by Paul Snyder
On Thursday February 16, 2023 I was at East Hampton High School for the NY Public High School Athletic Association Section 11 Class A boys basketball quarterfinal playoff game between Amityville High School and East Hampton HS. Amityville had travelled 71 miles out East for the game. They were on the court 45 minutes before tipoff warming up when I arrived. East Hampton came out fast at the 5:06pm tipoff. Junior Liam Fowkes and Senior Luke Reese both had 8 points in the opening quarter.
East Hampton led 18-14 after the first 8 minutes. Amityville won the 2nd quarter 12-6 led by Seville Williams’ 6 points and Christian Smiley’s 5. Amityville took a 26-24 lead into halftime. Both teams scored 11 points in the 3rd quarter. It was 37-35 to start the 4th. Jack Dickinson hit a 3 pointer to get East Hampton even at 40. After East Hampton tied the game at 40, Seville Williams and Tyler Hunter took over for Amityville. Williams had 9 points in the final quarter and Hunter hit two big threes to lead Amityville to a 57-51 win. Williams led all scorers in the game with 19 points. Amityville’s 20 point 4th quarter sealed East Hampton’s fate. It was an exciting game played in front of a packed gym.
The next day I drove 114 miles to Mt. Vernon High School to watch defending NY Public HS Class AA Champions Mt. Vernon HS play Carmel HS in the opening round of the Section 1 AA Championship. Carmel travelled 46 miles South from Putnam County to take on the defending champions at Mt. Vernon High School’s Ben Gordon Alumni Gymnasium. Carmel’s starting lineup had one senior, two juniors and two sophomores. They scored their first field goal with 70 seconds left in the 1st quarter and trailed 17-7 after the first 8 minutes. Carmel scored 12 points in the second quarter. After a short run in the second quarter Carmel was down 5 points. At halftime Mt. Vernon led 30-19. The Knights woke up at halftime and scored 28 third quarter points. They led 58-30 after three quarters. The defending State champions won their opening round playoff game 78-45 scoring 20 points in the final quarter. A balanced Knights’ attack had four players scoring double figures. Seniors Elijah Morris and Jaden Fearon had 12 points. Senior Dylan Colon had 11 points and Sophomore guard Tavien Tyler had 10 points. The veteran defending AA Champions start four seniors Colon, Fearon, Morris and Chris Fitzgerald with Tyler the only underclass man in the starting lineup. They’re a deep veteran squad regularly playing eight seniors. In the one and done Section 1 playoffs, senior depth is an advantage.
As we go to press, Mt. Vernon prepares to host their second playoff game on February 24th against Suffern HS from Rockland County. The Mounties will travel 30 miles across the Hudson River to test themselves against the defending champions. Next stop for the winner is Westchester County Center in White Plains for a March 2, 2023 semifinal as the quest for a Section 1 Gold Ball continues.
