Basketball Ends with Panther Accolades

The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.

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The men’s basketball season ended Friday night with the most wins in school history, but the ending still came at least one win shy of what Middlebury (VT) College Coach Jeff Brown would have wanted.

Brown, who has led the Panthers since 1997, was a three-time all-county selection at Clarkstown South High School where, in his senior season, he averaged an astounding 26.9 points a game, and set the Rockland County career scoring record in 1978 with 1,428 points.

The record stood for nine years until Bill Kurisko of Nanuet--the current head men’s basketball coach at Rockland Community College--exceeded it by 16 points. But Brown held the second-best mark for 18 years, and is generally acclaimed as the best basketball player ever for the Vikings.

Brown earned a scholarship to the University of Vermont, and as a team captain became the third-highest scorer in school history, and subsequently was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Brown’s many other honors include induction into the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

More important to the moment, however, Brown was looking for just two more wins to cap the magnificent campaign.

 “Hopefully, we can find a way to win two more games this weekend,” Brown had said on Thursday. “Regardless, the season will end by Saturday.”

Instead, the season ended for the No. 2-seeded Panthers on Friday night, with a 59-57 loss to No. 8 St. Thomas, which will meet No. 5 Wooster this afternoon in the NCAA Division III title game at the Salem (VA) Civic Center. Wooster advanced by beating No. 4 Williams, 73-71.

Middlebury finished at 28-2, after possessing the ball down by just two points with 16 seconds left against St. Thomas.

The Panthers had the ball after a steal, and were looking to get the ball inside to high-scoring Ryan Sharry, who had been injured and did not play in the team’s only other loss this season. But the play didn’t go according to perfection, and the ball wound up in the hands of Nolan Thompson, whose off-balance shot missed the mark.

But Brown is not totally disappointed.

“The last four (seasons) have been our best years ever up here, or any team I’ve been involved with as a coach,” Brown said. “Three years ago we won 19, then 24, and last year 25. This year we had 28; it clearly was our best season.”

A Manhattan College graduate where he was an assistant to Gordon Chiesa, the former coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College, Brown has had several mentors on the trail to success.

“I was very young and inexperienced at Manhattan” Brown remembers. “I learned a ton of basketball from Gordon those first three years.”

Brown’s next job was as the University of Vermont, spending eight years with the celebrated Tom Brennan.

“Tom was a terrific motivator, had a great way, personable in his coaching,” Brown noted. “He gave his assistants a lot of responsibility.”

Brown also fondly recalls the Houstons of Pearl River, Kevin and Jerry, and Joe McGuinness, the athletic director at Albertus Magnus who was Brown’s classmate and friend at Clarkstown South.

He also well remembers his battles against Pearl River standout Joe Clinton, now the men’s basketball coach and athletic director at Dominican College.

“He (Clinton) was terrific, a coach on the floor,” Brown said, providing an instant scouting report for this writer. “He was just a terrific player, so smart. I learned a lot from him when I was a young player.”

Brown also well remembers Billy Diener of Nanuet, the women’s basketball coach at Dominican who also is a former high school teammate; and, of course, the legendary Tom Collins, who on Sunday is being inducted into the New York State Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

“Tom is a real gentleman, a 10 of 10,” Brown said. “He was a great basketball player, and just as good a human being.”

 As much as he was connected to Rockland, Brown found a home in Vermont in general, and at Middlebury in particular.

“It’s a great institution, very strong academically, among the best small colleges in the country,” said Brown.

Asked how the Middlebury student/athlete handles the sometimes tenuous balance of athletics and academics, Brown had this observation: “Our kids do it well. Academic standards are high, but it comes with a high price tag (tuition, room, and board runs about $52,000). The students tend to be motivated, and it tends to carry over into athletics. They want to be the best they can be.”

Making his pitch

Scott McClennan of Suffern, a freshman right-hander, started and went three solid innings as the Manhattan College baseball team defeated Big East rival Seton Hall, 6-3.

Senior third baseman Chad Salem of Iona Prep drove in two runs to become Manhattan’s all-time RBI leader with 179, surpassing former Jaspers slugger John Fitzpatrick, who had 177.

McClennan allowed just three hits before turning the game over to Katonah’s Jared Hirschberg, who dominated the next three innings.

Manhattan will be in Philadelphia over the weekend for games against Saint Joseph today, and tomorrow against Villanova.

Dolphins dominant

Senior attack Mike Shea of Congers scored four goals, and added an assist, to lead the Mount Saint Vincent men’s lacrosse team to an 8-2 victory over Alvernia.

The Dolphins broke out to an early 3-0 lead on goals by Cavan Valance, Derek Valance, and sophomore midfielder Matt DeSimone of Congers.

Shea and DeSimone are graduates of Clarkstown North.

