Charles Pride prolonged the season of his Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team once – but he couldn’t quite do it twice.
It was Pride’s 3-pointer that pushed the Brothers into overtime of last Saturday’s Class A regional final against Section II champion Troy at Hudson Valley Community College, but with another chance to pull off the same heroics at the end of the extra period, Pride missed, and CBA lost, 55-52, to the Flying Horses.
At least in theory, the Brothers’ path through the state Class A playoffs appeared easier than 2015, since there wasn’t a defending (and eventual) state champion like Scotia-Glenville standing in the way.
Theory and reality collided, though, and the Brothers knew that, in order to make a return to Glens Falls Civic Center for the state final four for the first time in seven years, it would need its best game, regardless of who was on the other side.
The regional round commenced last Wednesday night, at Fayetteville-Manlius, where CBA expected to dominate Section X representative Massena, but instead had to battle through all four quarters and count on its size advantage to turn back the Red Raiders 53-42.
Armed with a 16-6 record and modest expectations, Massena didn’t blink in the face of an early 10-3 deficit, instead notching six straight points to move within one, 10-9, and set the uneasy tone for the rest of CBA’s evening.
Poor outside shooting, was harming the Brothers, particularly Mark Lutz, who managed just a single field goal for the game, and it allowed the Red Raiders to keep pace, even having it tied 24-24 late in the second period and again at 27-27 early in the third quarter in between Matt Purcell’s 3-pointer that gave CBA a three-point edge at halftime.
Frustrated by Massena’s game plan to slow down the tempo, the Brothers made up for it by following up its misses with plenty of offensive rebounds. Eventually, that took a toll, with CBA edging into a 43-35 lead by the fourth quarter and then getting further away in the waning minutes.
Charles Pride was quite effective, pouring in 23 points, while Dan Damico thrived on offensive rebounds to account for most of his 12 points. Purcell added seven points and Nick Aversa got five points. Dante Viskovich led Massena with 12 points.
Despite this win, CBA knew it had to play better when it went to Hudson Valley CC to face Section II champion Troy in Saturday’s regional final. Since HVCC is in Troy, the Flying Horses had a significant home-court advantage it hoped to exploit.
The game turned into a grinding affair, close from the opening tip. Troy wanted to pound it inside to its 6-foot-11 center, Jack McLaren, but the Brothers kept getting in the way, though its aggression in doing so led to a growing foul disparity.
It didn’t hurt the Brothers right away, as Damico’s back-to-back baskets, plus the defense, helped carve out a 12-8 lead after one period. Soon, though, the Flying Horses got into the bonus, and those foul shots added up and kept CBA from seizing control despite some big shots from Mark Purcell and Nate Brower in the second period.
Up by just a point, 25-24, at halftime, the Brothers saw that slim lead vanish in the third period, Troy inching out in front, 39-35. The final quarter turned into a patient chase, with the Flying Horses mostly grounded, but CBA unable to string together baskets, either.
McLaren’s dunk extended Troy’s lead back to three, 46-43, entering the final minute. It stayed that way until Pride, finding an open spot, drilled a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, tying it at 46-46. The Flying Horses had two chances at game-winning shots, but both missed as regulation time ran out.
Early in the OT, McLaren fouled out, but so did Aversa, taking out CBA’s point guard. Lutz connected on a 3-pointer. But that was the Brothers’ last field goal and, with 1:55 left, Daniel Buie was fouled and he made both of the free throws.
All told, Troy took 32 free throws and made 23 of them, more than twice the Brothers’ attempts, And still, CBA almost won it.
Trailing 53-50 with 10.3 seconds left, Purcell was fouled taking a 3-pointer. He made two of those shots, cutting the Brothers’ deficit to one, but then Buie was fouled with 8.3 seconds to play and, again, he sank both.
So it came down to Pride, finding some room on the outside, to try another 3-pointer to send it to a second OT. But it missed, the Flying Horses were on its way to Glens Falls and the Brothers, again, were stopped short of the state final four.