No.8 Panas, No.13 Lakeland Erased in Class A Quarters

Hornets Bust Up Bracket in Win over Mahopac, Panthers Fall at TZ; PV Ousted in Class B Quarters

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

And then there were none.

Outside of Class C HALDANE’s automatic berth into the Section 1 Final 4, the rest of the boys’ basketball teams from the Northern Westchester/Putnam region will have to purchase a ticket to see the playoff hoops action from here on out after both LAKELAND and WALTER PANAS were ousted in Saturday’s Class A quarterfinal round.

Both No.13 Lakeland and No.8 Panas were on the road but each was in a woulda, coulda, shoulda position, particularly the Panthers. Coach Mike Auerbach’s team squandered a 32-24 third-quarter lead en route to a 44-41 season-ending setback to top-seeded host Tappan Zee, the second-ranked team in NYS.

In a game that plodded without much pace or tempo, the Dutchmen (20-1) adjusted defensively in the third quarter, leaving their trademark man-to-man D in the dust. The 2-3 zone and full-court defense was problematic and kept Panas (16-7) without a field goal for nearly the entire fourth quarter, enabling Tappan Zee to squeak past one of its top obstacles en route what could be the Dutchmen’s fifth sectional championship appearance in the last six years (not including 2021 COVID-abbreviated season).

“It’s really like trying to play through quicksand against Tappan Zee,” Panas Coach Mike Auerbach said. “Tappan Zee has a way of making teams uncomfortable on the offensive end.  You get nothing easy against them. They don’t turn the ball over and they get back on defense really well, so you get nothing in transition. They’re the best defensive rebounding team in the section every year regardless of their size, so you get very few second chances, and their on-the-ball- and help-defense is very tough.

“They just seem to have a knack for always finding a way to win, especially at home,” Auerbach added. “ I couldn’t be prouder of the effort from our kids, especially playing shorthanded. That’s a program that has been on top of Class A for a decade and a half for a reason.”

It didn’t look good for the Dutchies after All-Section Panas G Alex Tavarez (18 points, 4 rebounds) and G Cameron Nicholas (10 points, 8 boards) both drained third-quarter treys for an eight-point lead with 1:05 left in the third.

“We went into the fourth quarter hyped up and confident after a few huge shots to end the third,” Tavarez said.

But things went haywire in the fourth; including turnovers, charges and some helter skelter possessions.

“After not getting some calls from the refs that we thought we should’ve got, we got anxious and started playing at their speed and we were not expecting their press in the fourth,” Tavarez admitted. “We had high expectations going into the season and it was a very disappointing and hard loss. Nonetheless, I’m extremely proud of my teammates and coaches, who have become family to me throughout the season.”

Panas F Maleek McNeil had six points and nine rebounds, and F Dillon Chenard added seven points, five rebounds and five blocks for the Panthers, who walked a fine line between surviving and advancing in its 63-58 win over No.9 Pearl River earlier in the week.

Up 18-2 out of the gate on Pearl River, the Panthers looked like they were in for a cakewalk to the quarterfinals, but the Pirates slowed their roll. Panas, minus All-League F Oliver Smith (ankle issue), who averaged a double-double this season, got a defensive spark off the bench from Jerry Smallwood.

“Smallwood’s been in and out of the rotation all season for various reasons, but is very athletic, can defend and score in bunches,” Coach Auerbach said. “We had a lot of trouble generating good shots once they went zone.”

That zone perplexed the Panthers and the Pirates roared back to tie it at 31-all at half before taking a seven-point lead. The Panthers’ season was on the brink of collapse.

“Our offensive struggles continued into the third,” Auerbach said.

Panas trailed by seven going into the fourth, but saved its season with one of its best quarters of the year on both ends of the court.

“Cameron Nicholas (13 points) and Derek Mojica were huge for us knocking down perimeter shots to take the lid off the hoop,” Auerbach said. “We didn’t get it inside to Maleek McNeil as much as we’d have liked but when we did he was very efficient.”

McNeil finished with 17 points on 6 for 11 from the field, but it was Tavarez (20 points), who saved the day. Coming off a clutch layup for the lead with under a minute left, Tavarez instinctually turned his back on the ball and then swung forward to steal the ensuing inbounds pass, got fouled and knocked down both free throws. Chenard, who grabbed some big rebounds in the fourth, iced the win with two from the line with five seconds remaining.

