LI Lutheran tops St. Mary's for Fed title

Long Island Lutheran played a near-perfect third quarter that, ultimately, ruined St. Mary's perfect season.

The Crusaders went on a 14-0 tear to start the second half and continued its onslaught in the fourth quarter to defeat St. Mary's, 78-51, Saturday night and win the state Federation Class A championship.

LuHi outscored St. Mary's 20-7 in the third quarter for a 52-42 lead and expanded it in the fourth quarter with numerous fast-break opportunities and free throws against the desperate, gambling Gaels. Lutheran dominated the fourth quarter 26-9, and its 46-point second half was the stuff of champions. This was a stunning and decisive victory over a team that had been undefeated.

Lutheran finished 22-4 and won its second Federation title in the last three years. LuHi also reversed the outcome of a tense early-season rematch. On Jan. 13 in Brookville, St. Mary's won a thriller, 57-55, but Saturday night's game meant a lot more to the victors. St. Mary's, which had set a Long Island single-season record for wins Friday night, wound up 29-1.

The deciding streak began with Shaun Lawton's layup and K.J. Lee followed with another easy basket in transition that put Lutheran ahead 36-35. Amazingly, it was the first lead of the game for the Crusaders and they never looked back. Mike Florin hit a reverse, Achraf Yacoubou banked in a beautiful alley-oop pass from Lawton, Brandon Alford came off the bench to hit a trey and Florin nailed another three-pointer.

In less than three minutes of the third quarter, Lutheran had turned a close, hotly contested game between Newsday's top two boys basketball teams into a one-sided affair. LuHi led 46-35 before Chavaughn Lewis finally scored on a dribble-drive with 1:53 left in the third.

The Gaels never did mount a challenge, as Lutheran opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 flurry that made it 63-44. In the final minutes, the Crusaders emptied their bench.

This was the fourth time two Long Island teams have met in the Federation final and the first time in Class A. In 2003, Amityville defeated Chaminade, 65-57. In 2002, St. Mary's outlasted Amityville, 65-61, in overtime. In 2000, St. Mary's beat Amityville, 55-49. All three of those games were for the Class B crown.

This was Lutheran's sixth visit to the Federation final, played previously at Glens Falls. The Crusaders won the Class A title in 2009, lost in the final in 2008 and 1998 and won it 1997. As a Class B team, LuHi won the crown in 1994.

Lutheran displayed tremendous balance. Yacoubou, named the tournament's MVP, and Florin scored 18 points apiece. Florin did it from outside, nailing four treys. Yacoubou was a force around the basket, making 7 of 11 field goals. He also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Alford was a force off the bench for a second straight game with 12 points, including a pair of huge threes. Lawton and Allen each had 11 points. Lawton, Florin and Lewis were named to the all-tournament team.

St. Mary's, which started fast and had a nine-point lead twice in the first half, was led by point guard Dante Agnew. He scored the Gaels' first nine points and wound up with 15. Charles McCann wasn't a factor when the game got away from St. Mary's, but had his typical double-double -- 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lewis, the team's high scorer, was limited to 10 points and shot just 4-for-16.

Lutheran's share-the-wealth offense shot 55 percent from the field.

The boys' triumph made it a sweep for the school from Brookville. Earlier in the day, the Lutheran girls won their first Federation title in school history.