By Mike Sabini

No. 13-seeded Hendrick Hudson (10-9) was right where it wanted to be — with a one-point lead late in its contest against No. 20-seeded Beacon in the Section 1 Class A out-bracket game.

Unfortunately, Beacon’s Gary Buxton was also in prime position — with the ball in his hands and time winding down in regulation.

Buxton, who scored a team-high 21 points, hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game from the top of the key with just .4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, giving the Bulldogs a stunning 66-64 win.

Despite the loss, Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti was still proud of his squad.

“For the year, we had nine losses, but teams had to earn it,” the coach said. “Their effort all year has been great. I can’t complain one bit about that.”

Hen Hud showed its heart in the fourth quarter, rallying back from a 57-48 deficit to take a 63-60 lead on a 3-pointer by Bennett Zink with less than a minute left in regulation.

Zink sank the shot coming out of a Sailors timeout.

“We wanted to get a good shot, but we also just wanted to remind our team of making sure we get to their shooters and make sure we take care of the basketball,” Purcigliotti said. “It was 57-48 (Beacon), then it was tied, so we didn’t want to give them an easy opportunity. We were best against their zone when we were pounding it inside and I believe we threw it inside and it collapsed. Then we found Bennett and he hit the shot.”

However, Beacon’s Bulolo Iongo converted on a layup at the 19.4-second mark, making it 64-63 Hen Hud. Iongo put in the bucket after grabbing an offensive rebound.

“We grab the rebound there, they have to foul us, we make our free throws and hopefully it becomes a two-possession game,” Purcigliotti said. “What bothered me there was that enabled them to call timeout, which gave them a chance to set up their press.”

Hen Hud’s Dylan Stewart then missed two free throws with 11.5 seconds left, setting up Buxton’s heroics.

Despite those misses, Stewart had another stellar effort, pouring in a game-high 26 points.

“Stewart was a little frustrated at himself in the first half (when he scored only six points),” Purcigliotti said. “We told him at half, ‘Dylan, you are getting good looks. They are going to drop in the second half.’”

Joining Stewart in the scoring column were Micheal Tandy (13 points), Kyle Altman (11 points), TJ Olesczuk (eight points) and Zink (six points).

By Mike Sabini

Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro scheduled a slew of tough games to prepare his squad for the upcoming Section 1 Class A tournament.

Playing the likes of Long Island Lutheran, Iona Prep, Xaverian, Wings Academy and Poughkeepsie was important for Peekskill. Unlike in past years, however, the Red Devils came up empty against powerhouse programs.

And the disturbing trend continued Saturday against All Hallows. The Gaels bested the Red Dvils, 64-55, at New Rochelle High School.

Despite the loss, the Red Devils managed to compete throughout, trailing by only four, 33-29, midway through the third quarter.

“I honestly thought that we had fatigued them, that we could outrun them, if we made good decisions with the basketball,” Panzanaro said. “They seemed to be fatiguing, weren’t attacking and weren’t getting the ball up the floor. I thought we could put pressure on them and turn the game in our favor.”

But All Hallows big man Omar Kellman refused to be denied, scoring 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.

“It could be fatigue, but I don’t know,” Panzanaro said. “Kenny (Bradshaw) played almost the whole game. Maybe that’s my fault. I have got to rest him a little bit. They get tired, don’t move as quickly and don’t jump as well. I hesitate to bring Kenny out, because he’s our best rebounder and I’m afraid we are going to get beat without him in there. But if he’s tired in the fourth quarter, we’re going to get beat, so it’s a double-edged sword. I just have to find a way to get him some rest.”

In addition to Kellman, Michael Alvarado (game-high 25 points) also hurt Peekskill.

“Michael is a very good ballplayer,” Panzanaro said. “Sometimes we lost our defensive assignment and let him get in the lane.”

For the Red Devils, senior point guard Daquan Brickhouse led the way with 20 points. Bradshaw chipped in with 13.

“I think we have a good team, but we have to finish [games] and close things down,” Panzanaro said. “We have to rebound better, shoot better and play better defense.”

With the aforementioned Class A sectionals on the horizon, Peekskill must get its act together.  The No. 6-seeded Red Devils — looking to win their sixth straight gold ball — will host No. 11-seeded Pearl River in the opening round Feb. 12.

