Lewis scores 30 in thriller
Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon and Achraf Yacoubou of Long Island Lutheran were named co-Mr. New York Basketball this week, but St. Mary’s (Manhasset) coach Bill Harkins believes there’s another worthy candidate.
“I’m going to go on the record with this, and I mean this, if he’s not one of the top players in New York state, I don’t know who is,” he said. “He brings it every game.”
He was referring to Chavaughn Lewis, who proved his worth yesterday, scoring 30 points to help lead undefeated St. Mary’s to a thrilling 78-70 overtime win against Mount St. Michael in the CHSAA Class A state championship game.
The Gaels advance to the New York State Federation tournament for the second time and will meet the PSAL “A” winner in the semifinals at the Times Union Center in Albany on March 25.
“I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Lewis said. “I just came out and did what I had to do for my team.”
Led by Peter Aguilar, who also had 30 points, Mount St. Michael (26-2) threatened to put the game out of reach, taking a 57-47 lead with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter.
But Khalif Chapman (11 points) buried a 3-pointer and Lewis followed with a quick layup, sparking a 14-2 run to give the Gaels took a 61-59 lead.
Clarence White (26 points) tied the game at 61 with a pair of free throws and, after a pair of free throws by Agnew, Aguilar tied it at 63 with a tap putback with 2:17 left.
Mount had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds of regulation, but Anthony Maestre’s 3-pointer was off target and Aguilar wasn’t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.
The game changed 43 seconds into overtime when Aguilar picked up his fifth foul, joining starters Malik Gill and Omari Manhertz on the bench. Wisely, the Gaels (28-0) pushed the ball inside to Charles McCann, who had 17 points, including the first three points of the extra session, and the Gaels would never trail again.
In the CHSAA Class B state final, Salesian avenged last year’s loss in Buffalo and thrashed St. Mary’s (Lancaster), 83-50, to advance to the state Federation tournament in Albany for the third time in school history.
Mike Cacciato led Salesian (20-7) with 24 points, Kevin Punter added 23 and Jason Alleyne had 21.
