Championship ceremonies are part of the post-season routine and ritual, but the Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team were quite eager to pick up the banner symbolic of earning the Section III Class B title Sunday night at SRC Arena, and for good reason.
After all, six years – a rather long time by the high standards of the program – had passed since the Brothers had won a sectional crown, in Class AA in 2009.
What’s more, CBA had broken the drought in the sweetest way possible, taking out its neighbor and rival, Jamesville-DeWitt, in a 69-46 decision where, once more, all of the aspects of the Brothers’ game was in top form.
“It feels great,” said CBA head coach Buddy Wleklinski. “There’s a great togetherness to this group (of players). They really support and cheer for each other.”
If there was any doubt about what CBA wanted to do, Wleklinski dispelled it when he talked to his team at halftime, with the Brothers clinging to a 30-24 lead.
Senior guard Monte Stroman, whose six consecutive points helped his team take control late in the second quarter, said that, in the locker room, Wleklinski told them that this season could turn into something special, and that now was the time to make that happen.
CBA did that, but it had more than a little assist from J-D, whom it had beaten twice in the regular season, but owned a win on the SRC Arena court – its semifinal conquest over no. 1 seed Carthage, something the Brothers could not match since it had lost here to Bishop Ludden in the Zebra Classic on Jan. 18.
But in this big game, the Red Rams were at a major disadvantage. Dom DeRegis, a senior guard, team leader and top scoring threat, was not dressed, due to a team issue. In support of him, several players taped his number 5 to their sweats during pre-game warm-ups.
The absence of DeRegis didn’t hurt J-D much during a large portion of the first half, where both teams played tough defense and baskets proved precious. The Rams, in fact, led 17-16 midway through the second quarter before Charles Pride’s 3-pointer pushed CBA in front for good.
It was only a two-point game, 24-22, when Stroman, held scoreless to that point, hit on back-to-back layups and then buried a jumper, which accounted for the Brothers’ eventual six-point halftime margin.
“It took us a while to get into our groove,” said Stroman.
That groove was reached during a third quarter when CBA outscored J-D 18-9, and did so in myriad ways, from Emmett Dunn, Jack Carey and Dan Damico converting in the paint to Stroman and Pride driving to the basket right past J-D’s defenses.
Gradually, it wore the Rams down, and Stroman, named the sectional tournament MVP, offered a decisive blow with his dunk and three-point play with 5:54 left, which made it 59-39 and allowed CBA fans to start celebrating.
Stroman had 12 of his 18 points in the second half. Pride, again a force off the bench, had 13 points, while Carey had nine points, Dunn eight points and Matt Burns six points.
And the Brothers’ defense was a constant force. Wleklinski said that his team played man-to-man for the entire game, something it had not done all season, and J-D’s short-handed lineup struggled in the face of it. Only Isaiah Williams and Jacob Eich, with 10 points apiece, hit double figures, with Rahmel Smith adding nine points and James Boeheim seven points.
CBA will meet Franklin Academy Wednesday night in the Class A regional semifinal at Potsdam State, knowing that a possible regional final Saturday at Colgate University’s Cotterell Court against state no. 1-ranked Scotia-Glenville (Section II) could take place with a berth in the March 21-22 state final four in Glens Falls at stake.
“We’ve faced tough teams all season,” said Wleklinski of that possible Scotia-Glenville clash. “We would love that challenge.”
