There were only about 14 people in the Civic Center Saturday night that gave St. Mary's a chance of winning the boys Class B Federation championship.

Gaels coach Tim Cluess used just about each and every one of them.

Amityville entered the court in double formation hooting and hollering, with their 6'10" Mr. Basketball center, Jason Fraser, entering last as the exclamation point. It was an impressive show for the fans but the St. Mary's team barely noticed. St. Mary's was prepared and focused; they knew that the victory would be decided after a long battle.

After opening the game with superb defense and a 15-9 lead St. Mary's made it very clear that they were not impressed with the Amityville entrance. St. Mary's used an eight-player rotation to guard Fraser, turning the lane into a mosh pit while taking the Villanova-bound senior out of the game. And with the game on the line, the Gaels turned to their own Mr. Basketball, Mamadou Diakhate, who forced overtime with a buzzer-beating lay-up after going the length of the floor with five seconds to play.

St. Mary's went on to post a 65-61 victory over Amityville.

By crowding the lane and denying Fraser - who was at least six inches taller than every St. Mary's player - the Gaels challenged every other player to make some shots.

They couldn't.

And once Fraser fouled out with 52 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, the Gaels started to pound the ball inside.

"We had nothing to lose," said Keith Tilley, who executed a give-and-go with Diakhate on the overtime-forcing play. "They are a good team, and Fraser is an All-American, but we felt we could win and that we were going to win."

The Warriors found themselves in a rugby match right from the opening tip. While the Gaels laid two and three bodies on the 6-foot-10 Fraser to deny him the ball, they rattled off a 12-2 run to take a 14-4 lead with 1:36 left to play in the first quarter.

They threw a lot of double and triple-teams at me, "they played tough." Fraser said. "The thing with St. Mary's, they were hungrier. And they were clutch."

Amityville, the three-time public school Class B champion, worked its way back into the game in the second quarter with a 9-0 run, and took a 25-23 lead into halftime. The Warriors still led heading into the fourth quarter, 39-35 but St. Mary's got five straight points from LaJohn McFadden - on a nifty reverse and a heart-breaking, wide open 3-pointer - to take the lead, 42-41.

The Gaels extended the lead to 48-43 on another McFadden 3-pointer.

But Amityville wasn't done.

Frazer, looking for an opportunity to take over, converted a 3-point play with four minutes left to close to 48-46. Max Rose knocked down a short jumper, Fraser made a free throw and Trevor McIntosh scored on a rebound to give Amityville a 51-50 lead. Rose and AJ Price made free throws for Amityville while Tim Wall made one for St. Mary's to set up Diakhate's buzzer-beater.

"After that five-second play, the momentum swung their way," Amityville coach Jack Agostino said. "But we still had chances to score. They did a great job defensively, and they started making shots."

"Sometimes, you get lucky and the kids execute the play the way you drew it up," said Coach Cluess. "In the huddle, I told them that with five seconds left, you have time for four or five dribbles, or up to three passes and you can get the shot."

Diakhate took the inbounds pass from Tim Wall in stride and blitzed up the right side of the court. He found Tilley in the corner, but continued to charge to the basket. As the Amityville defense collapsed on Tilley, he gave the ball back to Diakhate, who drove to the basket.

"The play was designed for me or Mamadou to drive to the basket," Tilley said. "I looked up and saw him charging, and just gave it back."

Once in overtime, Diakhate put back a missed shot and scored on a lay-up to give the Gaels a 57-55 lead. Richard Payton and Max Rose made free throws to tie the game for Amityville, but McFadden, left alone on the left wing, responded with a 3-pointer with 1:03 to play for a 53-59 cushion. A.J. Price made two free throws to cut the lead to two before Tim Wall made a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.

Price made two more free throws, but Diakhate's lay-up with three seconds to play sealed the win.

"I knew we could win the game," Cluess said. "At the end we got lucky when the kids executed the play the way we drew it up, but honestly, I really felt coming in we could put pressure on them, stress their guards because they didn't handle the ball that well."

The Gaels were prepared and focused. This was Coach Cluess' plan. It was his second State Federation Championship in three years, his third Catholic School State Championship and his fifth straight Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High Schools Championship (a record). Congratulations to Coach Cluess, the coaches, players, and family and fans. Go Gaels!