Troy boys to take on Gloversville in Class A final.
Leading scorer Merritt has plenty of help with Horses
The talented Troy basketball team proved Thursday night that it has considerably more than just Nazaire Merritt.
Merritt, the top-seeded Flying Horses’ do-everything guard, did score 19 points in Troy’s 74-61 win over Mekeel Christian in the Section II Class A semifinals, but was almost overshadowed by teammate Latyce Faison and Zaveon Little, who combined for 33 points. Faison and Little scored Troy’s first 19 points of the fourth period to break open the game.
“When he’s playing well, (Merritt) doesn’t care who scores,” Troy coach Greg Davis said.
In Saturday’s championship game at Cool Insuring Arena, Troy (18-4) will face second-seeded Gloversville (20-2), which knocked off defending sectional champion Mohonasen, 50-41. Gloversville will be looking for its first sectional championship since 1989.
“We’re playing at a high level right now,” Davis said. “We’ve played big opposition all year and it’s showed.”
Despite trailing the entire game, Mekeel pulled within 50-44 in the final seconds of the third period, only to see Makai Cruel, Troy’s aggressive defender, come up with a steal under the Mekeel basket and beat the buzzer for an eightpoint Troy lead. The rest of the game belonged to Faison and Little, who benefited from 16 Troy assists.
Merritt got Troy off to a sizzling start, dropping in a pair of long 3-pointers in the game’s opening minutes, and Troy scored the game’s first 12 points. The Flying Horses broke away to a 16-3 lead with 3:10 left in the first period, but Ozzy Dejesus tossed in four points in the final 28 seconds, to bring Mekeel within 18-13 at the break.
The two teams battled evenly over the first five minutes of the second period. But in the closing three minutes of the half, the aggressive Troy defense, led by Cruel, seemed to bother Mekeel, holding the Lions to a single basket, allowing the Flying Horses to open a 36-24 halftime lead.
Troy seemed ready to break open the game early in the third period, taking a 17-point lead. But when Lateef Johnson, Troy’s main inside defender, went out with three fouls, Mekeel’s tandem of 6-foot-6 Cameron Stewart and 6-foot-4 Alex Barnhill pulled the Lions within six points in the final seconds of the period. But Cruel came up with the key steal and basket just before the buzzer to help stem the momentum.
Mekeel, the defending state Class B champion, playing an almost entirely new lineup this year, ends its season at 16-5. The Lions, who boast a lineup of mostly juniors and sophomores this season, were led by Dejesus’ 26 points, while Barnhill added 14.
In the opening Class A semifinal, Dante Bouchard led Gloversville with 21 points, while Joey Rowback chipped in with 13. Chase Monroe and Duncan each scored 10 for Mohonasen, which ends its season at 16-7.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. Mohonasen was in control throughout most of the first two periods, but after trailing virtually all of the half, Gloversville began connecting from the outside and rallied in the final minute of the half, to grab a 20-19 lead at the break.
Mohonasen’s offense remained cold in the third period and, with Gloversville still scoring from outside, the Dragons opened up a 37-31 advantage going into the final eight minutes.
Mohonasen clawed back within 42-38, but Rowback’s 3-pointer with 2:37 left, followed by his layup 50 seconds later, opened some breathing room for the Dragons.
For the game, the two teams managed to connect on just 33 of 87 shots (37.9 percent), including 11 of 42 (26.2 percent) from 3-point range. Mohonasen hit just 19 percent of its 3-point attempts.