Tigers Capture Section 1 Title and Gold Ball

The film version of “Tuckahoe Tigers and the Golden Ball” was played out live and in 3-D at the Westchester County Center Saturday afternoon with all the drama, action and climatic tension of an Oscar-winning movie.

Award-winning performances were turned in by Tuckahoe’s Alex Melendez and Sky Williams—with the backing of a strong supporting cast under the direction of coach Al Visconti—as the top-seeded Tigers out-hustled, out-willed and finally outscored No. 2 Haldane 69-59 to win the Section 1 Class C championship and the coveted Gold Ball trophy.

Tuckahoe (18-3) advanced to play the Section 9 winner (Seward or Pine Plains) at 7:30 on Wednesday night at SUNY New Paltz. Haldane finished the season at 14-7.

Williams was named the tournament’s best performer, scoring 32 points, 18 in a roller-coaster second half marked by emotional scoring runs by both teams and lots of personal and technical fouls. But it was Melendez who did the job early, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the first half, including an astounding five straight 3-pointers, to lift the Tigers to a 40-20 halftime advantage. 

“We wanted to play strong defense, which is something we always want to do, and maybe get [Haldane's Jackson Zuvic] frustrated,” said Melendez, who joined Williams on the All-Tournament team. “Once coach gave me the green light, I just look for the open shot. I always want to think I’m a clutch player. This was really a thrill— winning the Gold Ball.”

 Late heroics

Williams responded to Haldane’s second-half comeback with a special half of his own.

 “I knew they would look for me to score early, but we have a good team with good players all around,” said Williams, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter after the resurgent Blue Devils had cut the Tigers’ lead to 52-45 after three quarters. “Once they looked to stop Alex and got on a run, I wanted to be ready to score. We got out of control a little, but we got it back and played well.”

Visconti, who spent nearly 30 minutes prior to the game staring at the court alone in a front row seat preparing for the game, was relieved and happy following the dramatic victory. Visconti is a veteran coach who led Dobbs Ferry in the 1990s before moving to become an assistant coach with the perennial Class AA power Mount Vernon where his teams won several Gold Balls.

“I’m really proud of this group of guys who went from 3-16 last year to this, winning a championship,” Visconti said. “The defense is my pride and joy. I tell the kids that the best players can’t get the ball in the basket some nights, but you can still win with defense. We can be emotional at times and we made this win harder by making a mental mistake and getting a technical foul when we should have been composed.”

Special victory

Visconti said he was concerned that the Tigers’ emotional performance made the victory tougher, but admitted that that same emotion produced the aggressive defense and ability to fend off Haldane’s comeback try. Visconti got a little emotional himself when he talked about the cherished Section 1 title and what it meant to him personally.

“This one is special because Tuckahoe is my alma mater,” Visconti said as he held the Golden Ball close. “I loved coaching at Dobbs, the people at Mount Vernon are family, but winning a Section 1 title with Tuckahoe is a homecoming.”

The Tigers began the afternoon of scoring runs by opening the game with a 7-0 lead and showing a smothering zone defense that frustrated Haldane’s top scorer Jackson Zuvic. Zuvic, who would eventually lead two comebacks and score 27 points, committed two early fouls and spent some time on the bench while the Tigers extended their lead to 16-7, with Melendez hitting two of his long-range bombs to end the first quarter with nine points. His shooting continued in the second quarter with nine more points on three consecutive three-pointers.

Haldane opened the second half with a 7-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to 40-27. The hyped-up Tigers overplayed their defense, committing five fouls in the first three minutes of the third quarter.

Melendez, Kevin Garabitos, Jonathan Jubilee, Jason Feuer and Shyheim Nixon— all members of the Tigers’ Class D, Section 1 and New York State football champions last fall—enjoyed being champs again. 

“Ah, man, this is great,” Garabitos said. “We have had a great run. This is such a great place to play and winning two titles is amazing.”

Sidelines

The Tigers, who won Class C titles in 2006 and 2008, had previously competed in the small-school Class D, where they won Section 1 championships in 1983 and in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Tuckahoe also won Class C titles in 1974 and 1975 and a Class D title in 1965.

Williams and Melendez combined for 55 of the Tigers’ 69 points; Ryan Mitchell and Shyheim Nixon each scored four; Jason Feuer, Jason Nolan and DeShawn Arthur had two points apiece. In a foul-filled game, Haldane made 23 free throws while Tuckahoe hit 21. The Tigers made 22 field goals to 19 for the Devils.

Download the movie

Download the movie