NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Enjoy.

I’ll be back at some point in the coming days to preview the Section 1 finals.

The three matchups — which will be played at White Plains High School on Thursday, June 4 — are as follows:

Class A

Yorktown vs. L/P

Class B

John Jay vs. Somers

Class C

Putnam Valley vs. Rye

Until then, enjoy this b-e-a-utiful weather.

The Rebels will once again play Yorktown — who absolutely demolished North Rockland in the other semifinal — in the Class A sectional finals.

Check back later for video highlights from L/P vs. Mahopac.

I’m about the step out the door and head over to Panas.

In my opinion, this is by far the game of the day.

Bang it at the Twitter feed for updates.

Also, I’ll return with video highlights.

Rankings as of Noon, Tuesday

1) Yorktown (14-2) — To say Yorktown’s setback to Wilton — 8-6 on May 19 — was unexpected would be a vast understatement. Really, it was a bigger shock than the Mets taking two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway.

According to lockdown defenseman John Fennessy, the Huskers went into the game a little too overconfident and cocky.

“Going into the playoffs, we can’t let that happen,” Fennessy said. “We need to play each team one at a time like it’s a stepping-stone toward the ultimate goal, which is a state title.”

Yorktown’s quest through the playoffs to achieve Lucky No. 7 will start in the same place it did back in March: the practice field.

Fennessy said they are treating each practice like a game, going full speed instead of mindlessly slogging through plays.

I recall senior captain Ethan Fox voicing poor practice habits as a concern after the Melville loss. Look, Yorktown is a very talented team, but they can’t take the Allen Iverson approach to “practice?!”

“We know what we have to do and what we have to accomplish,” Fennessy said. “We are trying to get up every time we get on the field. We don’t want to be lackadaisical or sluggish, we want to be on top of our game.”

It goes without saying that Yorktown is destined to take a major hit in the Inside Lacrosse national rankings. But who cares, really? The rankings are ego masseuses in disguise. And egos don’t win championships.

Don’t believe me?

Just look at what Yorktown posted on its web site — yorktownlax.com — following the first installment of the IL rankings on April 9: “This is nice, but state championships are our goal.”

And it’s a goal that Fennessy believes can become a reality.

“I think we have the dynamics, the team and the potential to go all the way and win everything,” Fennessy said. “It all depends if we all come together and play as one unit, which we haven’t. But I’m going to take a guess and say that we are gonna. We don’t want to be known as the team that could have done it or should have done it; we want to be known as the team that did it.”

In addition, Fennessy hammered home that Yorktown couldn’t rely on its name to get by. This is continually stressed throughout the ranks of the program as a means to stay on top.

“We need to know that just because teams hear “Yorktown,” they aren’t going to lay down,” Fennessy said. “We need to go out and give them [the opposition] a beating. We have to show them why we are the best.”

And If the Huskers need a reminder about the program’s storied history, they will get one Friday May 29 at the sectional semis. Yorktown’s 1984 squad — which won the school’s first state title by snapping West Genesee’s 91-game winning streak — will be honored at the game.

How’s that for a motivator?

But a real commemoration to that ’84 squad would be taking out West Genny — the favorite to come out of the WNY bracket — in the state finals.

2) Somers (12-4) — The Tuskers have had a stellar regular season, but it will be all for naught if they don’t finish the job and win the Class B sectionals.

Riding a seven-game winning streak into the playoffs, No. 1-seeded Somers has all the momentum in the world to knockoff four-time defending champ John Jay.

Soon-to-be two-time All-American Joe Marasco said a flick switched after the 9-8 overtime loss to Rye.

“We felt we should have beaten Rye and that overtime loss really fueled us,” Marasco said. “We picked it up with that big win over Lakeland/Panas [10-9 in overtime on May 7]. Ever since then, our momentum has been just helping a lot with each team play.”

Despite the fact Somers beat John Jay, 10-7, in the regular season matchup, Marasco realizes it’s still Jay’s title to lose.

“Everyone keeps telling us that they aren’t the same team as that one night,” Marasco said. “They are playing very well together as a team and are very well-coached. If we get the chance to play them, we are looking forward to it and we think it will be a really close game.”

For Somers to win a prospective championship bout against the Indians, midfielder Matt Deiana, who has been hampered with a foot injury, must be at full strength.

Head Coach Lew Janavey admitted they would need better play out of the midfield — “in between the lines and face-offs” — to beat Jay again.

“(Harrison) Silver and (Forrest) Walter do a great job on face-offs with very good wing play,” Janavey said. “That’s going to be a very big part of the game, because every possession is going to be vital.”

