WHITE PLAINS — Westchester County Center has a habit of making good teams look poor against great ones during Section 1 Championship Week.
Take Saturday’s Class B final, which pitted No. 1 Irvington (20-2) against No. 2 Blind Brook (18-4).
In a gritty game
in which both of Irvington’s Division 1 players picked up their fourth fouls in the third quarter, the Bulldogs captured a 73-44 win and their fourth consecutive section title by displaying a calm demeanor.
“(Coach Gina Maher) told us that we needed to start playing our game and we needed to calm down and prove why we we’re here in the first place,” Lehigh-bound Lexi Martins, who finished with 33 points, said.
Irvington, the three-time defending state champions, advanced to face Section 9 champion Coleman Catholic 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mount St. Mary College in the first round of regional play.
Marist-bound Brittni Lai finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs, who also captured section titles from 1984-1990.
Irvington opened the game on a 5-0 run but squandered the advantage, letting the Trojans rally through their determined play to take a 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs had an animated team huddle in between frames but it didn’t yield immediate results as Blind Brook soon led 15-10 with 5:18 left in the second quarter, prompting an Irvington timeout.
“We started out in a 2-3 (zone) and we pressed a little,” Lai said. “(Blind Brook) has three really good players and they broke the press.”
The game was ultimately decided in the seven minutes that followed.
Irvington closed the second half on an 8-0 run and maintained a 33-19 advantage before two minutes had elapsed in the third quarter.
Blind Brook’s Jackie Lavitt fouled out in the fourth quarter, followed by Martins and teammate Ally Silfen.
“In a game like this, the officiating, you have to let the kids play,” Blind Brook coach Manny Martinez said. “You can’t let one team play at one end and the other team can’t play at the other end.”
Blind Brook, which was trounced 68-33 in last year’s final, got as close as 49-35 in the second half.
“It was disappointing,” Martinez said. “It’s frustrating. I felt that we had a good game plan and we hung in there for a long time. I don’t think the (score) is indicative of how hard this game was played.”
Silfen finished with 24 points and Lea Saliba added 12 for the Trojans, who last captured a Section 1 title as member of Class C in 2007.
7 Comments
was the officiating really the difference in a 29 point game? reads like irvington was in foul trouble also. stay classy manny….
Good luck moving on.
Shouldn’t have much of a problem with Coleman.
@ hooop22, As a court side observer scouting this game, were you watching the same game? When Irvington was down 15-10 mid-way through the 2nd Q, 2 of the 3 Refs suddenly started to call it one way and proceeded to make several questionable foul calls versus BB’s players (including an obvious blocked shot by #21 on the Irvington player) that sent her to the bench and allowed Irvington to regain the lead and change the complexion of that game…..most of the foul calls against Irvington were made well after the game was decided in the second half and were probably made to try and even the foul calls evidently…...Throughout the entire game, #22 Martins was the aggressor and was permitted to hook, elbow and displace her BB defenders on the blocks. Most of those were all offensive fouls that were never called on her, but would have been called on any other player in NYS. Even a Rockland County Referee (that what he said to us) sitting next to me was amazed that nothing was being called on Martins throughout that 2Q.
Sorry hooop22, but she should have fouled out in the first half …..I was sitting opposite the stage and saw her foul at least 7 times in the first half alone, instead, the officials gave the fouls to BB on every play…..and then, lets not forget another important play in the 2Q when they gave Lai her 3rd foul on #21 and then took it away at the apparent request by the Irvington coach. I’m sorry again, but that was another example of the inconsistency seen this whole year when teams played Irvington (Remember that Long Island Lutheran Hose Job). It seems the coach does have a legit gripe in this case….... one-sided officiating can change the score of a game and it happened last night….....the final score is not relevant in this case….... Considering some of the earlier comments on this particular blog, had it not been for BB’s referee-induced foul trouble, you could argue that Irvington would have lost that game last night or have been in a Bulldog fight at the very least.
Irvington is a great team with two real talented players but it is impossible to beat Irvington and the referees.
I have never complained about referees but what happened to Blind Brook was tragic, shameful and unfair. Section 1 should be embarassed. The referees, especailly the women referee, should be sanctioned.
From my vantage point, the women referee was too friendly with the Irvington coach and Martins and Lai. We all witnessed the women referee talking to them and putting her arm around the Irvington coach and players. The women referee seemd to be enamorate of Irvington and wanted to be in their good graces. This is no fault of Martins and Lai, just an observation and fact.
The game dramatically changed in the middle of the second quarter when the referees, especially the women referee, started making questionable and inappropriate calls against Blind Brook. One could say the referrees, especially the women referee, did not like the fact that Blind Brook was leading.
Martins and Lai were the aggressors. Martins pushed, shoved, hooked and elbowed, and yet the fouls were called on Blind Brook. Silfen blooked a shot and was called for a foul. Silfen and Lavitt tried to hold their space and position, and after a Martins hook and push, Silfen and Lavitt were called for the fouls. Most of the fans sitting around me said these were not fouls. The press tweeting and blogging all said these were not foulls.
Unfortuantely, the referees unfairly influenced the game and took any chance away from Blind Brook.
Not taking anything away from Irvington. Irvington is a great team. Martins and Lai are great players and doing what they need to do to win. But it could have been a great game, and at least Irvington would have been at risk. Saliba, Silfen and Lavitt are competitors, warriors and athletes and they were prepared to play and fight for a chance to win. It seemed Saliba and Silfen never game up notwithstanding the unfair and biased referees, especially the women referee.
I am not saying the outcome would be different or taking anything away from Irvington. But Irvington is good enough that they do not need referees influencing the game.
Hopefully these types of issues can be addressed to avoid this in the future.
Shame on the referees.
I am not an official and i have no affiliation with either team… I was not at the game but did watch on msg.
I’ve been reading the blogs for both the boys and girls tournaments and the overwhelming theme has been made about how poor the officiating has been. Actually it’s been the theme of the entire season and past seasons also, other then Ossining and Chong.
Now i have not seen every game in the section this season, but if these officials are the best of the worst, then what were you expecting…..If the officials you were talking to were better then the ones on the court why weren’t doing the game….if you saw 7 fouls then go get your certification and do it better yourself.
I am just tired of reading about how bad the officiating has been, its every person’s crutch to complain about.
Amen hoop22. Both teams had to deal with it in both their games. It is what it is. The better “team” won and by a considerable amount. Dont think the refs made it a 29 point game .