Peekskill (11-5) held a ceremony to honor its senior players and cheerleaders before its contest against visiting Hendrick Hudson in its last regular season home game on Feb. 2.

At first, however, it appeared the Sailors would be doing the celebrating.

Hen Hud (9-7), powered by 17 first-half points from Dylan Stewart, led Peekskill 31-30 at halftime but eventually succumbed to the Red Devils’ pressure and fell, 72-53, extending Peekskill’s home winning streak to 55 games.

Despite Stewart’s hot start, he could only manage four second-half points for a team-high 21 points.

“Dylan was playing the way he is capable of playing,” Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti said. “Dylan has had a very good year for us, especially over the last month of the season. Give him all the credit in the world, he was awesome.”

Hen Hud earned that halftime lead by finding the open man, taking good shots, moving the basketball and reacting superbly to whatever defense the Red Devils were throwing at them, according to Purcigliotti.

The momentum started to turn when Peekskill forward Sean Smythe, who scored 11 points, hit a 3-pointer with just seven seconds left in the third quarter that put the Red Devils up 48-44.

“That three was huge at the end of the third,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “We said to him (Smythe) you haven’t been shooting well but just keep shooting the basketball and it’s going to come. Shooters go into slumps and different things happen but you can’t shy away from it. You have to go get it again and I thought he did a good job tonight.”

Guard Daquan Brickhouse did a great job for Peekskill, tallying a game-high 26 points. A jumper by Brickhouse was the first of 14 straight Red Devils points to start the fourth quarter.

Purcigliotti called a few time outs to try and stop Peekskill’s momentum, but it was to no avail.

“Our problem was that once we broke the press, we just got ahead of ourselves and weren’t taking good shots,” Purcigliotti said. “That’s why I called a couple of timeouts. I told the team we are doing a good job of breaking their press but you are rushing shots. That allowed Peekskill to start running and breaking and when you allow it to do that, it turns into typical Peekskill basketball.”

Joining Brickhouse and Smythe in that typical style of Peekskill hoops were Kenny Bradshaw (13 points), Shaine Carter (nine), Tyler Daniel and Curtis Lamar (four each), Jamel Cultherberson (three) and Kyree Hull (two).

With Brickhouse, Bradshaw, Smythe, Lamar and Aaron Dimmie having played their last regular season home game, Panzanaro was reflective.

“We had five seniors and we started all five of them,” Panzanaro said. “It’s a sad time of year to see them play their last regular season home game. They mean a lot. By the time they are seniors they have been through this a couple of times, in Daquan’s case four years. You just hope they have success in whatever they do after this.”

Despite the loss, Hen Hud is still enjoying its best season since 2006, when the Sailors went 12-9 and qualified for the sectionals.

Outside of Stewart, Mike Tandy (12 points), TJ Olesczuk (six), Kyle Altman (five), Casey Peterson (three), Ronan Callagy, Nick Rizk and Bennett Zink (two points apiece) also contributed.

By Mike Sabini

The Hen Hud Sailors (7-6) racked up two huge wins over crosstown rivals this past week.

And they did it on consecutive nights, knocking off Croton-Harmon, 70-57, on Jan. 22 and Panas, 48-47, on Jan. 23.

“It’s been a great week for us, no doubt about it,” Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti said.

The Sailors overcame a 30-20 halftime deficit to stun the Panthers (8-6).

“We just said at halftime that we were better than what we showed in the first half,” Purcigliotti said. “We didn’t want to be under .500 for a week before our next game. I’m ecstatic. We beat two quality teams in Croton and Panas. I have no insides left but I am very happy for my team.”

Burly power forward Mike Tandy led Hen Hud with a team-high 18 points, doing the majority of his work in the paint.

“Mike was big in a number of ways,” Purcigliotti said. “He was big with the points and rebounds, but Mike is also our verbal leader and that you can’t put a price tag on.”

Bennett Zink (10 points), Kyle Altman (nine), Dylan Stewart (seven) and TJ Olesczuk (four) also contributed for the Sailors.

For Panas, senior guard Pedro Reynoso led the way with a team-high 17 points.

“Pedro is our best player,” Panas Head Coach Shawn Sullivan said. “He’s solid. The better he plays, the better the team plays. He scores a lot, he gets a lot of guys involved.  He’s been a very consistent, probably all-conference player this year.”

