Forgive the tardiness of this post, the paper was a busy place last night and some print responsibilities took precedence, but I wanted to chime in with a few comments from Saturday's state Catholic Class A semifinals.
In case you missed it, St. John the Baptist out of West Islip downed Canisius, 77-53, at Holy Angels. The Cougars improved to 25-2 on the season, and as Canisius coach Kyle Husband said after the game, they lived up to their record.
Senior Joshua Elbaum was one of the best players I've seen this season. He had 14 points, but it was his vision on the court that made him stand out. Elbaum ALWAYS made the right pass. He's likely headed to Brown, according to Cougars coach James Plate. Elbaum is a McDonald's All-American nominee.
As for Plate, he's plenty familiar with Western New York. He served as an assistant coach for Frank Layden on the Niagara University staff back in the 70s. Plate's in just his second year as the varsity coach of the Cougars. It will be interesting to see if St. John can get to the Federation Tournament in Glens Falls.
As for Canisius, which ended the year 19-9, there were some possessions in the first half they'd love to have back. The Crusaders had 14 turnovers in the first half.
Husband spoke from the heart after the game about saying good bye to the team.
"This is the hardest part of the season," he said. "They've come so far from November to March."
--- Jay Skurski
tagged
Basketball | Sports
