Leading off today: Junior point guard Juston Johnson scored a career-high 43 points as
West Seneca West defeated Buffalo South Park 81-79 on Tuesday in a Section 6 boys Class A state qualifier in boys basketball.
Adrian Baugh added 19 points, 18 rebounds and five assists as West Seneca West improved to 24-0 and advanced to the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals on Saturday against the Section 5 representative.
West Seneca West and Garden City are now one victory apiece away from a most unusual showdown in the state semifinals.
If both make it to Binghamton on March 17, they will have arrived with unblemished records in both football and basketball. WSW won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A title last fall, and Garden City captured a Long Island championship.
After David Stroud's layup with 47 seconds left tied the game at 76-76 for South Park, Johnson was fouled on a drive and hit two free throws to finish 18-for-19 from the line.
"I just got the ball and Des told me to attack," Johnson said of his instructions from coach Del Randall, his older brother. "I just tried to do what I do best."
Ardsley advances: In its first outing since Julian McGarvey's 70-foot buzzer-beater for the program's first Section 1 title in 60 years, Ardsley won its first-round game in the NYSPHSAA Class A tournament with a 59-41 triumph over Maine-Endwell.
Sean Casey scored 24 points and Zeke Blauner had 18 for Ardsley. McGarvey scored seven on 3-for-10 shooting.
"These last 36-48 hours have been the craziest hours of my life," McGarvey said. "I'm exhausted, mentally drained, physically drained. Today my teammates had my back. I wasn't on today and my teammates stepped up huge for me, they made this game, this is all them."
More boys highlights: Junior Sean Braithwaite scored 11 of his 30 points in the first quarter to start Center Moriches on its way to a 73-60 win over Malverne in the Long Island Class B championship game.
Center Moriches ripped off a 16-0 run for a 22-4 lead to open the contest.
• Spencer McCann, a 6-foot-5 senior, scored nine points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked nine shots for Briarcliff in a 57-51 win over Marlboro in Class B. Briarcliff allowed just one field goal over the final 5:54.
• Greenport defeated East Rockaway 69-43 to win the Long Island Class C championship and reach the state quarterfinals. Ahkee Anderson contributed 27 points and six assists as Greenport earned its first L.I. crown since 2009.
Greenport went on two 13-0 runs in the first half to build a commanding 37-13 lead.
• Newfield, which fell a win short of the state Class D championship a year ago,got 22 points from Jacob Humble to beat Martin Luther King Jr. 67-46 in another first-rounder.
MLK had not played since the Section 1 final on Feb. 23.
Fisher has monster night: Sophomore Kiara Fisher had 19 points and a team-record 18 assists as Elmira downed Kingston 80-48 in a NYSPHSAA girls Class AA first-round game.
