Costa, Friends advance to 'C' final in OT
Friends Academy's Tommy Costa goes up for a shot against Greenwich's Ryan McFee during their overtime victory over Greenwich at the 2010-2011 NYS Boys Basketball Championships in Glens Falls Credit: Pat Orr Photography
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- When Tommy Costa's play is called, the senior guard thinks of the nickname of former Knick Danilo Gallinari and knows exactly what to do.
When he calls the play "Gallo," Friends Academy coach Steve Hefele actually is asking for a three-pointer. Late in Friday's state Class C boys basketball semifinal at the Glens Falls Civic Center, Costa delivered two.
The second, a swish from the right wing, gave Friends the lead for good in its 53-48 overtime win over the Buffalo International Preparatory School at Grover.
"I was just feeling it at that time," said Costa, who waved his hands while pleading for a pass before draining the shot to open the scoring 1:16 into overtime. "I'm never afraid to shoot it."
Like NBA sharpshooter Gallinari, who is Costa's and Hefele's son T.J.'s favorite player, and the namesake of the play, Costa lets fly at will from downtown. Despite misfiring on his first four three-point attempts, Costa hit a pair when it counted most.
"That's what he does," Steve Hefele said. "He's Tommy 'Big Shot' Costa."
The Quakers shot 6-for-15 from three-point range for the game. Costa drained one from the left wing to give Friends (16-4) a 42-38 lead with 1:48 left in regulation, but the Quakers, who never trailed in the second half or overtime, couldn't hold the lead. Maurice Cheatom's two free throws with 39.7 seconds left tied the score at 43 for I-Prep (19-4) to force overtime.
"We always seem to do that," Costa said. "We get a big lead and then give it back."
Marc Godlis' runner to open the fourth quarter gave Friends its largest lead at 37-27, but an 8-0 run in just over two minutes by I-Prep eventually made it a one-point game.
In overtime, Kellan Sehring hit two free throws and Costa put in a layup off an inbounds pass with a minute left to make it 50-45.
Costa and Hefele finished with 13 points each. Sehring and Godlis scored 10 each for Friends, which will attempt to win its first state title against Syracuse Academy of Science (22-2) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.
Count on the Gallo play to be called at least once. Said Steve Hefele: "The play is for Tommy and T.J. coming off screens up top. We run it when we feel we need a shot from the perimeter."
Just the way Costa's idol Gallinari does it.
