After meeting the last three years for the state Federation championship, Irvington earned its third win over Long Island Lutheran in the last four seasons. The Bulldogs beat the private-school power 59-58 in the semifinals of the Slam Dunk at the County Center.
Senior Alexis Martins led Irvington with 22 points, 17 rebounds and five steals. Teammate Brittni Lai sank two clutch free throws with 6.3 seconds remaining to give her team its final lead.
“Whenever we’re down, we don’t let it get to us,” Lai said. “We know we can come back and win.”
Lai had missed two free throws in the final two minutes. The Bulldogs missed two others, allowing Long Island Lutheran back in the game.
“Before I went up, I was thinking, man, if I made those before we’d be up already,” Lai said. “I just had to come back and make them.”
Irvington, which beat Long Island Lutheran to win the 2010 and 2012 Federation championships but lost in the 2011 final, trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half before a basket by Martins two minutes into the fourth quarter gave the team its first lead. The Bulldogs held that lead for much of the fourth quarter. Four missed free throws in the final two minutes allowed Long Island Lutheran to pull ahead 58-57 on a layup by Boogs Brozoski with 40 seconds remaining.
“We just fought,” Irvington coach Gina Maher said.
The teams will not meet for a fourth straight season at the Federation tournament because Long Island Lutheran has been moved up to Class A.
“I’d love to scrimmage them,” Maher said. “We have a great rivalry.”
10 Comments
As good of a game as that Irvington one was, Lutheran should have won that game. Poor officiating flat out robbed them of that W. Don’t get me wrong, Irvington played a great game and never stopped fighting but nonetheless. I also thought it was a risky move leaving Lai in with 4 fouls but fortunately the risk ended with great reward as she cake up clutch down the stretch. I look forward to the championship game between the Bulldogs and the Pride.
Where’s the Ossining Anthony recap?
Officiating was horrible for both teams. There were as many bad calls, if not more against Irvington. Section 1 should be embarrassed. Officials are just not in tune with the game. How does that women official get these big games, guys once again how could you not cover these two games today with live updates, disappointing
Agreed Colonial…if the ref calls the foul on Lai at half court which caused a collision, she doesn’t get to shoot the free throws. Otherwise, a great game. It’s always nice to see a kid step to the line and knock down free throws in clutch situations.
Completely agree Section 1, I don’t know how she gets those big games. To be fair, officiating wasn’t good for the Mahopac boys game either so it’s not just the girls.
Enough about the refs! This happens every day in MLB and the NFL. And those people are PROFESSIONALS who benefit from numerous instant replays whenever a controversial call occurs. Unless you go out there and do it you should refrain from referring to the officials as “Horrible.” (No, I am not a section one official) Excuses are for losers.
Stanner, I’m only stating the obvious. Were you at the game/did you watch the game or any of the games?
Colonial, In fairness to you I was not at the game but I’m just making a general comment since this seems to come up every year. I never saw a ref call a perfect game. Just like all of the players they will make a few “mistakes” every game. Basketball in particular is difficult to officiate because making a call or passing on it is often subjective. A hard bump at midcourt may be more severe than a touch foul near the basket yet the touch foul might get a whistle because it directly effected the opportunity to score. Does the official you spoke of often get the “big” games? Is she usually “horrible” or did she have a bad day?
The best was during the Oss/Anthony game. One official called a continuation, basket good. The girl goes to the line, the ref calls two shots. First one off the rim, no one rebounds. Then the coach and crowd realize, basket counted only one foul shot. Refs, all three, said no, “two shots”. Mayhem ensued. Conference. Finally, jump ball. My question was, I understand, somewhat, if two refs weren’t paying attention. But how about the ref who called the foul? Didn’t he know the basket counted and there should only be one foul shot? He made the call.
The ref who calls the foul is looking at the players and does not necessarily know if the ball went in. In this case, according to you, it sounds like he/she knew it went in. Otherwise the ref needs to rely on his partners for help. Sounds like a screw up. How did they do the rest of the game? Be fair.