Sabini On Peekskill Alumni Game
January 11th, 2010 by Isaac CassFreelancer Mike Sabini was at Peekskill’s alumni day at the John Devins Gymnasium Jan. 9. This is his report.
By Mike Sabini
The Yankees have Old Timer’s Day and, as far as major-league baseball teams go, there is no organization that does it better.
When it comes to high school basketball in the North County, Peekskill and the Yankees have a lot of similarities. And that stretches beyond championships, as the Red Devils also host the premier alumni day.
Peekskill held this year’s alumni festivities Saturday, starting with a light breakfast, followed by a foul-shooting contest and 3-point shooting contest.
Matt Moro, a 1978 graduate, won the free-throw shooting contest. Considering alumni day was part of the three-day John Moro showcase, which is named after Matt’s dad, it was fitting that Matt Moro won.
John Moro is the legendary coach that preceded current Head Coach Lou Panzanaro. John Moro coached the Red Devils from 1957-83, amassing 410 wins, including five sectionals crowns and 13 league championships.
John Moro’s influence on the Red Devils is felt to this day. Panzanaro even coached Peekskill’s JV during Moro’s tenure. The current Red Devils coach said his time under Moro — I believe it was seven years — was an invaluable experience to him.
Matt Moro, who flew in from his home in California, did his dad proud by making all 16 of his free throws with Mike Ritter, a 1980 graduate, winning the 3-point shooting contest for the second year in a row.
Of course, the actual alumni game overshadowed all the contests.
Keith Staton, a 2002 graduate, led the red team with a game-high 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Allen Jenkins (’93) and the blue team. Jenkins poured in a team-high 20 points.
The following former Red Devils played for the red team: Moro, Tyrone Welch (class of ‘00), Tim Strang (1996), Brian Edwards (’03), Rodney Headley (’03), Kiki Merriweather (’84), Joe Brickhouse (’06), Jeff Burns (’79) and Shawn James (’85).
The following former Red Devils played for the blue team: Ritter, Brandon Jackson (’02), Isaac Clark (’09), John Mancini (’82), Jim Smith (’80), Reggie Gaskins (’96), James Alston (’90), James Brown (’05), Tyrone Murphy (’06) and Benny Lewis (’04).
What the game showed, as long-time Peekskill DJ Pete Peterson so correctly pointed out, is that it doesn’t matter how long the players are out of school, they can still have the ability to light the scoreboard up.
“No matter what our age, we can put the ball in the basket,” Peterson told the crowd.
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