Under the guile and leadership of Coach Tim Cluess, the St. Mary's boys varsity basketball team was held true to their playoff philosophy of "Survive and Advance" with two recent victories.

On Monday, March 16 the Gaels of St. Mary's registered a 65-54 win over the Gaels of Iona Prep in the CHSAA Downstate regional final before 1,400 ardent fans at St. Dominic's High School.

After Class B City Champion Iona Prep (17 - 8) jumped out to a 3 - 2 lead, St. Mary's reeled off a 13-2 run to take a 10 point lead, 15-5. St. Mary's relentless defensive pressure again held true to form never allowing Iona Prep to come within five points for the rest of the game.

St. Mary's was led this night by Brice Petit, a 6'-6" senior exchange student from France with 23 points and the all around play of sophomore point guard Joel Suarez (16 points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals). Also of note was the stellar defensive play of Suarez's backcourt mate Chinedu Udeogalanya, who continued his challenging style of defense.

As senior guard John McCutcheon was heard to say after the victory, "On this particular St. Patrick's Day evening, the luck of the Irish had nothing to do with it; our defense, intensity, and game preparation has been a constant for us all year. If we continue to execute and sacrifice, we will be able to maximize our basketball ability. These qualities will undoubtedly lead to our success both on and off the basketball court."

With this Class B Regional final victory St. Mary's advanced to the NYSCHSAA Class B championship.

This past Saturday, March 21, St. Mary's traveled to the rural community of Binghamton, NY to engage Canisius High School for a chance to represent the CHSAA in the New York State Federation basketball championship. Basketball aficionados billed it as David vs. Goliath; others saw it as Hoosiers revisisted. Here was St. Mary's, a small over-achieving school from a sleepy-eyed suburban community attempting to defeat Canisius, a huge school from an even bigger town. Buffalo was sending their best, and the stage was set.

Inclement weather has become linked with St. Mary's success on the court. Victories over St. Anthony's and Iona Prep came as days when only ducks wanted to be outside. Last Saturday was no exception; add freezing cold temperatures to the mix and the confines of Binghamton High School looked very inviting to the St. Mary's faithful who braved the 207 mile trip from Manhasset. In contrast to the cold outside, St. Mary's turned up the heat on Canisius and rolled to a 67-41 win and their first state CHSAA basketball championship.

With suffocating defense and utilizing their strong transition game, the Gaels jumped out to a 17-5 first quarter lead. As senior forward Barry Dirrane said, "At the end of the first quarter, we did not want to be over confident, but we felt victory was eminent so we decided to try and put the nails in the proverbial coffin. The result proves that we once again achieved our goal by self-sacrifice and dedication." The team continued its pressure defense and led at the half by a score of 27-12.

An under the weather Joel Suarez gathered himself to continue his winning style with 11 points, six assists, three rebounds, and five steals. He was aided in his efforts by senior center Joakim Ericsson, a 6'-8" Swedish behemoth who had nine points, 11 rebounds and four rejections.

The ever consistent Petit shackled by early foul trouble responded with nine second half points. "This was a true team victory," said Petit whose parents Patrick and Brigette made the trip from Nantes, France to see their son for the first time since August.

Junior swingman Jimmy Frauenberg once again led St. Mary's scoring with 16 points and looks forward to this weekend's championship in Glens Falls. "We are a team that has continually responded to challenges. There are two more hills to climb in order to reach our goal. I believe we have the ability and the intestinal fortitude to accomplish this. We are blessed with a coaching staff that keeps us focused and our priorities in order. The rest is up to us as a team."

This Friday, March 27, St. Mary's faces its toughest challenge to date. The West Hampton Hurricanes (also known as Manhasset East) led by star guard and team leader Dale Menendez will put their 26-0 record on the line at 12:45 in the afternoon at the Glens Falls Civic Center against our St. Mary's Gaels. On the line - bragging rights on Long Island and a trip to Saturday's 7 p.m. final vs. the New York City representative.

As the late Jerry Garcia would say, "What a long strange trip it's been."