(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
27 out of the 37 (excluding South Park for this year) Yale Cup winners on the above list ended up winning a sectional title in their respective Yale Cup Championship season. I believe 5 of those teams ended up winning a state title. So more than 70% of the time the Yale Cup winner ends up with a sectional title.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Friday, February 17, 2017 at 04:19 PM
4 of those teams ended up winning a state title.*
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Friday, February 17, 2017 at 04:20 PM