Changing topics, there was no bigger Orange fan at Gillette Stadium this weekend than the Syracuse-bound Marasco. I spoke to him following Syracuse’s opening round waxing of Duke.

“Hopefully we can pull out a big “W” tomorrow, because it was really exciting watching them,” he said.

For now, Marasco needs to will Somers to three more wins.

3) Lakeland/Panas (11-4) — On April 14, the Rebels downed Mahopac in a tightly contested battle, 8-6.

With the way the Class A bracket shook out, it looks like the two teams will meet again in the semifinals.

Despite No. 3-seeded Mahopac’s struggles of late, L/P Head Coach Jim Lindsay isn’t about to overlook ’Pac.

“That’s a rivalry game,” Lindsay said. “I don’t expect Mahopac to just keel over. I think it’s going to be a close game. Those kids will be ready to play and we have to be ready to play. There’s no guarantee, especially the way the section is right now. There’s no guarantee we will make the sectional finals, so I think we will have a tough road ahead of us.”

4) John Jay (8-8) — The No. 3 Indians got shafted in the Class B sectionals seeding (see “The Joe Show” page S3), but Head Coach Nick Savastano isn’t going to stew over a matter that’s already set in stone.

“We kind of felt that in a way, we didn’t know about the rule [all games against NYS teams are counted in determining Section 1 seedings] at all,” Savastano said. “It was a brand new rule and no coaches knew it. But once we got over the initial shock of it, we were kind of like, ‘you know, even though we beat Greeley [20-11 on April 18], there were some games we dropped like against Put Valley and Lakeland. If we won those, we would have had a better record than Greeley.’ We aren’t going to blame it on the seeding committee in anyway; we are going to use it as a positive with our group. Whatever we are dealt, we are going to deal with.”

With middie Will Stewart on its side, John Jay should be just fine. If you recall, Stewart missed the initial game against Greeley after separating his shoulder against Somers.

According to Savastano, the Williams-bound senior has played with a renewed sense of urgency since returning to the field.

“With the injury (Stewart) got, his season could have been over,” Savastano said. “He worked real hard with his rehab and came back three games later. I think he’s playing his best ball right now.”

And how about the boatload of former John Jay players — Chris Daniello and Kevin Drew at Syracuse and Tyler Granelli and Justin Schneidman at SUNY Cortland — winning national championships this past weekend?

That is a direct credit to Savastano, who has morphed the John Jay program into a household name at the national level.

“Unbelievable,” Savastano said of watching Daniello and Drew win the title. “Especially when Chris Daniello scored the first goal of the game [against Cornell], I was real proud of the kid. He has worked really hard and it was the first time a John Jay kid has ever scored in a national championship game. I thought Kevin Drew was very impressive on defense and some of the clears he had. I was real proud of both kids.”

5) Mahopac (9-7) — The Indians ended the regular season in the worst way imaginable, getting shutout 11-0 by Section 2’s Guilderland.

Still, attackman Tyler Perrelle thinks Mahopac has the juice to make a run at the finals.

“We just have to beat Suffern on our field and we already beat them [16-3 back on May 2], but we just can’t take them lightly. Then Lakeland was a good game last time. As long as we come out to play, we should be all right. We can’t come out slow like we have been in other games.”

Suffice it to say, the Indians should be ready for a playoff push. After all, they have been scrimmaging against former ’Pac players and current college players all week. Among those to come back to whip the downtrodden Indians into shape were Faus Bernabo (Siena), Matt Leithead (Siena), Shawn McDonough (Sacred Heart) and Vinny Senatore (Springfield).

Perrelle said it was a challenge to go up against the likes of Bernabo and McDonough, which broke up the monotony of facing teammate Brendan Synan.

“Scrimmaging against them [the alumni] makes all of us better and makes us all want to play,” Perrelle said. “It’s the anticipation of playing a game, it’s just building up. The whole build up makes everything that much better.”

Now, Mahopac hopes the build up can lead to something even better.

6) Putnam Valley (11-4) — The Tigers were tamed over the final stretch of the regular season, losing four straight.

Head Coach Brian Kuczma said the hot start led to over-confidence, which bred the dreaded “C” word: complacency.

Things came to a head over the break, when L/P handled PV in a scrimmage. Kuczma’s solution was simple: place more ownership of the team in the seniors.

“It was about time the seniors stepped up,” Kuczma said. “It’s their team and they are ending their careers at PV. They needed to step up and really take control their own destiny and they’ve responded very well to that.”

