KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Tony Hargraves sometimes feels like the unwanted uncle. He talks and talks, but nobody listens. The Riverside Hawks 17U coach and director feels his program – once one of the nation’s elite before a sex scandal involving former director Ernie Lorch – is overlooked despite continued success.
It’s getting harder to look past Riverside more and more.
On the final day of the AAU Super Showcase, Hargraves’ club is the last New York-area team left – not the New York Gauchos, not the Long Island Lightning, not the Westchester Hawks – playing in the silver division semifinals Wednesday at noon against Prymetyme Youth Organization (Ill.).
“Hopefully this garners us some respect in the New York City area and the nation,” he said after his team’s thrilling 49-45, come-from-behind win over the favored Jersey Shore Warriors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. “It means a lot. We’re always the underdog. We just come to work.”
The gutsy victory was an apt excellent. Riverside trailed throughout and by as many as 12 points early in the fourth quarter before William & Mary-bound guard Terry Tarpey Jr. of Fairfield Prep (Conn.) led a game-ending 22-6 run. He had eight points down the stretch, including a pair of highlight-reel dunks in transition.
“We went to our star, of course, and he came up big,” said Hargraves, who played for Riverside in his day and starred for Our Savior Lutheran and Iona College.
Riverside, however, isn’t big on stars. It’s an undersized, gritty group epitomized by Bridgewater-Raritan (N.J.) 5-foot-5 point guard Sal Vitello, who sank two clutch free throws late. Boys & Girls’ Aaron McBurnie made the go-ahead shot, a lefty layup in the lane with 43.8 seconds left after coming up with a huge steal.
“Our team is family oriented,” said McBurnie, who scored eight points. “It’s not about the skills. It’s just role players who do what they do perfectly.”
Tarpey (17 points), the son of Holy Cross HS legend Terry Tarpey, said the contest turned when Hargraves switched from a 3-2 zone to man-to-man after Jersey Shore built a big lead by sinking a slew of 3-pointers. Riverside amped up the pressure and the New Jersey program wilted, unable to get off good shots and committing unnecessary turnovers.
“It was a team effort,” Tarpey said. “A lot of people stuck to their specialties, our bench made some big shots and the guys who didn’t do a lot of scoring helped in other ways.”
A win over Prymetyme Youth and Riverside not only will play for the silver title in the prestigious national tournament Wednesday night, but do so live on ESPN3.com. It would be a significant moment for the program which continually is looking to move past its ugly, yet also glorious, past. It has spent the entire AAU season performing well, winning its pools, but failing to advance past the quarterfinals.
That changed late Tuesday afternoon.
“There was a barrier between us doing really well and getting our name out there,” Tarpey said. “The further we go in this tournament, people will hear Riverside more.”
