High school basketball: Another Sackets Harbor rally comes up two points short in state championship game

Mar. 17—GLENS FALLS — It took a record-setting performance to turn back the Sackets Harbor boys basketball team in the state final on Sunday.

Wyatt Jennings scored a game-high 29 points — including connecting on state-record nine 3-pointers — to propel North Warren to a 68-66 victory over the Patriots to claim the Class D championship at Cool Insuring Arena.

Jennings performance set a new mark for 3-pointers in state-tournament play, one better than former Syracuse University and Glens Falls standout Joe Girard III and two others.

"It feels amazing," Jennings said. "And to know it beat Joe Girard, one of the kids I've looked up to, it feels good."

The Cougars, who finish their season at 21-4, controlled much of the second half en route to winning the school's first state title.

"It feels real good and coming up short last year in the final four by one point and then winning it all this year, it feels amazing," Jennings said.

Yet Sackets Harbor, which finishes its season at 25-2, didn't go down without a fight, rallying to remain within reach right down until the final shot of the game.

"They just had a good game, we could have done better," Patriots' senior Austin Griner said. "It's tough, but they just played a good game."

Sackets Harbor, which came back from an 18-point deficit to win their state quarterfinal, also trailed by double digits against North Warren, this time in the fourth quarter, only to be turned away.

"To get that close, to be where we were, I didn't think we had shot at that point," Sackets Harbor coach Jeff Robbins said. "We were just going to keep fighting, there's no doubt about it."

Trailing by many as 10 points in the period and down by seven with 1:13 remaining, they stormed back by scoring the final six points of the game on back-to-back 3-pointers to close within two with 24.1 seconds left.

After Sackets Harbor got the ball back on a steal and called timeout, Griner just missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

"It's hard to talk about it, I'm so proud of them," Robbins said. "We knew we were going to have a good team, but to get this far and to be just seconds away of winning a state title is beyond our wildest dreams. It's all due to these kids, this group of kids is just special, a special group."

Griner scored 28 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Dylan Aubert contributed 11 points.

"They are a tough team, they're a real good team," Jennings said of Sackets Harbor. "And we just right battled back and forth the whole game and came out on top."

Griner scored 17 of his points in the first half as Sackets Harbor forged a 19-13 lead through the first quarter and led by as many as seven points in the second period.

North Warren rode a surge to take the lead in the final minute of the half, but Griner hit drained a 3-pointer to provide his team with a 33-32 halftime advantage.

Jennings then opened the second half by draining a 3-pointer and teammate Semaj Cuyler connected on a deep 3-pointer later in the quarter to give the Cougars the lead for good at 41-38.

Later, Jennings buried a long-range triple to provide North Warren with a 46-41 lead to finish the third quarter.

"We were a little nervous and I was a little nervous coming into the Civic Center for shooting, but once we started hitting, all the confidence was there," Jennings said. "Every shot felt like it was going in."

Griner had connected on six 3-pointers of his own with the team totaling 12 in Sackets Harbor's 58-57 win over Section 5's Avoca-Prattsburgh on Saturday.

"They had a real nice shooting game, they didn't really miss much from behind the arc," Griner said of North Warren." There's not much we could do with that, they made their shots and they just played a helluva game."

"The kid made nine threes, some from like 30 feet and (Semaj Cuyler), their best player, he pulled up there that one time from 30 in transition and drained one," Robbins said. "And they made their free throws, you've just got to give credit where credit's due. For them to shoot like that and for us to lose by two points is incredible, it's incredible. Taking nothing away from my kids, but they shot incredibly well."

Previously, the Patriots had come back from an 18-point deficit to defeat Section 10 champion Harrisville, 59-57, last Sunday.

"I'm just proud of my team, even though we lost I'm proud of everybody on the team and how much we've accomplished," Griner said.

Said Robbins of Griner's last attempt: "He played great, he hung in there and that was a super tough shot, I know he wishes that somehow that went in. But he played amazing, he's come so far, he's kind of an introverted kid, but he's so unselfish and he's been a great leader for this, I'm so proud of him."

Sackets Harbor played in its first state title game since 2012 when it won the program's first championship.

"It means everything to me," Griner said. "Playing with my brothers, it was just an amazing experience and I'm happy we made it this far."

"It's hard right now because I wish they could have felt that joy of winning a state title," Robbins said. "But there's so much joy in what they experienced and the memories they're going to gain, I'm just really, really proud of them."