St. Dominic boys basketball rallies from 17-point deficit, beats No. 1 Chaminade to reach NSCHSAA final

Ever since St. Dominic fell in the NSCHSAA championship game last season, this season has been about returning to the final and constructing a different ending to the story.

“It’s been almost two decades since we won our last championship at St. Dom’s,” junior forward Nick Lang said. “It’s all we think about.”

Their hopes for a return weren’t looking too good when fourth-seeded St. Dominic was down 17 against top-seeded Chaminade with 3:19 left in the third quarter of the semifinals Tuesday night at Adelphi. 

But coach Isaiah Wilson soon called a timeout, said a few inspiring words and a wondrous rally unfolded. St. Dominic finally passed Chaminade with a minute remaining in the game and emerged with a stunning 60-57 win.

On to the title round.

“Since we lost last year, we said we’ve got to come back,” Wilson said.

Now the Bayhawks (18-8) are ready to again go after their first league tournament title since 2007. Melo Mojeed scored 19 points and Lang delivered 12 points and six rebounds to help move them forward. They will play at 7 p.m. Friday at SUNY Old Westbury against No. 2 Holy Trinity, a 69-61 winner over No. 3 St. Mary’s in the other semifinal.

“It feels amazing,” Lang said.

You can imagine how the other side felt.

“Losing, it’s always frustrating however it ends, unless you win that final game at the end of the year,” Chaminade coach Dan Feeney said. “So it’s disappointing.”

The Flyers (18-7) saw their advantage shrink to 51-43 after three. They still led by three with 2:49 left on a shot in the lane by Kyle Dillon, who scored 16. But Mojeed countered with a long jumper and then Cristian Follett converted a layup for 57-56 Bayhawks lead.

Tyler Liautaud blocked a shot by a driving Lucas Dillon, Kyle’s brother, who scored 17. Then Lang was fouled with 18.3 showing.

Pressure?

“I was shaking a little bit,” Lang said.

Lang calmed himself and hit both free throws — 59-56.

Lucas Dillon made a foul shot to cut it to two. Then Mojeed made one. And then a try for the tie fell short.

“We all believed that we could get to the championship,” Mojeed said.

But St. Dominic trailed 32-27 at halftime, then fell behind 49-32.

Timeout.

“Now is not the time to give up,” Wilson told his players. “We practiced all year long. It’s who wants it more.”

This basketball team showed how much it wanted it.