No.13 LAKELAND (13-10) advanced to the quarterfinals after its 63-50 upset of No.4 host MAHOPAC last Tuesday, but lost to Our Lady of Lourdes for the third time this season in a 47-44 loss to the fifth-seeded Warriors (17-5), who will face TZ in the semifinals before moving on to Section 9 next year. No.3 Byram Hills will take on No.7 Poughkeepsie on the other side of the bracket with Sunday’s title berth at Yorktown High on the line.

Like Panas did, Lakeland had its chances, knifing into a 13-point halftime deficit and cutting the lead to two points before missing a go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left.

“Lourdes is an awesome basketball team, much respect to their coaching staff,” Lakeland junior F Andrew Mendel said. “We will have four of our five starters back next year, though. We are fueled and we are going to put in a lot of work in the off-season. We want that gold ball.”

Junior G Chris Whyte-Luciano dropped a game-high 18 points for Lakeland (13-10). David Mula added eight points.

The Lakeland/Mahopac game was, in a nutshell, inexplicable. When Mahopac limited guys like Logan Shiland (7 points), Whyte-Luciano (10 points, 9 boards, 4 assists) to a combined 17 points, the Indians (15-5) figured their chances of winning were pretty good. But when the ball finds nothing but rim, nothing Mahopac did defensively mattered, especially when role players like Mula (10 points, including two huge 3’s), mighty Andrew Mendel (12 points, 10 boards) and Anthony Jennings (game-high 16 points, 4 boards) bring the kind of energy and grit they usually bring but also combined for 38 points.

“I’ve been preaching day in and day out that energy and heart wins games,” said Mendel. “Family wins games. We really found out what family meant only like a week ago. Glad we found it at the right time.”

And Jennings found his stroke at just the right time. After holding Mahopac to five first-half points, the Indians came out of the break with renewed vigor, but when Jennings splashed from distance and Mula stroked two more triples, Mahopac resistance was tested time and time again.

“The energy in that gym and from my teammates on and off the court was incredible,” Jennings said. “My teammates and I just moved the ball around and hit whoever was open at the perfect time, and the few times I was the man that was open and I hit the good looks from my team being unselfish and looking for that one more pass to find the open man.”

Mahopac, winners of 14 of its last 15 games going in, was, for the first time since a Jan.27 loss to Clarkstown South, out of its comfort zone and unable to sustain any rhythm. Mahopac Coach Tom McMahon praised Lakeland to anyone who would listen.

“I told everyone since we played them back in December that I thought they were really good,” McMahon said. “Yet, they were even better than I thought because we did a great job on Shiland, and Whyte-Luciano, but Mula, Mendel and the Jennings kid all stepped up. I’ll bet we held Shiland and Whyte to season-lows or close to it, but the other guys on that team really stepped up. We held those three (5, 44 and 35) to 27 total points, which was our goal, but if you can’t score, none of it matters. They are a good team with a really good coach that kicked our butts twice this year.”

Lakeland Coach Steve Fallo hadn’t seen his team reach this level all season but knew they had it in them.

“You can’t play better defense than we did today, especially in the first half,” Fallo said. “That was an exhibition. It really was incredible. When you hold a team to five points in the half, they have to be dejected. The kids stepped up. Jennings is usually a role player for us and he comes out and has the game of his life today. Mula hit some big shots and Mendel gave us a strong presence inside. Guys that usually play different types of roles for us really stepped it up today.”

Senior G Max Gomes scored 12 second-half points and had seven rebounds and three steals for Mahopac (15-5) while senior G Patrick McMahon added 10 points and five rebounds.

No.14 SOMERS had the potential to bust up one side of the Class A bracket when it went up 14 points on No.3 host BYRAM HILLS, but the Bobcats did what they oftentimes do en route to a 69-63 OT triumph of the Tuskers (12-10). Somers had the ball and a chance to win in regulation but couldn’t convert against a Byram program that has traditionally battled to the finish.

“The wheels just came off when we lost a major player in our rotation,” Somers Coach Chris DiCintio said. “I feel like we’re in great shape for next year, though.”

Somers senior G Bennett Leitner went for 16 points while passing the torch to junior F Matt Fitzsimons (16 points), sophomore wing Andrew Violante (13 points) and junior F Dylan Ingraham (9). Dan Bernstein and Tyson Repa had 19 apiece for the resilient ’Cats.

“We had them on the ropes but they came back and we couldn’t weather their storm,” Fitzsimons said. “That said, fate just wasn’t on our side and it ended an amazing season.”

CLASS B

No.1 Bronxville was feeling the pinch of No.9 PUTNAM VALLEY before the Broncos (18-4) imposed their will in the final quarter, leading to a 54-42 win over the upset-minded Tigers (10-11), who saw senior G Cole Durocher go for 14 points while senior F Arthur Holzman added 10.