(South Park's Shakur Harris looks for space to score against East)

 

After spending a couple seasons over on Elmwood Avenue at Mack High, the Yale Cup will be flying south, as in South Buffalo…home of the South Park Sparks.

 

Avenging an earlier loss to the Panthers, South Park defeated East 72-67, finishing with the best record in the city and being crowned Yale Cup Champions.  The victory brings the Cup back to South Park for the first time in 31 years, when the Sparks last won it in 1986.

 

After an incredible performance in the Class A1 semifinals against McKinley at Buffalo State last year, South Park came into this season knowing they were capable.  The Sparks had taken the Macks to within an inch of ending their season, falling in an exciting two-point game that opened everyone's eyes to the talent and heart of the Sparks.  

 

But as this season got underway, South Park didn't look the same.  They weren't playing with that same passion.  The Sparks had lost that spark that had casual fans standing and cheering for them at Buff State just months earlier.  

 

Then came their first meeting with the defending city champs from McKinley since the heart-breaking loss in the 2016 sectionals.  And this time, it was the Sparks who took a thrilling contest and tasted victory, while moving into first place in Yale Cup I.  The second time around, it wasn't even close.  The Sparks walloped McKinley by 21 points – part of an eight-game stretch where they defeated every city opponent by at least 16 points, while winning by an average of 32.5 points per victory.

 

"We've got a lot of guys who never played together and it was just finding our way," South Park coach Peter Hudecki said.  "We found our way now and hopefully we can keep that going in sectionals."

 

While the prestigious Yale Cup with the names of the previous winners inscribed on it, was not on hand during the game as has been tradition over the years, the Sparks played and celebrated like it was there in spirit.  Following the game, Hudecki promptly carried a ladder into the gym to allow his players the opportunity to cut down the nets.  The first one up the ladder was Shakur Harris, who led the way with a team-high 25 points in the win.

 

"It's been a great year," said Harris.  "I feel like our team deserves this, we put our all in, but we're not done yet."

 

"I'm so proud of Shakur," said Hudecki.  "He's grown up, he's a captain, he's leading this team, he was so vocal today on the court motivating these guys and getting the most out of them.  He's come a long way."

 

The game that clinched the outright championship against East was a fierce battle throughout that favored the Panthers on the scoreboard for the majority of game play.  But it was the Sparks who made the most critical plays at the most crucial times, to turn away a game opponent in East and avoid a share of the title.

 

"They're a great team and beat us earlier in the season," said Harris.  "We had to come back with a strong, strong effort and got it done tonight."

 

The Panthers took a 21-14 lead early on after a 12-0 run and built a lead of 29-20 in the second quarter.  An eight-point spurt from Harris before halftime, along with scores in the post from Jeremy Jackson (9 points) and Elijah Lewis cut the East lead to 34-32 at the break.

 

Ray Mushat (13 points) converted a three-point play early in the second half to give the Sparks the lead.  It was the first of five lead changes in the third quarter, with the last coming as freshman Anthony Mack (8 points) drilled a 3-pointer in the frame's final minute to give South Park a 50-49 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

 

"We've got some great kids here, they really worked hard," Hudecki said.  "We've got lots of depth, which we didn't have last year and that's been a big difference.  A lot of guys on the bench helped out and understood their role."

 

The game got even more intense in the final stanza, with six more lead changes.  Khalil White (15 points) and Mack each struck from long range to give the Sparks a six-point lead midway through the fourth.  East's Willard Anderson responded with eight of his game-high 31 points in less than two minutes to give the Panthers the lead back, 67-65.  

 

Jackson scored to tie the game at 67-67.  A free throw by Harris gave South Park a 68-67 lead with 39 seconds left.  Then following a miss by East, White was sent to the line for the Sparks with 21 ticks remaining.  After hitting the first to make it 69-67, his second shot missed.  But Jackson came up with a major offensive rebound and went right back up in traffic to make it 71-67, which sealed the victory.

 

Anderson eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for his career in just his junior season.  He now has 1,013 points to his credit.  Justin Allen scored 18 points in the loss, while Jahahd Maryon added eight points for East.

 

East High     21 – 13 – 15 – 18 = 67

South Park  18 – 14 – 18 – 22 = 72

 

Point Totals

South Park:  Shakur Harris 25, Khalil White 15, Ray Mushat 13, Jeremy Jackson 9, Anthony Mack 8, Elijah Lewis 2

East High:  Willard Anderson 31, Justin Allen 18, Jahahd Maryon 8, Waunya Shaw 5, Shawndale Williams 3, AJ Stevens 2

 

Below are the winners of the Yale Cup from the previous 33 seasons:

1985 – Grover

1986 – South Park/Grover/Emerson

1987 – Bennett

1988 – Burgard

1989 – Burgard

1990 – Kensington

1991 – Hutch-Tech

1992 – Riverside

1993 – Seneca/McKinley

1994 – Traditional

1995 – Bennett

1996 – Traditional

1997 – Seneca

1998 – Riverside/Kensington

1999 – Seneca

2000 – Traditional

2001 – Traditional

2002 – City Honors/McKinley

2003 – Bennett

2004 – Grover

2005 – Riverside

2006 – Riverside

2007 – East

2008 – Grover

2009 – East

2010 – Middle College

2011 – East

2012 – McKinley

2013 – McKinley

2014 – Middle College

2015 – McKinley

2016 – McKinley

2017 – South Park

 

– centercourt