Joining Reynoso in the scoring column were Brian Daniels (10 points), Charles Grant (eight), Carl Kemmerer (five), Jerry Jackson (four) and CJ Jacques (three).

The Panthers were doomed by a dismal third quarter, managing to score just four points.

“I give Hen Hud the credit,” Sullivan said. “Hen Hud picked up its defense and we had four points in the third. My kids didn’t give up, but we were letting Hen Hud be more aggressive than us. It’s as simple as the Hen Hud kids wanted it more than our kids.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v50uMaQVGQc

Peekskill senior guard Daquan Brickhouse entered Wednesday’s game against visiting Ossining with 993 career points.

And it didn’t take long for him to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Brickhouse joined the exclusive club early in the second quarter, hitting the front-end of two free throws.

“It brought back flashbacks last year with Ralph (Watts), he got his 1,000-point on the free-throw line also,” Brickhouse said. “I didn’t even expect it coming. I thought someone was injured when they blew the horn. In my mind, I wanted to ask coach how far away I was from getting 1,000 points but I never got to asking him.

“So it shocked me. I’m proud of myself but I couldn’t do it for the four years I have been here without my teammates. They guided me, they helped me. They brought me from a boy to a man. They helped me get to where I am today.”

They also helped Brickhouse, who scored a game-high 32 points, pull out a 79-73 victory against Ossining (8-3). The win extended Peekskill’s home winning streak to 52 games. The Red Devils’ last home loss was Dec. 11, 2004 against Spring Valley.

Ossining got off to a hot start, leading 22 -17 at the end of the first quarter.

“We started off good then we slacked off in the second quarter,” Ossining Co-Head Coach Khalid Sales said. “We made some key mistakes down the stretch. We played hard but I thought we could have played a lot better. We were shooting the ball really well (in the first quarter). We got some good shooters on our team. We spread the court and shot the ball.”

Two of those shooters were Cameron Davidov (18 points) and Keon Ervin (15 points). Davidov made six-three pointers and Ervin five.

“Cameron is a good shooter but we got several, Keon as well,” Sales said. “Both of them can flat out shoot the ball. So they did a good job of getting us shots, but in the end we didn’t get it done.”

Peekskill (7-4), which is 7-0 against Section 1 teams, righted the ship in the second quarter, outscoring Ossining 25-9 to take a 42-31 halftime lead. Brickhouse scored 11 in the second, while teammate Kenny Bradshaw registered nine of his 22 points.

But Ossining crept back in the game in the third quarter, outscoring Peekskill 27-19 to cut the deficit to 61-58 heading into the fourth.

“Ossining is an excellent shooting team,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “I thought we had control of the game at halftime. After we got down, we came back and took the lead by 11. We really wanted to close out that third quarter but we couldn’t close out their shooters. They did a great job of shooting the basketball.”

Ossining sophomore Randy Stephens led the third-quarter comeback, scoring eight of his 13 points in the third.

“Randy is a good player and he could be even better,” Sales said. “He got out and helped us get back in the game. We didn’t get over the hump but Randy did a good job getting us back in the game.”

Peekskill answered in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Baskets by Aaron Dimmie, Bradshaw and Sean Smythe (11 points) put Peekskill up 67-58.

According to Panzanaro, it was imperative to get off to a strong start in the final quarter.

“We certainly didn’t want them to take the lead and have to fight from behind,” Panzanaro said. “We wanted to be ahead so we could spread the floor and get Daquan to the foul line. We eventually did that at the end.”

Ossining continued to fight hard, however, Brickhouse made six of nine foul shots in the fourth to seal the game.

With that said, the Big O will have a chance to steal Peekskill’s crown on Jan. 20, as they travel to face their river rival in a marquee matchup.

As and added bonus, Ossining also has a chance to own a piece of history. If they can somehow defeat Peekskill, it will mark the end of the Red Devils’ 51-game home winning streak.

Still, the fact remains: Ossining must be at full strength.

“We have to be 100 percent,” Ossining Co-Head Coach Khalid Sales said, looking forward to the Peekskill game. “You want to look down your bench and see all your pieces. We are going to need everybody.”

For Sales, having a full complement of players hasn’t been a given this season.

In a shocking loss to Croton Jan. 12, Ossining was without leading rebounder Quincy Ingram and power forward Donqutae Washington. Ingram was benched after missing a practice leading up to the game, while Washington was unavailable for undetermined disciplinary reasons.

