No. 2 Yorktown beat No. 7 Mahopac in a heart-stopping Section 1 Class AA quarterfinal on Thursday, sending the Huskers back to the County Center.
Led by Connor Morhardt’s 28 points, Yorktown defeated rival Mahopac 59-55 in an overtime classic to win its 35th straight home game and clinch a berth to the semifinals at the Westchester County Center for a fourth straight season.
Yorktown is scheduled to play No. 3 Clarkstown North at 4:45 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the arena in White Plains.
“This is probably the best feeling I’ve ever had. This means so much,” said Morhardt, who had 8 rebounds. “I love this team; it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever been on—from the culture to just how well we click. It’s just amazing to see us go to the County Center.
“It’s just a great feeling to be able to do it with all 17 of these guys, everyone contributes.”
Colin Worden (13 points, 14 rebounds) also had a big game for Yorktown (20-2), ranked as honorable mention in the state poll.
“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to play at the County Center,” Worden said. “It’s such a great place to play. The best teams in all of Westchester County, Putnam County and Rockland County will be there. It was our goal at the beginning of the season. Obviously, it doesn’t end there; we want to win there. It just feels great to beat a rival to get there.”
After Mahopac led 21-19 at halftime, Morhardt put on a dazzling shooting display in the third quarter, where he scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers, but Mahopac still led 39-37 at the end of the quarter.
“My teammates were giving me the ball, I was taking what the defense was giving me, and I was just taking open shots and hitting them,” Morhardt said. “It was a super tight contest. Mahopac kept battling, it played a heck of a game.”
Morhardt came up clutch with just 15.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, when he connected on three free throws after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer, giving Yorktown a 51-49 lead, before a Mahopac buzzer-beating layup tied the game to force overtime.
Late in overtime, a hoop by Tyler Galante put Yorktown up 57-55.
“I thought we needed some physicality on the court, Mahopac is a big, strong team, so I thought [Galante] brought that for us,” said Yorktown coach Mark Pavella. “He’s not afraid of the moment, he’s played other sports as well, football (as a third-team Class A All-State wide receiver this fall) and baseball.”
Worden made 4 of his 6 foul shots in overtime, including the final two, sealing the game by giving Yorktown a 59-55 lead with 15.6 seconds to go in overtime.
“It’s just repetition,’ Worden said. “Recently, my dad’s been getting on me for missing a couple of free throws here and there. I just have to make sure to stay after practice and shoot extra reps, 40, 50 free throws a day.”
Sean Davis (10 points), Franklin Ringel (4 points, 5 blocks, 10 rebounds) and Lucas Schrade (2 points) also contributed to the Huskers’ win.
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