Even with the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship in its possession, one more weekend of work remained for the West Genesee boys basketball team.
It involved a trip to Glens Falls’ Cool Insuring Arena (formerly Civic Center) for the annual state Federation Tournament of Champions, where the Wildcats aimed for two more victories to add to its storybook tale.
But despite an all-out effort in Friday night’s Federation semifinal, WG could not get past New York City powerhouse Christ the King, who held on to defeat the Wildcats 59-53.
As the champions of the Catholic High School Athletic Association, Christ the King had recovered from a 4-5 start to reach Glens Falls, claiming the CHSAA title with a come-from-behind, 61-56 win over Archbishop Stepniac.
A four-time Federation champion, the Royals’ noted alumni include Lamar Odom, Jayson Williams, Khalid Reeves and, even more notably on the women’s side, Chamique Holdsclaw and Sue Bird.
WG was against all this history, along with a current CTK roster that was well-balanced between star center Moussa Cisse and an outstanding guard in Ryan Myers.
It was Cisse setting the tone against the Wildcats with his shot-blocking as he had four of them in the first quarter, to go with Myers’ 3-pointers as the Lions built an 18-11 lead.
Thanks to its own hot outside shooting, though, WG stayed within range throughout the game’s middle stages, moving within five, 30-25, by halftime and trading baskets in the early portion of the second half, too.
And it was doing so despite serious foul trouble for senior forward Lucas Sutherland, who picked up his fourth foul late in the third quarter.
Somehow, Sutherland avoided fouling out and picked up a game-high 28 points. And Christian Rossi’s trio of free throws cut WG’s deficit to two, 48-46, with more than five minutes to play.
Yet every time the Wildcats threatened, CTK answered, either with a Myers 3-pointer or, after Cisse fouled out with 2:15 left, hitting three late free throws after Sutherland’s last basket made it 56-53.
The Lions advanced to face Long Island Lutheran in Saturday night’s Federation final, while West Genesee’s magical season concluded.
Sutherland is on his way to Siena College, which just changed head coaches as Jamion Christian accepted the job at George Washington University. In all, seven seniors depart, including Sutherland, Rossi and Jack McLane.
But Will Amica, the MVP of last weekend’s NYSPHSAA final four in Binghamton, returns, as does Kam Jones, John Benson and Adam Dudzinski, giving Wildcats fans a reason to think that, as grand as 2018-19 was, it can do something special again next winter.
