(Stafford Trueheart lowers the #BOOM on Scotia as Canisius advances to the Fed final / Photo by James McCoy)

On Sunday, I watched two undefeated teams, Scotia-Glenville and Greece Athena, battle for the NYSPHAA Class A State Championship.  The two entered the game 1 & 2 respectively in the NYSSWA rankings.  After a competitive championship game in Glens Falls, Scotia emerged as the undefeated NYSPHAA champion for a second straight year, and would move on the Federation Tournament in Albany, seeking to repeat as champions there as well.  They were also seeking to extend the longest winning streak in the state to 54 games with a semifinal victory to set up one last championship game.  But the Canisius Crusaders, state champions from the CHSAA, were waiting there for the Tartans with a different agenda – register a historic, streak-ending victory and live to fight together one last time.  Mission accomplished.

It took overtime and overcoming foul trouble, but Canisius introduced Scotia-Glenville of Section II to the taste of defeat for the first time since the 2013 season, with an incredible 68-63 victory over the Tartans at SUNY Albany, to advance to the NYS Class A Federation championship game against Albany Academy, tomorrow at 5 pm.

After an intense battle between state champions came right down to the final seconds, it was the Crusaders with a two-point lead and Stafford Trueheart shooting the back end of a 1 & 1 coming out of a timeout, with 2.6 seconds left.  When Trueheart's attempt missed, a scramble for the rebound ensued that resulted in Scotia's Joe Cremo gaining possession near the three-quarter court area.  Before he could even get a last second heave away, the Tartans were awarded a non-shooting foul with 0.3 seconds remaining.  Cremo would end up making the most of his gift and hit both tosses to send the game to overtime.

After a back-and-forth start to the extra session, Cremo hit a '3' for Scotia with 1:07 left to give his team a 63-61 lead.  Trueheart responded by converting a three-point play for the Crusaders that would begin a 7-0 run to close out the game, as Reed & Huffman each added a pair of free throws.

"It was really a collective effort today", Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.  "Stafford stepped up, LT (Reed) was great, Josh was terrific, and we probably don't win without TJ Wheatley's contributions".

There's only one game left to win, and it would be the most significant win in school history for the basketball team.  Canisius has never won a Federation title, an extremely rare and extraordinary accomplishment.

Trueheart went over 1,000 career points in the win, finishing with 19 points.  Reed also scored 19 points, while Josh Huffman added 16 points.

Cremo finished with a game-high 28 points, to lead the Tartans in his final outing.

-centercourt