Harborfields falls in Class A title game

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- Matt McLeod didn't buy a ticket to get into the Glens Falls Civic Center Sunday. He and the rest of the Harborfields players earned their way onto the floor.

As the senior guard said, "We came here to win a game, not to watch a show."

But Jamesville-DeWitt's big men -- 6-10, 280-pound Dajuan Coleman and 6-8 Tyler Cavanaugh -- put on a show for a crowd that included Kentucky coach John Calipari and Vermont assistant Hajj Turner, who were there to see Coleman and Cavanaugh, respectively.

The twin towers didn't disappoint, as each scored 22 points in a 66-51 win over Harborfields in the state Class A final. The final score was not indicative of the four-time consecutive champs' domination, as Jamesville-DeWitt led by 26 in the second quarter and 27 after a 14-1 fourth-quarter run.

"We were going to let Dajuan get his," Tornadoes center Nick Fessenden said. "But Cavanaugh really killed us. He was the X-factor."

Maybe so. But Coleman not only scored, he scored with panache. He not only dunked, he threw down two-handed stuffs like a young Shaquille O'Neal. And when it seemed as though he might be getting bored with the proceedings, he tossed up some three-pointers for good measure. "He's phenomenal," Harborfields coach Chris Agostino said. "He's an NBA player."

The second of Coleman's two makes from downtown (he banked in the first) capped the 14-1 run with 3:05 left that gave Jamesville-DeWitt (22-3) a 64-37 lead. Harborfields (21-3) had cut its deficit to 13, the closest it got in the second half, on a putback by McLeod (17 points) and a layup by Fessenden (18 points, 19 rebounds).

"It's hard to get momentum when those guys are dominating the game," said Lucas Woodhouse, who had seven points, four assists and two steals and was named to the All-Tournament team, as was Fessenden.

Woodhouse added, "We have height on Long Island." But the Tornadoes never ran into a combination quite like Coleman, a junior who is one of the nation's top recruits, and Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh had 13 rebounds and turned three of his six offensive boards into easy buckets. Coleman nearly pulled the entire basket down on his rim-rattling dunk during an 11-0 run to start the game.

But the Tornadoes refused to back down. "We're used to [seeing dunks]," Fessenden said. "So we're not gonna just watch and go 'oh' and 'aah.' We got off to a terrible start, and we played better in the second half. It just wasn't our day."

Harborfields outscored J-D 31-25 after halftime but couldn't prevent the Red Rams from winning their fourth straight title, tying the Amityville teams, coached by Agostino's brother Jack, for the longest streak in state history.

Another team from the Island, Long Island Lutheran, will have to deal with Jamesville-DeWitt's big men when they meet in the Federation semifinals Friday night in Albany. Good luck, Agostino said.

"We knew they were going to be tough," he said, "and you can only do so much."

The Tornadoes didn't leave anything in their tank.