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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. The Tuckahoe Tigers won their second straight Section 1 Class C boys basketball championship Saturday and continued their perfect season with an 80-58 victory over Childrens at the Westchester County Center.
This is the core group we had two years ago that went 3-16 and I said at the time they were the best 3-16 team in the section and people laughed at me, said Tigers coach, Al Visconti. Two years later weve won the gold ball twice. These kids put in the hard work for two years. Now well work on going to the next level.
The unbeaten Tigers ran their record to 21-0 and earned a spot in Tuesdays state regional semifinal against Section 9 winner Pine Plains, which will be played at the County Center at 4:45 p.m.
Sky Williams added 27 points to his school record career total and Justin Nolan scored 25 as the Tigers pushed their fast-break offense early and led by 25 points at halftime. Williams scored 18 of his points in the first half and Nolan had 15.
We are much more mature as a team than last year, Nolan said. We focused on doing the right things and put in a lot of hard work. We were disappointed when we were knocked out (of the state regionals) last year. Our goal is to keep moving on.
Tuckahoe took a 24-11 lead after one quarter and kept up the scoring through the second, leading 44-19 at the half. Mark Raymond, who scored eight points, was a rebounding force for the Tigers and helped key the interior defense.
Childrens Village did not quit despite trailing by 25 points and rebounded in the third quarter by outscoring the Tigers 21-20 to cut the lead slightly to 64-40 after three quarters. The Hawks outscored the Tigers 39-36 in the second half.
Roger Owens led the Hawks with 11 points, Kareem Padgett scored 10 and teammates John Green and Anthony Trotter each scored eight.
The seniors have led the way all year but we have a good group of underclassmen who contribute a lot to the way we play, Nolan said. We all try to play good defense and that helps get the offense going.
Williams was named the tournaments most valuable player and Nolan, Padgett and Owens were named to the all-tournament team.
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