YORKTOWN, N.Y.—Getting to the Westchester County Center in White Plains once is an incredible achievement.
Doing it three years in a row just puts you at a different level.
That’s what second-seeded Yorktown earned the right to do when it defeated seventh-seeded Horace Greeley 64-61 in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class AA Tournament on Feb. 27.
The win puts Yorktown at the County Center in the sectional Final Four for a third straight season, as it will take on third-seeded Rye at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 4 in a semifinal matchup. Yorktown is the No. 13 ranked Class AA team in the state while Rye is No. 17.
Yorktown defeated Rye 48-45 in a regular season home matchup on Jan. 8.
“Making it to the County Center is a great accomplishment for our team, and we don’t take it for granted,” said Yorktown coach Mark Pavella. “We are looking forward to getting another opportunity to compete there.”
Leading the Huskers (18-4) in scoring was Brian Hansen with 22 points, including five 3-pointers.
“Being able to punch our ticket to the County Center means a lot, as that was a preseason goal of ours, but our biggest goal is to win the Gold Ball (given to the sectional champion) and the job’s not finished yet,” Hansen said. “In previous years we may haven’t got the result we wanted but this year we have a roster who’s fully bought into what we do and we’re going (to try to) finally bring the section title back to Yorktown.”
Kaden Gonzalez (19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) stood out for Yorktown as well.
“It means a lot because a lot of people doubted us and said our team wasn’t as good as last year,” Gonzalez said of getting to the County Center.
Ryan Duffy (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Aidan Flynn (10 points, 8 rebounds) also had big games for the Huskers.
Feeding off the hyped-up crowd, especially its rabid student body “The Crop,” Gonzalez drained two 3-pointers from the corner, putting Yorktown up 6-3.
“I was feeling it because the atmosphere from the gym,” Gonzalez said. “It was crazy.”
Gonzalez then stole the ball at halfcourt, leading to a layup at the buzzer that gave Yorktown a 19-13 first-quarter lead.
“I was just pressuring and they turned it over,” Gonzalez said.
Greeley responded in the second quarter, outscoring the Huskers 17-6 to go up 30-25 at halftime before Yorktown rallied in the second half.
“In the third quarter, Brian Hansen stepped up and hit five 3-pointers,” Pavella said. “We were able to make a run (21-11) in that quarter because the guys were sharing the ball and making the right play.”
Hansen knew what he had to do and simply did it.
“Going into halftime down five, it really made me realize in order to win, we need to leave everything we have out on the floor,” Hansen said. “My teammates made great passes, and to go out and hit those shots on that stage with my town behind me really felt great.”
One of Hansen’s five third quarter treys cut the Quakers’ lead to 33-30 with 4:52 left in the quarter.
“In the huddle and all week, we recognized our ability to handle adversity and to stay poised in tough spots,” Hansen said. “Being down six didn’t phase us as a team and we ran our offense through and was able to get good look after good look. After cutting it to three, we realized this is our game to win.”
Later in the quarter, Hansen connected on another corner trey, this one giving Yorktown a 43-40 lead with two minutes remaining in the third stanza.
“Ryan Duffy was taking it up the floor, we had numbers and he signaled me to run through to the corner,” Hansen said. “He made the extra pass and a rhythm shot like that to put us up three is really what we needed. It swung the momentum our way for the rest of the game.”
Helping seal the game for Yorktown was Gonzalez, who led the Huskers in the fourth quarter with 7 points, on the strength of 2 field goals and 3 of 4 shooting from the charity stripe.
“I knew I had to take over and do what I do best,” Gonzalez said.
Sander Stone (3 points), David Marasevic, Colin Worden, Franklin Ringel, Jimmy Goff, Phil Harbolic, Ethan Bantug, Eamon Coney, Sean Davis, and Gabe Scavello also made up the Huskers’ sectional quarterfinal roster.
“Overall, I’m happy with the way our guys responded when going down,” Pavella said. “They continued to play hard and trust each other.”
Girls Hoops
No. 10 Yorktown (13-9) lost at No. 2 Rye 47-20 in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class AA Tournament on Feb. 27.
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