The coach said that the renewed focus is similar to what he saw in the preseason.

In order to go on a playoff run, Kuczma said the Tigers would have to limit turnovers. He added that they turned the ball over more in the last four games than the previous 11 games. Lastly, Kuczma said face-offs and goaltending would be key.

“Whoever is hot at the face-off x, has good goaltending, turns the ball over the least, they have the formula to do well in the playoffs,” the coach said.

Also, it’s worth noting that SUNY Cortland’s Joey Morgan won his second D-III national title in four years. Coming from a tiny program like Putnam Valley, it was quite the impressive feat.

“[Morgan] is a special kid whose work ethic is second to none,” Kuczma said. “He’s always tried to be the best at whatever he does. To see him do that [win the title] —coming from a really small program like ours — it gave us a lot of pride.”

7) Hendrick Hudson (6-11) — The Sailors are my upset special to knockoff Brewster in the Class B quarters.

Why?

Well, for starters, they’ve made the semis every year since Head Coach Craig Solomon took over 2000. Also, I think these kids will really respond with the backs against the wall.

As calendar nears the end of May, the action really starts to pick up.

With that said, I’m offering my Section 1 (A, B and C) picks.

And don’t worry, I’ll preview the semis and finals in much more detail. This is just a little taste to get the ball rolling.

Class A

Yorktown’s Ethan Fox will look to lead the Huskers to their 28th Section 1 title.

Quarterfinals (May 27 at higher seed)

(1) Yorktown 16
(8) Arlington 3

Coming off the Wilton loss, I don’t see the Huskers having much mercy on the Admirals, who are about to grow some hair on their chests.

(5) White Plains 10
(4) North Rockland 9

In the round’s best matchup, I’m taking this year’s feel good story.

(3) Mahopac 12
(6) Suffern 7

Suffern has improved since getting walloped by the Indians, 16-3, back on May 2. But  I don’t see Tyler Perrelle and John Brandofino being denied. Plus, the Indians will be geared up for a re-match against rival L/P in the semis.

(2) Lakeland/Panas 13
(7) Mamaroneck 5

The Rebels advance with relative ease, inching ever-closer to another championship game against Yorktown.

Semis (May 29 at high seed)

(1) Yorktown 15
(5) White Plains 5

This isn’t 1979. Huskers put on a show and make the annual trip to the section finals.

(2) Lakeland/Panas 13
(3) Mahopac 9

Mahopac doesn’t have anybody that can keep up with L/P middie Shawn Honovich.

Finals (June 4)

(1) Yorktown
(2) Lakeland/Panas 

I’ll reveal this pick as the finals draw closer. 

As calendar nears the end of May, the action really starts to pick up.

With that said, I’m offering my Section 1 (A, B and C) picks.

And don’t worry, I’ll preview the semis and finals in much more detail. This is just a little taste to get the ball rolling.

Class B

Joe Marasco and the Tuskers will look to snap John Jay’s four-year run atop Class B.

Quarterfinals (May 27 at higher seed)

(1) Somers 14
(9) Nyack 5

Tuskers exact a degree of revenge after falling to the Indians in the playoffs during football season.

(5) Hen Hud 10
(4) Brewster 9

This is my upset special. Sailors prove all the lumps of the regular season were worth it.

(3) John Jay 15
(6) Clarkstown South 3

Luke Haggerty is an elite goalie, but John Jay will be firing shots like the gun from Contra. 

(2) Greeley 13
(7) Fox Lane 5

Greeley gets another shot at Jay.

Semis (May 29 at higher seeds)

(1) Somers 13
(5) Hen Hud 4

Tuskers

(3) John Jay
(2) Greeley

The Indians prove what everyone already knows: they were the real No. 2 seed.

Finals (June 4)

(1) Somers
(3) John Jay

I’ll reveal this pick as the finals draw closer.  

As calendar nears the end of May, the action really starts to pick up.

With that said, I’m offering my Section 1 (A, B and C) picks.

And don’t worry, I’ll preview the semis and finals in much more detail. This is just a little taste to get the ball rolling.

Class C

Putnam Valley’s Jimmy Van de Veerdonk will play a huge role in getting the Tigers back to the finals.

Quarterfinals (May 27 at higher seed)

(1) Putnam Valley 15
(8) Ardsley 6

Playing with a newfound sense of urgency, PV snaps its four-game losing streak.

(5) Pelham 8
(4) Byram Hills 7

With Yorktown graduate Mike Solazzo on board, the Pelicans achieve a program-defining win.

