One step too many, a couple of missed free throws – small things in basketball that, by themselves, mean little.
Put together here, though, they spelled the end of Cicero-North Syracuse’s Section III Class AA title quest, as it dropped a gut-wrenching 71-68 overtime decision to Utica Proctor in Thursday night’s semifinal at Le Moyne College.
For all that went on in the 35-plus minutes leading up to the final seconds, it was what took place within those last ticks that will haunt the Northstars for a while.
C-NS trailed, 69-68, after Proctor’s Nashon Brown hit a contested basket with 32 seconds left in OT. Out of time-outs, the Northstars milked the clock and then drove to the goal.
One shot missed, then another, and on the third try Andrew Johnson was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. Though Johnson had made some key free throws late in regulation, he could not convert on either attempt here, and Proctor’s Chris Simmons grabbed the rebounds.
Fouled with 3.7 seconds to play, Simmons, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, missed his first foul shot. Whether intentionally or not, Simmons also missed the second, and C-NS’s Vaughndell Brantley had the rebound, ready to charge up the court in the brief time that was left.
Quickly, a Proctor defender slid up to Brantley – and the officials said that Brantley took a fateful extra step, whistling him with a traveling violation and a turnover that led to an insurance basket for the Raiders as the clock hit zero.
Everyone on the C-NS side, from head coach John Haas to his players to the fans behind them, fumed at the call, saying that Brantley got fouled. It could not get overturned, though, and the Northstars’ season was over with a 14-6 mark.
Prior to this, C-NS has won eight in a row, a surge sparked by beating then-unbeaten Proctor 66-63 in overtime on Jan. 17.
Barely a month later, the Raiders arrived for the rematch at Le Moyne as the top seed. But the Northstars, as the no. 5 seed, had all the confidence, as it had won five consecutive meetings with Proctor, and six of the last seven, including a dramatic 2010 sectional final won by Anthony DelCoro’s banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer.
In a back-and-forth first half, C-NS squandered a six-point lead late in the first quarter as Proctor went on a 9-0 run. But the Northstars countered with its own surge to close the half as three 3-pointers – two from Brantley, one from Shakir Thomas – pushed them to a 35-25 lead at the break.
Gradually, the Raiders ate away at that margin until, with 6:13 left, Brown’s 3-pointer put Proctor in front 52-51. From there, it was a roller coaster through the rest of regulation, with few field goals but plenty of trips to the foul line.
In the last minute, Brantley missed two foul shots, and Proctor assumed a 59-57 lead, but the senior guard atoned with a deft drive and pass to set up Johnson’s tying basket with 6.5 seconds left, which eventually forced overtime.
Not only did C-NS appear to have the momentum, it also didn’t have to worry about Proctor star Maurice Mills, who had fouled out. However, the Northstars’ Sam Nasser had also fouled out, and his defense was missed in a back-and-forth OT that drained everyone in the gym – players, fans and coaches alike.
Six times in those four extra minutes, the lead changed hands, twice in the closing minute. Johnson hit a go-ahead basket with 43 seconds left to push C-NS back in front 68-67, seconds before Brown answered with just his second field goal of the night.
Lacking Mills, the Raiders got 24 points and 12 rebounds from Lavoy Legett to make up for it. Johnson and Brantley each had 16 points to lead the Northstars, while Shakir Thomas added 13 points.