The 6-foot-4 Shea also had two groundballs in a game in which the Dolphins dominated in nearly all team categories.

The Dolphins outshot the Crusaders 47-27, enjoyed a 40-34 advantage in groundballs, and won eight of 12 faceoffs.

Mount Saint Vincent hopes to continue the momentum from its first win of the season following two losses when it meets Wells today (March 19) at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers at 1 p.m.

Spirited comeback

The Dominican College men’s lacrosse team was looking for its first win of the season, and nearly pulled it off against powerful, undefeated Assumption College before bowing 9-8.

The Chargers, including freshman midfielder Thomas Dertinger of Nanuet, and defenseman Mike Accardi of Valley Cottage, rallied from a 9-3 second-half deficit to draw within a goal with 2 minutes 17 seconds to play.

Dertinger assisted on a goal by Alex Jones in the first half to make it 4-1, but Assumption closed the half with a 6-1 advantage.

Former Tappan Zee HS team captain Matthew Brown of Sparkill, a junior, and freshman midfielder Anton Gjeloshi of Pomona are also playing for Coach Matthew Brancaccio.

 A four year starter at DeSales as an attackman, where he holds both the single-season assist record and the all-time assist record. Brancaccio was a second-team all-Conference selection twice in his collegiate career.

The Chargers hope to carry the momentum from their comeback against Assumption into tomorrow’s 1 p.m. contest against visiting Seton Hill University of Greenburg, PA.

Mortarboard musings

• Dominican College men’s basketball center Almin Hodzic of Budd Lake, NJ, has been named to the 2010-11 Division II Daktronics Men’s Basketball East all-Region team.  Hodzic--one of four players from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) to be honored--had a breakout senior season. He led Dominican to the third seed in the CACC Tournament behind averages of 14.8 points-per-game, 8.9 rebounds, 3.17 blocks, and 56-percent shooting from the field.

• The Manhattan College softball team is back from a trip to Florida, and is scheduled to open its home season with a twinbill against Columbia at 3 p.m. on March 24. The Lady Jaspers feature a solid lineup including sophomores Amanda Babcock, an infielder out of North Rockland HS, and Megan Weaver, an outfielder from New City and Clarkstown North. Babcock was an all-selection pick in softball and basketball for the Red Raiders; Weaver, a two-year captain for the Rams, was all-section in softball, and also played soccer and basketball.
• North Rockland graduate Chrissy Gutenberger scored her sixth and seventh goals of the season, and added her first assist, but the Manhattan College women’s lacrosse team fell to visiting UMBA, 20-6. The junior midfielder returns to action today when the Lady Jaspers entertain Louisville at 1 p.m. at Gaelic Park in Riverdale. Manhattan will also be home on Wednesday (March 23) at 4 p.m. to meet Long Island.
• Suffern twins Justin and Drew Daniels were back in action Friday night as Northeastern University made its seventh Hockey East semifinals appearance, meeting rival Boston College at TD Garden in Boston, MA. Northeastern ousted Boston University, 5-4, in the quarterfinals as Justin Daniels, who has five points on the season, won 16 of 22 faceoffs. Drew Daniels has nine points, including three goals.
• The Dominican College baseball team climbed to .500 Friday by pounding out a 15-10 victory over Queens College. Junior Justin Moore of Wantagh improved to 2-0, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out five batters. The Chargers (3-4) travel to Long Island today to meet Dowling in a doubleheader at noon.
• Junior guard Carol Johnson of New City ended her basketball season when Pace dropped a heartbreaker to host Bentley University 64-61 in the NCAA Division II East Region final. The Setters finished at 25-8.
• Fresh off its first win of the season, 15-8 over Wagner, the men’s lacrosse team at Manhattan College hits the road today to meet Villanova in a big non-conference game at 1 p.m.
• Freshman southpaw Chris Haggarty of Valley Cottage, who was an all-county and all-state (fifth team) selection at Nyack High, is hurling in relief at Villanova University. A walk-on during the fall season, Haggarty will be ready to go over the weekend as Villanova meets Fairfield today at Plymouth Meeting, PA, at 3:15, and Manhattan tomorrow at 12:15, also in Plymouth Meeting.

• Dominican College women’s lacrosse player Maggie Brocklebank of Long Branch, NJ, was named Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) rookie of the week. Brocklebank tallied eight points in a 1-1 week, including a 5-goal performance in a win over Bridgeport and another two goals and one assist in a setback to Queens.
• The Lady Chargers, and junior attack Heather Wanamaker of Blauvelt and Tappan Zee HS, are back in action on Tuesday against Philadelphia University at Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn. Game time is 4 p.m. Dominican then meets Holy Family University on Thursday, also in Hillburn at 4 p.m.