CHSAA boys basketball beat writer Dylan Butler breaks down Saturday’s Class A state championship game at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gym.
Who: Mount St. Michael vs. St. Mary’s (Manhasset)
What: CHSAA Class A state final
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Rose Hill Gym, Fordham University
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Mount St. Michael Mountaineers
Head coach: Tom Fraher
Record: 26-1
Player to watch: Peter Aguilar
St. Mary’s Gaels
Head coach: Bill Harkins
Record: 27-0
Player to watch: Chavaughn Lewis
Outlook: Forget taking notes from the bleachers or watching tape; if Mount St. Michael coach Tom Fraher wants to get a good scouting report on St. Mary’s he just needs to watch his own practice.
“As [assistant coach] Tom McKenna said the other day, we could switch uniforms and you wouldn’t know the difference,” Fraher said. “They’re just like us.”
Indeed. Peter Aguilar meet Chavaughn Lewis, Malik Gill say hi to Dante Agnew, Clarence White and Anthony Maestre check out Justin Bailey and Khalif Chaplin, Omari Manhertz meet Charles McCann.
In fact, the two teams are so similar, their star players – Aguilar for Mount and Lewis for St. Mary’s – are each being recruited by MAAC schools.
“They have a spread offense, like we have, with a little dribble-drive and they throw it into the post once in a while,” Fraher said. “We really want to get them to the point where we can keep them in front of us like we did against Hayes.”
The teams scrimmaged the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a precursor to what many believed would be an inevitable meeting in the CHSAA Class A state final.
“Both teams are battle-tested,” St. Mary’s coach Bill Harkins said. “Tom is a great coach who does a great job with his guys. I think both teams have very competitive kids and I think you’re going to see a very hard-fought game. Both teams will be ready for each other.”
St. Mary’s, the Long Island CHSAA champions, booked its ticket by going to Buffalo and beating Canisius, 71-58, last weekend. The Gaels had four players score in double figures, led by Lewis, who had 24 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
“We’re thrilled to be here,” Harkins said. “It was a goal, but this is not the end of where we want to get to. We want to put on our best performance tomorrow and move on from there.”
In the CHSAA title game, St. Mary’s defeated Chaminade and was led by Agnew, who was named the game’s MVP. Gill, his opposing point guard, did the same for Mount in Sunday’s emotional Class A intersectional title win against rival Cardinal Hayes.
So in a game of mirror-image teams, what’s the key? Well, that’s at least where the coaches differ.
“I think it’s going to come down to if we get good possessions where we take good shots, don’t turn it over and when we do get shots up, hopefully we can hit the boards a little bit and not give them any long rebounds,” Fraher said.
Harkins said, “I think both teams are evenly matched. Can we limit them to one shot at the basket? Can we defend and not let them get second attempts, because they’re very aggressive? They have very good pressure defense. If we can take care of the ball there, limit them to one shot at the hoop, we’ll be all right.”
Harkins said the Mountaineers have an edge because the game is being played at Rose Hill Gym, a stone’s throw from Mount’s campus in The Bronx and the site of the Class A intersectional final six days earlier.
But the Gaels have beaten all comers thus far, home and away, including Class AA squads Xaverian, South Shore, Wadleigh, All Hallows and New Rochelle.
Harkins said the team’s undefeated record isn’t discussed in their locker room.
“It’s not like we ignore it, but it’s almost like it’s not important,” he said. “[What is important] is to compete and win try to win every single game when we step on the floor.”
Though some city CHSAA teams in the past put little emphasis on advancing to the state Federation tournament, that’s not the case with Mount St. Michael, which would make the trip for the first time since 1995. St. Mary’s last competed in the tournament, as an “AA” squad, in 2003, according to Harkins.
“We’re taking this real serious,” Fraher said. “Our guys know what’s at stake. I told the younger guys we might not be here next year with a chance to play [for a spot] in the Federation tournament. When it’s in front of you, you have to prepare for it as hard as you can. This is as important as the Hayes or Stepinac game was.”