Taconic boys hand David Prouty first loss en route to title

Taconic boys basketball coach Bill Heaphy has seen his bench step up all season long and Saturday was no different as the top seeds survived a fierce charge from undefeated David Prouty to win the Div. 5 state championship, 53-51, in a wild one.

“I was just praying that the clock would tick a little faster, but we managed,” said Heaphy, who saw three starters foul out in the final quarter. “The (bench) has been like that throughout the tournament.”

Christian Mateurvitch (11), Tayvon Sandifer (13) and Maimoudou Bamba (12) were all left to watch from the bench as Prouty’s lastsecond shot to tie, rolled off the rim ensuring Taconic its first outright title in school history. The Thunder shared the crown in the Covidshortened season in 2020.

“The first one we didn’t really get to get there because of Covid,” said Sandifer, who scored seven straight points in a pivotal third quarter for Taconic. “We came here and we finished the mission.”

Trailing 51-42 with 5:01 left, the Panthers got in the bonus and closed on a furious 9-to-2 run much to the delight of their boisterous and deafening crowd. The decibel level at the Tsongas went through the roof when Judelius Neiray scored off a fantastic feed from Braeden Cashman to pull the No. 2 seeds to within two with 37.5 seconds left.

“They’re a tough team and we knew we would have to keep fighting,” said Sandifer. “I knew my teammates were going to step up, that’s what they are built for.”

Neiray finished with a game-high 15 for Prouty (241) and Braeden White, who exploded for 40 in the semis against Holbrook added 11. Alex Fournier added 13 before fouling out late. Steve Patch (3 treys) added 13 for the state champs.

“White scared the heck out of me,” said Heaphy. “He’s a good player, but I thought we did a good job on him.”

With a distinct size advantage across the board, Taconic (23-2) led 18-14 after one and 31-25 at the break as the Thunder feasted on the offensive glass.

“Coming into the game we knew we had way more height than them and we just had to put in the work,” said Mateurvitch.

It looked like the Thunder might run away and hide in the third as Taconic capitalized on eight of Prouty’s 17 turnovers and several twisting drives from Sandifer to take a 49-38 lead.

“These kids worked hard for this and to accomplish what we set out to do that’s pretty big,” said Heaphy.