Just wanted to throw out a few more thoughts on Monday’s Class AA final. My objective is to try and capture the story of the game, but there were some elements I would like to mention that didn’t make it.
Newburgh senior guard Damon Cousar, a 2009 Varsity 845 first-team all-star, has been nursing a sore ankle for the last three weeks. He didn’t start Monday because of it, and coach Frank Dinnocenzio hoped Cousar could play about 10 minutes. But when Patrick Johnson got into foul trouble, and Middletown stayed close, Cousar ended up playing 20 hard minutes.
Middletown did a great job limiting Newburgh’s baskets in transition. In fact, the first Newburgh basket of that type was Cousar’s layup off a fast break with 6:13 left in the first half.
Middletown led 23-20 with about four minutes left in the first half. Newburgh then went on a 13-0 run in about 80 seconds. Now in the first two games, Middletown never recovered from the Newburgh run. On Monday, it chipped away and pulled to within 36-32 by halftime – and that was huge.
Newburgh wasn’t scoring in transition, and struggled with Middletown’s zone. But Newburgh’s hands never slump, and they were everywhere, making life difficult for the Middletown ballhandlers – especially the Middletown kids coming off the bench.
I spoke with Newburgh’s Mike McLeod after the game. He told me Newburgh “slept” on Middletown, because they had beaten Middletown twice so handily. Newburgh coach Frank Dinnocenzio wasn’t buying that, saying he reminded his kids that Middletown was tough. Still, if that’s what the players think….. Put in this way, they better not “sleep” on Mount Vernon. McLeod also said he and his teammates never believed they were going to lose, and their body language indicated that was the case. Say what you want about how Newburgh played, you could see they didn’t get caught up in the excitement of the night
