he injured against Lakeland in the sectional finals — deferred much of the night on the offensive end, choosing instead to get his teammates involved.

“[Brickhouse] practiced on Monday and he was fine so we decided not to let him go yesterday [at practice] and kept him off his ankle,” Panzanaro said. “I thought he played pretty well because he had a pretty badly sprained ankle. He really did a good job.”

Slowed a bit by the ankle, Brickhouse excelled in the half-court game, carving up frozen Norwich defenders in the lane and whipping dazzling passes.

“I was a little worried and nervous in the beginning, but I had to overcome my fear,” Brickhouse said. “I had to come out and give my team everything.”

Thomas, who Panzanaro called the team’s “MVP,” channeled his inner Vince Carter by closing the game with a thunderous right-handed dunk.

“That was my first career dunk,” a giddy Thomas said after the game. “Daquan yelled at me to dunk it so I did.”

Read a ton more about this game in next week’s North County News (3/18)

We are all familiar with this match-up, as the Hornets and Red Devils met in the 2007 Class A finals.

Unlike that game, this one didn’t end in a heap of controversy.

The Red Devils ended up winning the re-match, racking up their fifth straight Section 1 title and astounding 18th in program history.

Lakeland, meanwhile, competed in the Class A finals for the second time in the last three years.

Read all about this game — including Daquan Brickhouse’s ankle — and the rest of the County Center action in my column. 

Enjoy the highlights.

This game — a grinding and low-scoring affair — was pretty much the exact opposite of Mike D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less philosophy.

But the thrilling conclusion makes it a must-see.

Plus, don’t you want to see the Lincoln Hall fans go bonkers after the win? I’ve seen a ton of wild fan celebrations, but this one was on par with the soccer (futbol) hooligans across the pond.

Enjoy.

The following pictures are from Yorktown’s Class AA semifinal match-up against Mount Vernon Feb. 26 at the County Center.