By Chuck Stewart, Jr.
New Paltz - Newburgh Free Academy defeated Middletown 68-63 to claim the Section 9 Class AA boy’s basketball title Monday at SUNY New Paltz in front of a full house.
From the beginning, it was a close game. Closer than Newburgh would have liked.
NFA, the state Class AA defending champions, are just three victories away from repeating. However, Monday’s victory didn’t show the type of confidence you would expect.
Newburgh was outscored 15-13 in the first quarter, a sure sign Middletown was going to give them a run for their money.
While Newburgh led 36-32 at the half, Middletown managed to put up another 17 in the second half and contained Newburgh offensively.
Middletown, the second-seed, continued to chip away at Newburgh’s lead, and at the end of the third quarter, pulled to within two points.
This is not what Newburgh had planned. Their season would be determined by how they played in these final eight minutes. During the regular season, Newburgh defeated Middletown twice by an average of 23 points.
With 4:00 on the clock, Newburgh was holding on to an eight point lead. Then they fell apart. Devon McMillan missed 6 of 7 free throws in the quarter. And they allowed Middletown two or three attempts with each offensive possession, which the Middies took full advantage of.
The full house that was chanting for Newburgh in the first quarter was quiet. Middletown had pulled to within three points with under a minute left on the clock. Newburgh turned up the pressure and forced two turnover’s.
Senior Michael McLeod, with less than 10 seconds left, would seal the fate of the Middies with a tip in after a missed shot. McLeod finished with 15 points.
NFA senior guard Marcus Henderson said, "We’re happy about the win, not how we played." He said they needed this wake up call from Middletown. Henderson finished with 14 points, eight coming in the fourth quarter.
Damon Cousar and Devon McMillan had 13 points for Newburgh. Nick Smith had 17 for Middletown.
Newburgh will now move into the state tournament.
