McKinley brings a NYSPHAA Class A State Championship home to Buffalo

 

Most of WNY's top local teams saw their season's slip away when they were unable to retain a lead.  Olean had a 12-point lead late in the third quarter against Batavia in the Far West regional and ended up losing.  Silver Creek was up by seven points with three and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Class C state semifinal, only to see things unravel late and have its season end.  Canisius took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter of the CHSAA state title game, only to fall by six at the end.  Even Jamestown was up by a point at intermission during the regionals against eventual Class AA state champ Bishop Kearney.  So when McKinley's nine-point fourth quarter lead evaporated in just over two minutes and they were suddenly trailing a team with all the momentum by three points with under 30 seconds left in the game, I'll admit I felt the sensation of "here we go again".  

 

But like McKinley's motto goes, "Macks show no fear".  After a courageous and spectacular finish, those same Macks are state champions.

 

Lovell Smith scored 24 points, had eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals to earn championship MVP honors, as McKinley defeated Burke Catholic in overtime, 76-73, to win the NYSPHAA Class A state title.  It was the first state championship in school history and also the first Section VI school to win it all in Class A since the AA classification was added. 

 

Trailing 60-57 after Burke Catholic dropped what looked like a dagger 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in regulation, Marcus Morris calmly answered with his own long-range bust, tying the game at 60 with 25 seconds to go.  After Burke Catholic regained a lead of 62-60 following a pair of free throws with 14 seconds on the gane clock, McKinley came down the court with its season hanging in the balance.  Samuel Smith took a pass inside and got a defender off his feet, drawing a two-shot foul with just 5.8 showing on the clock.  Smith delivered the first, nothing but net, and timeout was called.  In the most pressure-packed circumstance you could dream up, Smith strolled out of the timeout, up to the line, and dropped the second charity toss in the net just as perfectly as the first had fallen, tying the game at 62.   Burke Catholic was unable to get off anything more than a heave in desperation, and the Class A state championship headed to OT.

 

McKinley fell behind by three points in the extra session and didn't score until 2:20 remained, when Daequan Warren hit a pair of free throws, sparking a 9-3 Macks run over the next minute and a half, erasing the three-point OT deficit and taking the lead on Burke Catholic at 71-68.  The run included baskets from Morris, Samuel Smith, and Lovell Smith, along with a free throw from Morris.   Over the final 37 seconds, Burke Catholic scored a pair of field goals, each time pulling within a point, but both times the Macks responded by sinking a pair from the charity stripe to maintain their advantage, first from Jordan and then Johnson.  Trailing 75-72 with 2.6 seconds left in OT, Burke Catholic sank a free throw, but missed its second attempt.  The rebound was snagged by Lovell Smith, who was fouled with 0.7 to go.  Smith hit one free throw, bringing the game to its final score, 76-73.

 

 

The Macks trailed early, 5-0, and didn't get on the scoreboard until Marcus Morris swished his first 3-pointer with 4:27 left in the opening quarter.  Burke Catholic led 13-11 after the first quarter and built another five-point lead midway through the second quarter. Lovell Smith scored six straight points in response to the deficit and Stephen Johnson collected four points in the final minute of the half, as Burke Catholic held a 26-25 lead at halftime.

 

McKinley used a pair of third quarter runs (10-1 and 10-3) to build leads of six and nine points, and outscored Burke Catholic, 22-15 in the stanza.  The Macks held a 47-41 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, after getting scoring from six different players in the third.  By the 4:41 mark of the fourth quarter, McKinley had matched its largest lead of the game at nine points, 57-48. The Macks wouldn't score another basket until Morris knocked down his game-tying '3' with just 25 seconds left in regulation.  During the Macks scoreless stretch, Burke Catholic mounted a comeback, scoring 12 straight points over a 3:45 span to take a three-point lead with under a minute left in the fourth quarter.

 

Morris was named to the all-tournament team, finishing the title game with 16 points and seven boards.  Jordan scored 11 points, Samuel Smith finished with 10 points, and Johnson added nine points.  Warren scored six points, collected eight rebounds, and also had two assists, two steals, and two blocks. 

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

Comments

[Use Ya Left]

Great achievement by the Macks. Some other top players in Western New York learned this March just how difficult it is to make it to and then win their respective championships.

Congratulations!

[Earl Schunk]

A great accomplishment by a great group of kids headed by a great coach.

[Gus Buster]

Congratulations Macks!

[Game]

a true public school overcomes the legal loopholes that these privates use to get favorable matchups on a very unlevel playing field created by then forcing by way of the courts to allow them this,and only by their"Good Graces" at least accept the division they are to play in by how good they are or are expected to be.and if they loose some recruits or have a few bad years can they do as the girls and float to a lower class based on enrollment? although it seems that they could as well dictate that through the legal system .....who goes to court to take a rule to task to force their way into section play with publics. I love to win but I like to sleep as well.Hats of to section 6 for keeping things like they are although they may hurt us as we get deeper into the playoffs,you can rest easy knowing you did it on a pretty level playing field in your section and many faired well even against these teams in most other sections...and MgKINLEY!!!!!way to roll guys.tough hard fought win today but pretty muched sliced through all the assembled schools with grace and at times made it look like a walk in the park...Silver Creek...5-6 kids and a bench and made it a long way....Olean...a heart breaker away from advancing...but stacked against the system I would say we were represented well.And I realize there is never a perfect solution to meet the needs of everyone but did a wonderful job just playing the game on the hardwood. I love section 6 and all the people here who write about them and really do a great job getting the word out about local High School Hoops!!Again congrats to all schools and McKinley,just watching the highlites made me hanker for a good ballgame!!

[Tarheel23]

Congrats to Mckinley. Just a very fun team to watch, and absolutely had a little "extra" to overcome to bring home their state title. (20 fouls for macks and 9 for Ludden in semi's, and 20 fouls for macks and 16 for burke in Final.) Refs did a little better job evening it up in the final, but if you take out the 2 or 3 fouls Burke comitted at end of game to stop clock and regain possession, it was more like 20-13. And thanks to TW cable for televising the games, which enabled me to watch the finish at the Queensbury Hotel. :) Looking forward to the Federation, and Mckinley bringing home a federation title.

[WT716]

Really getting sick of everyone complaining about the public/private school issue. Deal with it.

[centercourt]

NYSPHAA Class A state champion McKinley falls to John Adams in Federation semifinal in Albany. It doesn't diminish an outstanding season played by the Macks, one of the best seasons by a WNY team in the last several years.

[Hoopster]

Privates should not be in the PUBLIC high school championship. Not an even playing ground. Congrats to the Macks.

Hoopster - with a capital H...........lol

[Gus Buster]

What was the score cc? Any sort of recap?

[centercourt]

John Adams 69, McKinley 54

[guest]

Does anyone have any info on today's All-Star games @ Grabiarz? Times? Rosters? etc.

[McShea is God]

My final Large school

#1 - Canisius
#2 - Jamestown
#3 - McKinley
#4 - Falls
#5 - Amherst
#6 - Joe's
#7 - Timon
#8 - Clarence
#9 - K West
#10 - W North

Going 2 ignore McKinley loss by 1 at home 2 Joe's and Amherst loss 2 Clarence after postseason performance.

[McShea is God]

My Final small school:

#1 - Olean
#2 - Silver Creek
#3 - St Mary's
#4 - Nichols
#5 - East
#6 - OTC
#7 - Oracle
#8 - Cleveland Hill
#9 - Lackawanna
#10 - Fredonia