ALBANY – Down two to Harborfields with two seconds left, Long Island Lutheran junior Anthony Pate pulled up and hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the corner. It was a scenario he and his teammates had already envisioned earlier Saturday.
“My teammates were saying before the game that they would put the ball in my hands if we needed a buzzer beater,” Pate said in amazement. “I guess it was a little bit of foreshadowing.”
Fast forward to Saturday night and what once was just a joke became a reality.
Pate’s game-winning 3 found the bottom of the net, sending his LuHi teammates into a frenzy. After a desperation fullcourt Harborfields heave, Pate found himself at the bottom of a dog pile at midcourt, as his heroics propelled LuHi to a 62-61 victory and second straight New York State Federation Class A championship Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany.
“The only thing I was thinking about when I saw the pass coming to me was to catch it cleanly and to get a good, high shot off,” Pate said. “I’ve never made a game-winning shot like that before, but once it left my hands, I knew it was going in. My first thought when I saw it go in was just, ‘Wow, I’m so happy to be the hero for my team.’”
“He’s the most prolific shooter we have and it was the most clutch shot I’ve ever seen, too,” added LuHi coach John Buck. “It’s not surprising at all considering how well he’s played, but I was just hoping it would go in like all the kids were when it left his hands.”
The fairy tale ending is made even more incredible by the fact that Pate, who finished with a team-high 18 points, didn’t even start. But in the second half, it was the junior who buried shots in every instance where LuHi needed points to break Harborfields’ momentum. He ended a 13-0 Harborfields fourth-quarter run with a jump shot with 2:22 left in the game, bringing LuHi to within two. Harborfields guard John Patron followed with five of his game-high 20 points in the last two minutes, giving the Tornadoes a two-point lead and setting up the final sequence in which Pate gives all the credit to K.J. Lee for the pass before his shot.
“I could have shot a mid-range jumper, but I saw Pate in the corner at the last second and I gave it to him. He’s the best 3-point shooter we have and I have great confidence in him,” Lee said. “I knew it was in off of his hands, it was a perfect shot. I went crazy when it fell.”
The dramatic victory gives LuHi its second straight Federation championship, despite this year’s team losing six games, compared to Harborfields’ mere two losses. But Pate emphatically ended the discussion of who is the best team on Long Island in one swift motion.
“Harborfields is a tremendous program with a tremendous coach in Chris Agostino, and they had us on the ropes late in the game,” Buck said. “But this is our second straight now and it’s a great feeling. We’ve won two in a row on this court and we’re looking to make it three next season.”