The Long Island Lutheran basketball teams both moved up in class this year. When the season was over, the Crusaders were also both in a class of their own in terms of Long Island hoops.
Last month, the LuHi girls squad captured the New York State Federation Class A title a year after losing in the ‘B’ final, while the boys team lost in the Class AA final to Christ the King after winning three of the last four ‘A’ championships.
Both teams also entered the federation tournament as the top-ranked team in the state, a first for both programs.
It is said success breeds success and in Brookville, both team’s success has provided inspiration to each other with each shared trip to Albany.
“It’s great because we kind of push each other,” Crusaders boys coach John Buck said. “It’s a healthy competition. We’re at each other’s games rooting each other on. It’s a super opportunity every year to go up with both teams. We really do try to drive each other.”
Both coaches said the move up in classification was part of a natural progression for the programs.
Plus, each coach plays an ambitious ‘AA’ schedule, which prepares their squads for the state tournament.
En route to a first-ever Class A title, the girls team defeated tri-state powerhouses Bishop Ford, Murry Bergtraum, Shabazz (N.J.) and Rumson (N.J.).
“It felt great to challenge ourselves,” said fifth-year coach Rich Slater.
For a stretch of nine days early in January, though, it seemed the Crusaders might have bitten off more than they could chew. LuHi lost three straight games, falling to Irvington in a rematch of last year’s Federation ‘B’ final, to Long Island foe St. Anthony’s and to Philadelphia-area powerhouse Archbishop Carroll by 17.
The championship season was at a crossroads.
“The Irvington loss emotionally took a lot out of us and both teams were lethargic in the St. Anthony’s game,” Slater said. “Archbishop Carroll handed it to us. They outhustled and outworked us.”
Slater said his squad looked inside and rallied, beating St. Mary’s of Manhasset, 49-44, at home, an emotional victory that proved to be a springboard for the rest of the season. The Crusaders won 13 of their final 14 games to finish 20-4.
“After losing to St. Anthony’s we had to show Long Island that we can play,” Slater said. “We were able to compete and get the win. We showed we were pretty good.”
LuHi showed the rest of the state, too, rallying to beat Nazareth in the Federation semifinals before beating Troy, 62-45, to claim the crown.
Leading the charge was Boogie Brozoski, one of the nation’s best point guards in the Class of 2015. Brozoski willed her team to victory against Nazareth, making every key play down the stretch, and she had 14 points and five steals against Troy.
“That’s why she is who she is,” Slater said. “If you want to be in an elite group of players you have to make those key jumpers, key passes. She loves to have the ball in her hands at the end of games. In our wins against St. Mary’s, Bishop Ford, Nazareth, who made the big free throws at the end? Boogs.”
While Brozoski, who has offers from Big 10, ACC and Big East schools, is the known commodity, Slater said his squad also had unsung heroes, citing the play of senior forwards Staci Barrett and Sade Gibbons.
“There’s something to be said for senior leadership,” Slater said.
Buck and Slater are often on the same page and the same is true when it comes to the importance of seniors. His team, which finished 20-4, also had a great one in Kentan Facey, a U Conn-bound forward who was named Gatorade Player of the Year for New York State.
“In my mind, there was no one quite like him, certainly in the state, in the tri-state,” Buck said. “He’s 6-foot-9 and he consistently can hit 15-footers, he’s got such length he can block shots and rebound and he’s humble. He’s got all the intangibles to go far in basketball.”
Unlike the girls team, the LuHi boys team didn’t have a mid-season hiccup. The Crusaders season, instead, changed in game No. 4 when they rallied to beat host Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.) in the consolation game of the Good Counsel Tip-Off Classic Dec. 2.
“They led in the first three quarters, but we pulled it out in the end,” Buck said. “That was the turning point.”
Facey garnered national attention, but Buck said the Crusaders (25-3), which beat New York City powerhouses Bishop Loughlin, Cardinal Hayes and Lincoln, wouldn’t have had the success it had without senior guard Mical-Ryan Boyd.
“It was his first year at LuHi and he came in not knowing the system and our guys, but he was so unselfish and he worked so hard,” Buck said. “He never complained. He had his best games against the best teams.”
A few hours after the LuHi girls captured the Class A title, the boys team fell to Christ the King, 73-64, in the ‘AA’ final at the Times Union Center.
“The Christ the King game really spurs us on and motivates us even more,’ Buck said. “We hadn’t lost to a New York team until that point. Christ the King was the better team that day. We see what the bar is and we want to shoot for it.”