(3) Bronxville 14
(6) Nanuet 6

Bulldogs prove the No. 3 seed is no fluke.

(2) Rye 13
(7) Pleasantville 5

Garnets move on with relative ease.

Semis (May 29 at high seed)

(1) Putnam Valley 17
(5) Pelham  7

PV’s offense is too much.

(2) Rye 12
(3) Bronxville 6

Garnets renew classic rivalry against PV in the finals.

Finals (June 4)

(1) Putnam Valley
(2) Rye

I’ll reveal this pick as the finals draw closer. 

Rankings as of Noon, Tuesday

1) Yorktown (14-1) — It appears as though Remy Lieberman is harnessing the potential that made him oh-so-dangerous at times last year.

The coy attackman asserted himself by whistling home four goals in Yorktown’s 13-10 win over John Jay Friday.

Suffice it to say, much of the Tristate region was invited to Lieberman’s coming out party, as MSG’s “Game of the Week” crew descended on Cross River.

Ironically, it was during last year’s game against Jay — which was also televised on MSG — that Lieberman initially flickered with brilliance, ripping two goals in a fine showing.  As of now, his two clutch MSG performances are two more than Danilo Gallinari will have in his entire career.

On a more serious note, I was kind of surprised Lieberman hadn’t been producing like this all season. After witnessing his shooting ability last year — in both the Murph Cup and the Jay game — I was convinced he was destined for a major boost in numbers. For my money, I’d say this kid has the third best shot on the squad behind Kevin Interlicchio and John Ranagan.

But without an angle to shoot, a howitzer is no more dangerous than a peashooter. And therein in lay the problem.

“Basically, [Lieberman] was taking the extra step,” Ranagan said of what triggered his teammate’s explosion. “Sometimes (in past games) he was almost trying to finish the goal behind goal line extended. He has been working hard in practice and taking that extra step. He showed that all his hard work is paying off under the lights and everything.”

With Lieberman taking the extra step, Yorktown inches a step closer toward lucky No. 7.

According to Ranagan, the key in the playoffs will be to fuse the physical — displayed in a dismembering of St. Anthony’s — and the mental — exhibited in an early season win over hard-hitting Somers — into a single all-powerful entity.

“Down the road, we want to put it all together and have a monster game,” Ranagan said. “Once we put it together, we will be hard to beat.”

With that said, ’Town can’t get caught looking ahead toward a prospective “game of the ages” with West Islip in the state semis.

The first step is not sleeping on L/P in sectionals. If the Huskers win the section, they really can’t sleep on Section 2’s Guilderland, who shutout Mahopac 11-0 Saturday and beat L/P 15-11 earlier in the season. Ranked No. 12 in the state in Class A, the Dutchmen have perhaps their finest team in school history.

“Guilderland is pretty strong,” Mahopac Head Coach Mike Haddeland said. “I think they will give Yorktown a very good game, honestly — if that’s what it came to.”

With Ranagan leading the troops, Yorktown fans have every reason to feel confident.

”It’s definitely not going to be an easy trip,” the Hopkins-bound middie said. “We have some great teams ahead of us. Our coaches have been saying that it’s the little things, which is what we are doing in watching film and at practice. We are trying to get better at those little things.”

Only time will tell if “little things” will lead to “big things.”

2) Somers (12-4) — The Tuskers are 7-0 since the devastating one-goal loss to Rye on April 30. Like good elephants, they haven’t forgotten the painful feeling.

“We gave up against Rye,” Somers star Joe Marasco said. “We weren’t in that game from the start.”

That loss has fueled the winning streak, capped off with a 13-6 win over Brewster in the regular season finale Monday. Marasco (four goals, four assists) notched his 200th goal in the win. Read all about it in “The Joe Show” on page S3.

Despite the milestone, Head Coach Lew Janavey wasn’t exactly satisfied with his squad’s effort, defining it as “ugly.” Somers rallied from an early 3-0 hole to pull off the win, taking over in the decisive fourth quarter.

“We have not put 48 minutes together and I’m really starting to get worried that it will come back to haunt us as the postseason approaches,” Janavey said.

Come the postseason, Somers can bet they will be confronted with an ever-improving John Jay squad.

Janavey watched Jay’s hard-fought game against Yorktown. He concluded his thoughts about the game by saying the same exact thing he did at the beginning of the season: “Class B still goes through John Jay. You have to beat JJ to win the section.”

Janavey added, “We are the No. 1 seed, but I still think they are the favorite. John Jay has improved more since we played them last (a 10-7 Somers win on April 14) than we have.”

