By TONY BELLISSIMO
But it was the Mules who were forced to rally for a wild 57-56 victory. Junior Shamel White-s tip-in with four seconds left held up as the winning basket for Malverne, which scored the last five points of the game after North Salem used an 18-2 run to take a four-point lead with 35 seconds remaining.
It was a crazy ending, Malverne coach Darrol Lopez said. When we fell behind by four with less than a minute to go, I was just hoping we-d find a way to get to overtime. Turns out we got it done in regulation.
The Mules, who beat Center Moriches 69-58 on March 4 to win their third Long Island Class B crown in five seasons, will face Ogdensburg in a Class B state semifinal at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The state final is Sunday at 9 p.m.
Trailing North Salem 56-52 with the shot clock turned off, Malverne was suddenly a long shot to advance. Lopez called a timeout to get the ball to either Justin Williams or Dashiem Cherry, but when defenders backed off the perimeter, D.J. Williams drained a three-pointer to bring the Mules within one. They made every shot they put up in the fourth quarter, so it was our turn to knock down a big one, Lopez said. Once they sagged to lock up Justin and Dashiem, D.J. had a great look.
D.J. Williams then stole North Salem-s inbound pass, making for a frantic last 23 seconds. He got the ball to Justin Williams, who missed a shot, but a leaping White tapped in the rebound to keep the Mules- season alive. Shamel had to score while he was in the air, Lopez said. There was no time to try to rebound the ball and do something else with it.
Cherry and Kadeem Bell had 14 points apiece to lead Malverne, which led 30-24 at the half and 50-38 after three quarters. I attribute our ability to come back in these last two games to a tough regular-season schedule, Lopez said. Playing teams like Jericho, Floral Park, South Side and Westbury twice definitely prepared us well for the playoffs.
The Mules rallied from a 13-point first-quarter deficit to beat Center Moriches for the L.I. Class B title. Justin Williams scored 32 points, including 14 straight in the second quarter to give Malverne a 34-33 lead it would never relinquish.
We didn-t panic, Lopez said. The kids saw I kept my composure when we were down early, and I think that helped them stay calm and get back to playing Malverne basketball.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
