They got a chance Wednesday night at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill to honor all the boys basketball senior players and applaud head coach Al Knapp for achieving the all-time Section III wins mark at Camden on Feb. 6.
Once the game started, though, Utica-Notre Dame found a way to spoil the occasion, beating the Red Devils 72-58 in a game that had major implications for the eventual Section III Class A playoff bracket.
Both VVS and UND came into the game with 15-4 records. Oneida (15-5) and Indian River (15-4) were around that same mark, and all wanted the no. 2 or 3 seed so that it didn’t have to face defending state champion Jamesville-DeWitt until the finals.
For a long while, the Red Devils and Jugglers played just the type of close, tension-filled game that had become the norm among elite Tri-Valley League teams this winter.
VVS actually led, 36-35, at the end of an evenly played first half, but it wasn’t dictating the tempo the way it wanted to against the Jugglers.
A bigger problem lay in the fact that 6-10 center Adam Kemp never got on track, held to just seven points, a fact that would eventually prove difficult for the Red Devils to overcome. Joe Barbano would lead VVS with 16 points, while Evan Croll earned 15 points.
UND worked its way into the lead in the third quarter, then got clear by doubling up the Red Devils’ output, 20-10, in the fourth quarter behind an attack more diverse than it had shown at times this season.
Pat Moore worked his way to 20 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark in the process — and he’s only a junior. Moore didn’t have to carry the whole load, though, as Matt Petrone had 18 points (including three 3-pointers), while Jerrell Hunter got 12 points and Mike Hill added 10 points.