Middle College Kats - 2016 State Champs

(Middle College Kats - 2016 NYSPHAA Class C State Champions)

 

In my 2016 season preview, I predicted a Middle College state championship in Class C this year.  The Kats returned all five starters, along with their sixth man from a team that, in my opinion, underachieved in 2015 when they lost in the Far West Regional to Lyons.  As someone who attends the state championships annually, the talent at Middle College is simply superior to what Class C teams in the state final four offer.  After a pair of routs at the Glens Falls Civic Center over the weekend, Middle College left no doubt in anyone's mind who the best Class C team was in NYS.

 

After a 24-point win in the state semifinals, Middle College defeated Haldane by more points than the state runner-up even scored, cruising to an 82-40 victory to earn the NYSPHAA Class C State Championship.  The title is the second in school history, and the dominant fashion by which the Kats claimed the state plaque was very reminiscent of the 2010 team that also dominated the competition in the Civic Center seven seasons earlier.

 

Gary Foster scored 23 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished five assists to earn MVP honors.  The senior, who also earned a state championship in football playing for South Park in the fall, scored his 1,000th point in the state semifinal.  Foster, who has had his ups and downs during his two seasons at Middle College, finished his career on the highest of highs after committing to his team and coaches.  His decision to focus on being a positive contributor and a leader for his team allowed him to experience something with his friends that can never be taken away.

 

"I'm proud of everybody here, my team is like brothers to me and it's crazy how we got this state championship together," said Foster.

 

Following the game, Foster was ecstatic, smiling and cradling his MVP plaque.  I asked what it meant to have won titles in two sports during the same year.

 

"It means a lot, it's a great year for me," Foster said.  "I'm trying to get one in track this year...I might run track or do baseball...or do both."

 

The Kats fell behind, 5-0, at the start of the championship game.  A 19-0 run by Middle College followed, including two 3-pointers from JoJo Staton, another from Billy Rivera, and a three-point play from Lorenzo Truitt.  From that point forward, the Kats looked like they were just having fun out there and taking in the moment.  A team that had been guilty of playing down to its competition at different points of the season, was suddenly the dominant force that followers of the team always knew they were capable of.  After each quarter of the game, Middle College led by more points than Haldane had even scored.

 

"They were awesome...they put up," Middle College coach Randy Rich said.  "They did exactly what they said they were going to do and I'm proud of everyone of them."

 

Staton scored 18 points in both the semifinal and championship game, and was the stabilizing force for his team at the tournament and all season.  His performance at Glens Falls was the best all around team basketball I've seen from the senior standout in his four years as a varsity player.  He was their leader.

 

"It's a great feeling, sophomore year we got here and lost,"  Staton said.  "I'm just really thankful my team and my coaches came together at Glens Falls.  It's a really big thing...State Champions you know, you can't get any bigger than this."

 

Staton was selected to the All-Tournament Team, along with teammate Rivera, who finished the championship game with 17 points and nine boards.  Rivera is an extremely talented player for the Kats, a sniper from the perimeter who makes great decisions with the ball and is an underrated defender.

 

Amir Jemes was a ball of energy all weekend for Middle College, out-hustling everyone on the court band taking pride in his defense.  Truitt and Brian Johnson gave Middle College the same consistent interior play they've given all season, and combined for 33 rebounds over the weekend.

 

Middle College becomes only the second Buffalo Public School to win multiple state championships, joining Buffalo Traditional.

 

Point Totals

Middle College:  Gary Foster 23, JoJo Staton 18, Billy Rivera 17, Lorenzo truitt 7, Hakeem Dobbins 5, Brian Johnson 4, Amir Jemes 2, William Huitt 2, Dion Watkins 2, Nathyia Jackson 2

 

-centercourt

Comments

[StateChamps2003]

After watching the first half of the Class C state title game, you almost had to feel sorry for Haldane who just came off of a nail biting of a win in the semi-finals. This MEC team was just simply unfair to the rest of the teams in Class C. Early College International of Rochester would have easily beaten these teams as well and I think Olmsted probably could have hung with Ausable, Haldane and Moravia.

The front line of Johnson and Truit was something that no Class C team could match. There would be no opposing player who could be quicker than Jemes. There would be no other player more athletic than Foster. There would be no other player that had the outside shooting abilities of Staton and Rivera. There was no way MEC wasn't going to win States.

Haldane started the game playing a box-and-one on Foster and I said to myself, "They're playing the box-and-one on the wrong player" and sure enough, Jojo Staton lit them up in the first half. But, barring some type of miracle, there was no game plan that Haldane could have thrown at MEC that would have made the game competitive.

After watching the Class B teams, I honestly believe that MEC would have been the second best team in Class B behind Olean.

[NYSPHSAA Joke]

Congratulations Haldane, you beat every PUBLIC school you played. People over at NYSPHSAA need to stop being lazy and clueless and place this College team in the correct classification. I’ve been watching high school basketball for 40 years, Buffalo Middle College is NOT a Class C team. C’mon, most public schools can only dream of going to the State Championship. If it does happen, on average, it’s probably a once in a lifetime event for that school. But no, BMC has played in 4 title games in 7 years. Destroying any chance of a real public school experiencing that moment. And don't give me that comeback of "To be the best, you gotta beat the best." If that's the case, why doesn't the Class D champion have to play the Class AA champion? They're all high school kids after all?

Someone wake up. The numbers, the averages, the chances, do not add up. How can they even feel good about winning?

[StateChamps2003]

MEC is a public school, so I don't know what you're talking about. Their BEDS number is at 217 ('15-'16 season). What is a "real public school" as you put it?

Dominant teams like this come about every now and then. Traditional went to the state title game in Class C 5 times in 7 years in the mid 90s to early 00s. Winning 4 titles and the average margin of victory in those title games were 13 points.

Amityville won 4 straight Class B state titles from '00-'03 and did so in dominating fashion. They're a public school.

You're just bitter. You'll get over it.

[fullcourt]

Well said StateChamps and MEC is a lot of fun to watch!

[NYSPHSAA Joke]

Okay, I was wrong, I didn't realize they were classified as a public school. It seems there is a huge difference between "city class C" and "rural class C."

I guess only time will tell. If they go on a 15-20 year drought and never go back to the state championships, then I'll consider them to be exactly like every other public school in NY. But my gut tells me that is not going to happen.

[StateChamps2003]

NYSPHSAA Joke - Now there I can agree with you. There is a big difference between "city Class C" and "rural Class C". The City of Buffalo has a much larger pool of kids to choose from as opposed to a small town. Gone are the days where kids were forced to go to their neighborhood high school. Parents have the right to decide which city public school they send their kid. A kid could be living in South Buffalo and send their kid to McKinley, which, if taking the NFTA, would probably take close to an hour with all the transfers.

Another factor to consider is the emergence of Charter Schools within the city of Buffalo which is decreasing the enrollment within the Buffalo public high schools. Tapestry, Health Sciences, and Oracle to name a few are seeing an increase in enrollment while schools like East High (once an 'A' school) are experiencing a decrease (I understand that there are other factors for this).

But it's pretty insane that the Buffalo Public Schools have not one school being represented in Class 'AA' and there are only 4 schools represented in Class 'A' (McKinley, Hutch Tech, South Park and Riverside).

Very rarely does a "rural Class C" team from Section 6 do well enough to win a State Championship. Only team that I can remember is the 2008 Maple Grove team which was a special team. Maple Grove won the Class D state title in 2010, the same year Middle College won the Class C. What would happen if Maple Grove was still a Class C team that year? Interesting to debate that one.