Class AA champs
Sweet Home upsets Falls, plays in Far West Regionals on Sunday
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home celebrates with the Section VI Class AA trophy after upsetting heavily favored Niagara Falls, 66-64. The Panthers will play in the Far West Regionals at 2 p.m. Sunday at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.

Sweet Home knew if they were to make it back to Glens Falls this year they would have to first beat Niagara Falls. No problem.

The Panthers, last year's Class A state finalist but because of enrollment, now a AA school, pulled off a shocking 66-64 upset over the heavily favored Wolverines for the Section VI Class AA title before an estimated crowd of 3,000 at Buffalo State Sports Arena.

"It was everything I could have hoped for," said Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius who felt it was the biggest win in school history. "The kids played free and easy. We were definitely the underdog. I think everyone thought we would show up and kind of play halfway decent, shake their hands and move on. The kids were ready. I saw it in their eyes. They weren't going there to get beat."

"It was more a game of respect," added Sweet Home Glenroy Carr, who led Sweet Home with 21 points. "Teams knew about Sweet Home but it was always Sweet Home never played Niagara Falls. Now we can say we're the top team."

Sweet Home's Glenroy Carr dominated Orchard Park's Greg Michael in the Panthers' 56-34 Section VI Class AA semifinal victory last Thursday at Buffalo State Sports Arena. Carr finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds and held Michael scoreless. Photo by John Normile Purchase photos at www.BeeNews.com

"I knew we could do it through the whole game," chimed in Terrell Rankin (15 points). "I had faith in my team."

Sweet Home (19-4) will face the winner of Wednesday's matchup between Section V's Fairport and Greece-Athena at 2 p.m. Sunday at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. The winner of that game advances the following weekend to Glens Falls.

Sweet Home guard Eric Schnirel said fate was on his team's side against the Falls and that may very well have been the case. Trailing 31-20 in the second quarter, Steven Roberts banked in a NBA-range three-pointer that opened a Panther 7-0 run to close out the first half. Josh Parker, who is not known for his scoring, finished with a career-high 11 points and traded back-to-back three-pointers with Niagara Falls' Rahshon Taab in a back and forth third quarter won by the Panthers, 22-17, to take a 49-48 lead. Wolverine guard Johnny Flynn, a McDonald's All-American, was held to a season-low 16 points largely from the pesky defense of Schnirel. Flynn, who had eight points in the fourth quarter, fouled out with 44.9 seconds to play after beating Schnirel off the dribble and bumping into Rankin for an offensive charge.

"Eric's like a mosquito," said Schintzius. "He's not going to woo you in with his presence but what he is a persistent pest for 32 minutes. I think he wore on Johnny and that had a lot to do with Johnny fouling out."

"I bothered him as much as I could to try to get him off his game," added Schnirel. "When he went to talk to his coach, I followed him and never let him off my sight. I think I aggravated him a little bit."

Up by three with less than 20 seconds left, Ali Ramadan threw a long inbounds pass that was intended for Carr but knocked into the hands of Tabb who laid in two.

After a Niagara Falls timeout, Parker was fouled. The senior made the first free throw attempt but missed the second.

The Wolverines grabbed the rebound and found Tabb, who dribbled down the left wing and instead of knifing to the basket for a layup the junior went to the deep left corner and launched a three that rattled out.

Schintzius said the difference for his team in the fourth quarter was that all six of his players who saw action - Carr, Ramadan, Rankin, Schnirel, Roberts and Parker - scored.

Four were in double figures for the game - Carr, Parker, Rankin and Roberts (10). Schnirel added five and Ramadan had four. All six players were on last year's state finalist team. Schintzius said that experience was a big factor towards why his team won.

"You can never put a price tag on experience," said Schnitzius. "The kids were not spooked by the big game environment."

To advance to the finals, Sweet Home avenged two regular losses to Orchard Park with a tremendous defensive effort, winning 56-34. OP won 58-53 on Dec. 19 and 68-63 in overtime on Feb. 1.

"Revenge was a motivating factor," said Schintzius. "The kids were really focused. To hold them to 34 points was the difference."

Sweet Home used a man to man defense and clamped down the Quakers in the second (five points) and third (nine points) quarters to open a 42-22 lead after the third.

Rankin, who was in foul trouble in earlier meetings, was whistled for one foul this time and finished with 20 points. Carr added a double double (20 points, 12 rebounds) and used good positioning to hold Orchard Park's Greg Michael scoreless.

Ramadan added eight points and did a nice job on the boards, Schintzius said. Schnirel and Roberts scored four points each.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com