DGH posted: " Small in the PSAA Championship (PC: Jed Lazzeri) On a special night in Swanson Gymnasium that saw both basketball teams earn trips to the NYSAIS Final Four, the boys provided the nightcap in a 57-51 victory over Avenues. Before Wednesday evening, o"
On a special night in Swanson Gymnasium that saw both basketball teams earn trips to the NYSAIS Final Four, the boys provided the nightcap in a 57-51 victory over Avenues.
Before Wednesday evening, only seven teams in Stony Brook history had clinched a state Final Four berth. The girls' team made that number eight with a 76-43 shellacking of Columbia Prep before the boys became the Bears' ninth state semifinal team. It was the boys' first state tournament victory since 2017 when they reached their first NYSPHSAA Final Four with a 45-27 victory over Millbrook in the Regional Final.
On Wednesday, the Bears built an early 5-2 lead behind a Fraysser Torres layup and a 3-pointer from Orlando Morris., but seven straight points from Avenues gave them a 9-5 edge. Randolph Logan followed with a 3-pointer, but the Aviators extended their margin with a putback as they battled and scrapped for every rebound. Despite the visitors imposing their will early, the Bears came up with the final seven points of the frame, all from Nate Small, to take a 15-11 lead after one. The senior began the spurt with a layup, courtesy of a great dish from Morris. He then drilled a 3-pointer before finishing a layup with six seconds left following a Dylan Kopp steal off an Aviator inbounds play.
The Bears stretched their scoring run to 11-0 to open the second when Andreas Simoni hit a pair of free throws, and Small finished a tough floater. Following an Avenues floater, Morris splashed a corner 3-pointer to give the Bears their largest lead at 22-13. But as the Bears looked poised to seize control of the game, the Aviators continued to hang around thanks to their physicality on defense, energy on the offensive boards, and commitment to fighting for every loose ball. Four straight free throws trimmed the Aviator deficit to 17-22, but a Kopp layup, Logan free throw, and Morris steal and layup pushed the Bear lead past double digits for the first time at 27-17. Avenues hit their second 3-pointer of the game to pull within 20-27, but Small converted a foul line jumper out of a jump stop to push the lead back to 31-21.
Up 10 in the waning moments of the half, the Bears had a chance to finish the quarter strong and go into the locker room with the momentum. Instead, it was the Aviators who capitalized on the final minutes of the second quarter with a quick 6-0 run, fueled by their defense and rebounding. Following a layup, Avenues converted their third putback of the half to pull within 25-31. The Bears had the ball in the final seconds, but a turnover led to an Avenues fast-break layup at the buzzer to give the visitors a jolt of emotion and just a four-point hole at the break.
The Aviators continued their scoring run as the second half began, extending it to 10-0 following two free throws and a drive and layup that knotted the score at 31-31. Past the midway point of the game, the Bears were simply being outworked by a team on a mission, but they would respond to ensure they remained undefeated on the home floor. Kopp ended the Avenues surge with a steal and layup to recapture a 33-31 lead. An Aviator layup followed, then they connected a pair of free throws after corralling two offensive rebounds to take their first lead since the score was 11-10. But two gave the Bears the lead heading into the decisive frame as Small hit a free throw and Kopp connected on a tough runner through traffic to give The Brook a 36-35 edge with eight minutes to go.
The Aviators began the fourth quarter with possession, but Logan set the defensive tone for the quarter by stealing the opening inbounds pass and converting a layup for a 38-35 edge. Small followed with a steal on the inbounds pass, then fed Logan for a foul line jumper to give the Bears a 40-35 lead a prompt an Aviator timeout. Kopp's two free throws pushed the lead to seven before an Avenues layup halted the 9-0 scoring run. Logan answered with a runner off the glass, allowing the Bears to set up their press. The Aviators would turn the ball over four times before getting past half court again as Small stole the ball and converted the layup and Logan stole the ball and fed Kopp for a layup before the Aviators turned the ball over twice more on a pass out of bounds and a travel.
The defensive stand allowed The Brook to grab control of the game with their largest lead of the night at 48-37. The Aviators would get no closer than six the rest of the way as the Bears maintained a healthy cushion, thanks in part to an alley-oop layup to Kopp off a baseline out of bounds play and a Torres dunk. They salted the victory away with free throws in the final minute.
Small led the Bears with 17 points in his final game on the Swanson hardwood after four memorable years. Kopp scored 16 and continues to lead all Long Island private school scorers with 22.1 ppg. He is tied for #6 on all of Long Island. Logan (10), Morris (8), Torres (4), and Simoni (2) rounded out the Bears' scoring.
The Blue & White moves on to the NYSAIS semifinals where they face #2 Hackley on February 23 at Hackley.
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