Warriors make it happen
Lilac's 21 points help Stillwater capture state title
GLENS FALLS — The long wait is over for the Stillwater boys’ basketball team.
Thirty-six years after winning the NYSPHSAA Class C championship, the Warriors added their second title on Friday, this time in Class B, with a hard-fought 59-50 victory over Marcellus at Cool Insuring Arena.
“This is the greatest thing I could ever have happen to me in sports,” said Stillwater coach Bruce Lilac, who played as a sophomore on the 1988 championship team. “I have a great family of coaching and great athletes. My uncle has won a state championship, my father has won a state championship, my daughter has won a state championship, I’ve won a state championship and now Lukas has won a state championship. It’s really special.”
Stillwater made it to the Class C state championship game before falling to Newfield in 2022, and several of this year’s starters played on the Warriors’ football team that lost in the state Class D championship game to Tioga, so there was plenty of incentive going into Friday’s showdown with the Section III champion Mustangs.
“Since football ended two days late, the next day after we got back, these guys dug in and worked their tails off all year,” Coach Lilac said. “This is something they wanted really bad. You can’t just will this to happen, you have to make it happen, and these guys made it happen. I’m so proud of these boys.”
Led by Lukas Lilac’s 21-point performance on 8-of-13 shooting, the Warriors weren’t about to let this latest shot at an elusive state title slip away.
“This means everything,” Lukas Lilac said. “This is my third time in one of these through football and basketball and this one was designated for my grandfather. We lost him this year and that just pushed us, we felt that in
our hearts this season and every game was just for him. Every pregame huddle that we had I’m talking to the guys about who we’re doing this for, why we’re doing it, and we did it.”
Both teams had trouble finding the range in the opening quarter, hitting only one of their first 10 shots. Marcellus eventually took a 10-4 lead, before Stillwater battled back to even the score at 10-10 by the end of the stanza on two buckets by Jaxon Mueller and one by Lilac.
Marcellus went up 23-17 midway through the second quarter and looked poised to widen the gap when Stillwater standout center Mueller had to sit with foul trouble. Freshman James Cocozzo came in for Mueller and helped spark a 16-0 run that put the Warriors in front for good.
“People forget that the ninth graders that we bring off the bench started for us last year on a team that should have won a sectional championship,” Bruce Lilac said. “James is a highly skilled athlete, a great basketball player. So Jaxon going out kind of changed their game plan because they really didn’t see James and didn’t know how to play him. You have to guard James because he’s just as smooth as Jaxon in the paint. James had a couple of big blocks, a steal, a couple of big buckets. He played unbelievable minutes for us.”
Along with Cocozzo, Lukas Lilac stepped up his game when Mueller went out.
Stillwater increased its lead to 37-23 early in the third quarter, but Marcellus got the lead down to nine, 43-34, heading into the final stanza.
Stillwater pushed the lead back to 13 early in the fourth quarter, but a quick 7-0 run by the Mustangs cut it to six with 4:53 to play. The Warriors still led by seven, 54-47, with 2:13 remaining, but a 3pointer by Will Burnett cut the deficit to four. Those would be the final points of the game scored by Marcellus, though, while the Warriors tacked on five free throws in the closing minute to wrap up the victory.
Even with a double-digit lead for a good portion of the second half, Lukas Lilac knew the game was far from over and that Marcellus would make a run, but the Warriors were prepared.
“We strive off adversity,” Lukas Lilac said. “We’ve done it all year. When we were sophomores, we were never winning the game going into the fourth quarter, so that experience just kind of pushes us seniors. It was nothing new for us.”
Kaelan Leak finished with 12 points for Stillwater. Mueller, whose Dad Jon starred on the 1988 team, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, despite the early foul difficulties. Thomas Mcdonough had nine points and seven rebounds.
Will Burnett’s 15 points topped Marcellus, which was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class B for most of the 2023-24 season. Mitchell Donegan contributed 14 points and Will Kershaw grabbed 10 rebounds.
Stillwater (27-1) connected on 22-of-48 shots from the field, while Marcellus knocked down 19-of-60 shots, including a 9-of-29 3pointers.