Still, all this talk of a distant matchup is, well, more foolish than inserting Jon Gruden into the Monday Night Football booth.

In the now, we do know this: Somers has feasted on goals like an elephant at an all-you-can-eat peanut buffet.

The Tuskers have scored 14 goals a game over the seven-game run, which are four more goals than they averaged in the previous nine games.

Now, back to the future. Anybody smell a high-scoring shootout in the Class B finals between a red team and a purple team?

3) Lakeland/Panas (11-4) — The Rebels ended a three-game skid — forgive them, the losses came by an average of 1.6 goals against powerhouses Yorktown, Somers and Rye — with an 11-5 win over Suffern Thursday and a regular a 15-4 shellacking of Scarsdale Monday.

“It was definitely a big deal to get into the playoffs with some wins,” Head Coach Jim Lindsay said. “The two OT games (Somers and Rye) were tough because they didn’t need to get to OT. There were opportunities to end the games in regulation, which we didn’t. But those were learning experiences and I think we’ve learned our lessons there. It was good for us to point out a couple of areas of where we had to work on some things, which we have done.”

Lindsay called the lopsided win over Scarsdale “vanilla.” But there was at least one juicy morsel: the return of junior attackman Connor Mackay, who was sidelined with a broken thumb suffered during ski season.

Mackay, as I’m sure most of you know, is the younger brother of former standout keeper Mike Mackay, who led the Rebels to the shocking Murphy Cup win in 2007. Unlike Mike, Connor’s sole purpose is to put the ball in the net.

“Mackay has the ability to make a difference in the playoffs, but we have to play that by ear to see how well he does in the upcoming games,” Lindsay said. “I’m definitely going to insert him in certain times in the game. It’s really going to depend on Connor and how quickly he adapts to where we are in the season, which is going to be tough.”

4) John Jay (8-8) — It’s almost like everyone forgot, but senior middie and veteran leader Will Stewart separated his shoulder a mere five games into the regular season against Somers.

That’s not exactly like getting a paper cut. Seriously, just imagine trying to release a crank with a separated shoulder. Welcome to the Chad Pennington zone.

Now, according to WebMD, a separated shoulder can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks to heal. With that said, Stewart returned to form approximately three weeks after suffering the injury, scoring three goals against White Plains May 5.

But he didn’t stop there.

The John Jay star — who is quite possibly the most overlooked name in the whole All-American hysteria — went on to score three-plus goals in games against Mahopac, Syosset and Yorktown.

With Forrest Walter, a burgeoning star, and Stewart, John Jay has the weaponry to hold Class B hostage for yet another year.

5) Mahopac (9-7) — The Indians finally appeared to turn the corner on offense in a 15-10 win over Putnam Valley Thursday.

And then Guilderland happened. The visiting Dutchmen pulled off the rare shutout, 11-0.

“A couple of them (players) are looking forward to the summertime, or something,” Coach Haddeland said of his team’s performance. “It’s hard to explain this team. We go on runs where we look good and things look good, but then it’s just helter skelter. The best way I can explain it is that it has been a rollercoaster. We had some big wins and some stink losses like White Plains and Guilderland. I mean, how do you not score a goal?

”It was almost embarrassing, to be honest.”

If this lopsided defeat doesn’t light a fire under the Indians, I don’t think anything will.

6) Putnam Valley (11-4) — Like Mahopac, PV stumbled down the home stretch, losing its last four games of the regular season. The latest defeat came at the hands of North Rockland in overtime, 13-12, Monday.

Suffice it to say, the bulls eye that used to be tattooed on the Tigers’ chest is worn off. The fury of losses — White Plains, Greeley, Mahopac and North Rockland — has rendered PV into mere mortals.

Honestly, that might not be the worst thing. As Head Coach Brian Kuczma previously stated, the role of “favorite” isn’t exactly a familiar one in The Valley. Heading into the playoffs as ’dogs will probably work in their favor.

“We view this as two different seasons,” Kuczma said of the upcoming playoffs. “It is time to refocus on skills. The X’s and O’s are there, we just have got to keep our sticks.”

7) Hendrick Hudson (5-11) — The Sailors cruised to a .500 record (3-3) over their last six games, which should breed some optimism heading into the playoffs.

One thing is for sure: no one in Class B wants to draw an upset-minded Sailors squad in the first round.

Enjoy.

This whole game was a gigantic highlight tape — exciting, high-scoring with plenty of intensity.

I’ll be back later this evening with the video highlights.

Enjoy watching the Magic take out the Celtics.