At 6-4, the lanky Ingram plays more like he’s 6-7. Washington, a physical 6-2 forward, is a defensive stopper and a big part of Ossining’s front-line. Against a Croton team without anyone over 6-2, both players would have been a huge part of the game plan.

Ingram — back in the lineup for Thursday’s nail biting win over Hen Hud — proved his value, scoring 14 points and blocking three shots. Still, Washington remained on the bench.

And these absences aren’t one-time occurrences. Ossining has been missing different players throughout its lineup for one reason or another all season.

“We have yet to have a game with our full team,” Sales said. “We have certain guys missing practices. And those are key guys that make our team go.”

Sales said he hoped to have everybody available against Peekskill. Barring any setbacks, of course.

And let’s be serious, setbacks aren’t an option. If Ossining is to have any prayer against Peekskill, they will need the likes of Ingram and Washington on the court. After all, the Red Devils have struggled against bigger and stronger teams this year, constantly getting bullied around on the boards.

This fact hasn’t been lost on Ossining sharpshooter Cameron Davidov.

“We have all seen Peekskill a little and they aren’t as big and powerful as they normally are,” Davidov said. “We know that we can run with them.”

On the whole, Ossining’s athletically gifted lineup might be able to run with the notoriously supercharged Red Devils. But it’s unlikely that anybody will be able to keep up with Peekskill point guard Daquan Brickhouse.

At 5-8 with Air Jordan’s on, Brickhouse is a veritable blur of red and white on the court. Few in Section 1 can keep up with him — let alone stop him.

“He’s a tough kid and a tough cover,” Sales said of Brickhouse. “He plays 100 percent all the time. We are going to try and get our fastest guys on him and work him all the way up the court.

“And he’s got the championship pedigree. He knows how to win and knows how to run a team. He’s a big part of their team. If we can limit him a little bit, we might have a better shot. Our guys are looking forward to the challenge.”

It’s likely that Ollie Holmes, Lemar Johnson and Justin Young will get to meet that challenge head-on. All three players have the necessary tools — speed, strength and quickness — to make Brickhouse’s life miserable.

But actually doing it is easier said than done. With that said, Johnson is heading into it with the right attitude.

“We have to do the same thing we did today (against Hen Hud) in the second half,” said Johnson, who created a slew of turnovers that translated into easy baskets against the Sailors. “It’s all about defense.”

Last year, defense was a forgotten word in Ossining’s two lopsided losses to Peekskill. The Red Devils scored an average of 75 points in the two wins, with an average margin of victory being 32 points.

Sales and Co-Head Coach Ed Walker are both rookies this year, so the embarrassing losses don’t sting quite as much. According to Sales, this year should be different.

“We feel like we can go up there and play,” he said. “If we play well, who knows what can happen? We are looking forward to it.”

Like Hen Hud did prior to its matchup against Ossining, the Big O will try and duplicate the many problems Peekskill presents in practice.

“They like to get up and down and get up on people,” Sales said. “They play the way we play. So hopefully the game will be like practice.”
But Ossining knows there’s an entirely different element they will be forced to deal with. On top of the Red Devils themselves, they will also be battling the venue, which will be packed to the gills with raucous fans.

In last year’s game between the two schools at Peekskill, things got out of hand and a skirmish broke-out on the court between fans and players. Suffice it to say, there will be enough tension in the John Devins Gymnasium to cut with a butcher knife.

“We can’t simulate the atmosphere,” Sales said. “The place gets loud with the distractions and the people in the crowd. It’s going to be crazy. Our game plan has to be tight. Guys have to look to the bench and know what we are running and doing. We are going to have to be as focused as they come in that game.”

By Mike Sabini

For at least one half, Peekskill was able to go toe-to-toe with Wings Academy (15-3) — one of the best teams in New York City. Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Shaine Carter (15 points) at the end of the second quarter, the Red Devils trailed 29-28.

But Wings squashed any potential Peekskill (6-4) momentum, outscoring the Red Devils 33-12 in the third quarter en route to a 87-63 victory.

“We were passing the ball, crashing the boards and fast-breaking (in the first half),” said Peekskill senior guard Daquan Brickhouse, who scored a team-high 17 points. “In the second half, we lost our focus. We weren’t ready to work under pressure. That starts in the head, it’s mental. If it don’t start there, then it won’t work out.”

