"Dominating performance" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Bay Shore all but embarrassed previously undefeated Whitman last night, winning 72-54, to clinch the League II co-championship with the Wildcats.
Whitman hardly resembled a team on the verge of a perfect season, entering the game 13-0 in the league and 17-0 overall. Flat, out of sync, careless and unfocused -- you name it, they looked it; a stark contrast to the way the Wildcats played the Marauders last month, winning by eight at home.
In what appeared to be a matter of seconds, Bay Shore went on a 14-0 to start the game (sparked by a Jordan Allen dunk and four consecutive three-pointers by Booker Hucks). Whitman looked re-energized after halftime, cutting the Marauders' nine-point halftime lead to just five. But Bay Shore responded in a hurry, expanding the lead to 20 in the fourth.
I'm scared to think what the score would have been had Bay Shore converted its foul shots. The team went 19-of-42 (!!!!!!!) from the line. Coach Navro Robinson admitted it's been an issue all season.
"Guys really don't concentrate like they should at the line, but they're going to get better at it," he said after the game.
Let's hope so.
Though Robinson added, "Anytime you can win a league title it's good for the season, it's good for the kids, it's great for the program," several of his players said the win was about more than just that.
This game was about respect.
Both Hucks (who finished with 30 points and six three-pointers) and guard Barry Ingram said they felt Whitman had acted as if it already had the game locked. Apparently, Bay Shore was offended by comments Whitman seniors had made in a recent HS Boys Basketball Insider about going undefeated and winning the league championship their senior year. Hucks and Ingram said that kind of talk gave them even more of an incentive to "take care of business" Wednesday night.
Read the Insider and decide for yourself. I wrote the article and still don't see how they could have gotten that impression. But either way, the extra motivation worked in their favor and now the Marauders will ride the momentum into Tuesday's playoff match-up with Sachem East.
Comments (1)
i see it. tht would annoy me too. they needed to get off tht high hourse tht longislandbasketball.com and newsday put them on. they were never amazing or the best. look at their comp. yeah they were undefeated, thts nice. alot of teams would of went undefeated witht tht schedule and sure enough they didnt even finish it off.