Woodhouse, Harborfields win Suffolk title
Harborfields guard Lucas Woodhouse shoots a three-pointer against William Floyd. (March 2, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
John Patron was bounding in green high-tops. David Ba was bouncing in green lows. Flashing their school-color sneakers, the high-stepping duo helped lead Harborfields to its second straight Suffolk overall championship with an 80-58 victory over Floyd Friday night at Farmingdale State.
Both players scored 21 points and were in the middle of a deciding third quarter in which Class A champ Harborfields (19-2) outscored Class AA titlist Floyd (20-3) 28-8 to break open a game the Tornadoes led only 37-33 at halftime.
"Get killed or do the killing" is how Ba described the Tornadoes' second-half mentality. They did a lot of their damage on the boards and on the break. Patron had the bulk of his team-high nine rebounds in the third quarter, helping trigger the vaunted Harborfields fast break.
"I love it when we run," said Ba, who scored 12 of his points after intermission.
The triggerman, as he has been all season, was Lucas Woodhouse, who had 24 points -- 11 in the third quarter -- and 11 assists. Woodhouse foiled Floyd's strategy of trying to keep him from penetrating by pulling up for three three-pointers in the third quarter. When he wasn't swishing, he was dishing, with Patron and Ba frequently the beneficiaries.
"Finish every pass that Lucas gives me," Patron said about his primary role in the team's offense. "That's the easy part."
Noted Harborfields coach Chris Agostino, "They know Luke is going to find the open guy every time."
Woodhouse found Ba on a nifty alley-oop pass to open the second half, and the fun was just beginning. A 13-2 spurt to open the third period also featured a tip-in and layup by Patron, a straightaway three-ball by Woodhouse, a pump-fake jumper by Justin Ringen, a slick look-away layup by Woodhouse and an acrobatic one-handed rebound and putback by Patron that made it 52-35.
Anthony White led the Colonials with 18 points, but Ba made the Floyd star work hard and limited him to two field goals while the game was close. "David did an excellent job on Anthony," said Agostino, who praised him for "getting to the basket. We love for him to do that."
The Tornadoes also love for Patron to go to the boards. "John really committed to rebounding,'' Agostino said, "and that was the difference in the third quarter."
Patron, who showed off his perimeter skills with a pair of three-balls, was especially springy after halftime. "William Floyd wasn't boxing me out in the second half so I went to the glass more," he said. "That's what Harborfields depends on me to do."
Floyd still has designs on going to the state tournament in Glens Falls but will need to knock off Saturday's Uniondale-Baldwin winner in the Long Island Class AA championship game at 5 p.m. next Saturday at Hofstra.
Next up for Harborfields is the Long Island Class A title game at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Hofstra against Saturday's South Side-Jericho winner. A win would send the Tornadoes to Glens Falls for a state semifinal game March 17, when Patron and Ba would love to be wearin' the green.