Things worked out for Wings in the third quarter, thanks in large part to the play of forward Krystian Forest. Forest, who only got one point in the entire first half, scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the third.

“Forest was hitting 3s and killing us on the boards,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “He was getting everything he wanted on us inside.”

Brickhouse elaborated on Forest’s performance.

“We didn’t close out on his shots,” said Brickhouse, who earned the Classic’s sportsmanship award. “Then when he was pump faking, we would leave our feet and he would go around us. He was doing good — and so were other players on the team — and it just hurt us.”

While the loss was a bad one for Peekskill, Brickhouse said the team got a lesson in what type of toughness, intensity and focus is needed to defeat an elite team like Wings.

“This is a good experience to play a team that actually knows how to play basketball instead of playing teams that are OK,” Brickhouse said. “We came in here with a winning mentality but it didn’t work out that way.”

Panzanaro said the only difference between the first half and the second half was the REd Devils’ effort and intensity.

“We played with a lot of intensity the first half,” Panzanaro said. “As soon as the third quarter started, I didn’t see it there. Whether it’s conditioning, whether it’s being tired, they were lackadaisical in the second half.

“I learned is that if our heart doesn’t get any stronger, it won’t make a difference who we play, we aren’t going to win any games. We have to play harder all the way through, it doesn’t matter who the competition is. If we leave here and play down to the competition, we haven’t learned anything. That’s my fear.”

Peekskill’s Sean Smythe earned the Classic’s Campus Athlete Academic Achievement Award.

Brickhouse to go for 1,000

With 993 career points, Peekskill’s Brickhouse should reach the 1,000-point milestone Jan. 20 against visiting Ossining.

“It really is a tribute to Daquan because his primary job is as a point guard to distribute the ball,” Panzanaro said. “For him to be able to run the offense and still score like he does says a lot about him.”

The following players also scored 1,000 points under Panzanaro: Mookie Jones (2008), Ralph Watts (’09), Rashard Turner (’02), Elton Brand (Class of ’97) and Scotty Smith (’89).

Brand actually cracked the 2,000-point milestone, finishing his career with 2,027 points.

Ossining guards Keon Ervin (left) and Cameron Davidov (right) fire 3-pointers Thursday against Hen Hud. 

Trailing 38-23 at halftime to visiting Hen Hud, Ossining Head Coach Khalid Sales pleaded with his team.

“Do you want this?” the coach said.

And the answer was a resounding “yes.”

Ossining outscored the Sailors 49-32 in the second half, employing a suffocating press to pull out a thrilling 72-70 comeback victory.

“We motivated ourselves to get up in their faces because we were down,” said Ossining junior guard Cameron Davidov, who scored a game-high 19 points. “We have athletic guys and know we can do that. Once we started coming back right at the beginning of the third quarter, we tried to stay with it and keep the momentum and get turnover after turnover.”

Ollie Lee Holmes and Lemar Johnson powered the Ossining press, using their speed and athleticism to stymie Hen Hud’s guards. Holmes shut down T.J. Olesczuk (team-high 18 points) in the second half, limiting him to six points. Frustrated by Holmes’ gnat-like pressure, Olesczuk fouled out with two minutes left in regulation.

“We got the kitchen sink thrown at us,” Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti said, referring to Ossining’s intense pressure.

As the Hen Hud turnovers mounted, Ossining found its shooting touch. Davidov knocked down all five of his 3-pointers in the second half. Overall, Ossining hit six of its season-high 11 3-pointers in the third quarter, outscoring the Sailors 28-14. Keon Ervin (four 3-pointers), Randy Stephens (one 3-pointer) and Jeffery Belitz (one 3-pointer) all got in on the act.

“The outside shooting was really clicking,” Sales said. “Cameron is a good shooter, but so is Keon. When they both get hot like that, it’s trouble.”

Ossining’s Quincy Ingram controlled the paint with his length, scoring 14 points and blocking three shots.

For Hen Hud, Kyle Altman (16 points) and Bennett Zink (17 points) both played well. Altman filled in admirably for the injured Mike Tandy. Tandy — an imposing 6-4 power forward — strained a ligament in his knee during Tuesday’s 68-57 loss to Peekskill.

Ossining’s next game is at Peekskill Jan. 20, while Hen Hud hosts Putnam Valley Jan. 19.

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.