Girls Basketball: Albertus Magnus Survives Late Rally, Defeats Tappan Zee, 77-70

It’s one thing to say the game is never over, but it’s another thing to put your words into action.

The Tappan Zee High School girls' varsity basketball team lived up to their words at home Monday afternoon in a pivotal game against once-beaten Albertus Magnus, which is battling Pearl River for league supremacy.

Albertus Magnus, which had defeated a cold-shooting Tappan Zee team by 24 points Jan. 10 and opened the fourth quarter with a 14-point lead, held off a comeback by the Dutchies to post their fourteenth win of the season in a high-scoring, entertaining thriller, 77-70.

Albertus Magnus clinched a share of the league title with Pearl River, and would win the crown outright if Tappan Zee could defeat the Pirates 4 p.m Wednesday, back at Dutchmen Arena.

First-year Falcons coach Pat Buckley, whose team lost to Pearl River, 51-37, only last Thursday, feels the Dutchies are capable of the assignment.

“They could do it, it could happen,” Buckley said prior to Monday’s contest. “They’re a good team, they’re tough, and they battle.”

Tappan Zee certainly had to battle against Albertus Magnus. The Falcons trailed by 16-14 after the first period as Erica Richards and Devona Paul each had four points to more than offset five by the Falcons’ Megan Richards. But the Falcons steadily pulled ahead and led 36-32 at the break, and opened it up in the third period to widen the gap to 62-48 after three periods. Maeve Parahus led the Falcons as they pulled away with 11 points in the third period, with freshman star Kelly Guarino, who sparked the charge in the second period with 10 points, adding six.

“I haven’t been coaching that long, but I know the game is never over, especially on the road. We probably stayed in the 1-3-1 (defense) too long, but their kids stayed fired up and made a lot of shots,” said Buckley. “They’re good, talented, kept coming. It’s a credit to Tom (TZ coach Tom Cromer).”

Down by 14 points, Tappan Zee (12-4) began its comeback. When Erica Richards, who scored 15 points, grabbed a rebound and Sarah Wenke (team-high 17 points) hit from outside, the lead was down to four at 68-64, but Felicia DaCruz scored from inside to make it 70-64 with 2:24 to play.

Richards hit two free throws to again pull the host to within four, but the hot-shooting, versatile sophomore Parahus (19 points) hit a turnaround jumper to put the Falcons up 72-66 as both clubs went head-to-head, elbow-to-elbow down the stretch drive.

Richards, who hustled throughout, scored on a nifty drive and lay-up to make it 72-68, and followed by drawing a foul for a one-and-one. Richards sank both foul shots and the game was there for the taking at 72-70 with less than a minute remaining.

It was crunch time, and senior Megan Richards stepped up, sinking a long-range, 3-point basket to make it 75-70 to seal the outcome. Guarino closed the scoring by converting both ends of a one and one to finish with a game-high 23 points..

“I knew it (shot) was big, but I didn’t think about it, I just played basketball,” the Falcons’ Richards said matter-of-factly following her 12-point effort. “They’re a good team, they made a good run. We should have played better defense, and rebounded better. We knew they’d be trouble because they play hard.”

Paul was not surprised by her teammates’ tenacity, saying, “It was a close game, intense, both teams played hard. You can never back down; we’ve been down before and came back. You never lay down in basketball. Some people said we never had a chance, but we did.”

Tappan Zee junior Valerie DiMuro, who scored seven points in the second period, and left-handed senior standout Megan Curran, who finished with 14 points, echoed Paul’s belief in their team’s resiliency, and are already looking forward to the important game on Wednesday against Pearl River.

“The last time we lost a close one to Pearl River,” Curran recalled. “They are a great team, with a great coach (Lorraine Moylan), obviously. We have to come out with a lot of energy like we did today, and clean up our turnovers.”

“A win against Pearl River would be nice,” said DiMuro. “But everyone’s a nice win. We believe as a team that it’s never over, that you never give up, like our coach tells us. We always play our hardest.”

As for Buckley, he wouldn’t openly say he’s rooting for Tappan Zee.

“I’m just happy we took care of our part,” he said. “Now whenever happens, it happens.”

Free throws

• Pat Buckley is serving his first year as varsity head coach at Albertus Magnus, having taken over for athletic director Joe McGuinness, whom he played for in 1992-’93. McGuinness was on hand for the girls game, and perhaps stayed around to watch his son Pat perform in the second game.
• Kathleen Feeney of Nanuet volunteered as scorekeeper for the Falcons. The 1995 Albertus Magnus grad played on a state championship team for legendary coach Lorraine Moylan, who left for Pearl River in her sophomore year. “We love her,  love talking basketball with her, and seeing her all the time,” said Kathleen. Before Kathleen, her sisters Jennifer and Marybeth played under Moylan, first reaching the Final Four, and then winning a state title. The next year, Kathleen and Marybeth were state champions, and the following year they, too, reached the Final Four. Kathleen’s daughter Sereena, a student at Barr Middle School, is playing basketball on the St. Anthony’s CYO team.
• Moylan and Tom Collins—former coach and athletic director at Albertus Magnus who later became the AD at Pearl River—will be inducted into the state basketball Hall of Fame at the state tournament in late March.
• Not to be outdone by his counterpart at Albertus Magnus, especially on the home court, Tappan Zee athletic director Liam Frawley took in the action along with fans who packed the stands.
• Boding well for the future, freshman Kristin McLaughlin scored nine points for Tappan Zee.
• Albertus Magnus returns to action at home on Thursday against Clarkstown South.
• Tappan Zee football coach Andy DiDomenico, appearing relaxed, fit, with nary a worry in the world, was strolling the sideline, possibly scouting for a nugget in the crowd.