Somers Nearly Pulls Off Dream Upset at Tappan Zee

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After getting beat badly by Tappan Zee in the regular season and traveling over the bridge to face the top seed, Arman Rao laid it out simply. “There was nothing really to lose,” said the senior. Only thing, when three quarters were complete, only one point separated the two teams, and Somers was definitely believing.

“We were off the roof with energy,” said Nico Quinones. But three straight threes opened a ten point lead and crushed Somers dream by a score 58-44.

Still, Somers came out on fire. After Ben O’Brien’s relentless baseline drive resulted in one from the line, Chris Decker followed his miss, and then Leo Keimig was dead on from three to make it a 5-0 game.

In at 5:52, Tappan Zee was unfazed. Christian Sanchez connected from downtown twice, and any prospect of separation quickly went away.

7-6 in favor of Somers, the Tuskers pressed on nonetheless. O’Brien’s baseline drive went down this time, and at 3:11, Quinones connected from three for a 12-6 lead.

Once again, though, the Dutchmen didn’t let the elephants fly away. Isaiah Leveille and Jack Piccione both got to the rim, and after Kareef Martin made an off-balance layup, Piccione converted a steal in the final seconds into a fast break layup.

14-12, a fast break to start the second looked like Somers would stay ahead. Unfortunately, Rao was called for a charge, and Timothy Alexandre would break his team even with a coast to coast conversion at 5:52.

Piccione did the same on Daniel Hauser’s long miss, and the top seed never looked back at 16-14. They then extended on a resolve to get to the rim. Leveille first took his lumps for a conventional three point play, and Piccione got there twice for an underhand layup and one free throw.

Good for a six point lead, Somers was in danger of seeing their fast start relegated to a memory. So the Tuskers relied on their fall back. “He’s our glue guy that makes this team run,” said Coach James Loughran,” and the center’s drive through heavy traffic resulted in three points.

22-19, Piccione was not impressed. After he picked off a pass, the guard flew down the court, and the gym erupted on his dunk.

A short miss on a put back attempt by O’Brien didn’t stall the momentum and neither did two misses from the line by Rao. That allowed Ryan Pashley to extend the lead to seven with a layup, but Somers stayed in range. In closing seconds, Quinones drove straight down the lane, and at 26-21, it was still a game.

Even more so when Julian Rosa fed inside to Decker at the outset of the third. The senior posted up and would not be denied for a three point game.

Not for long, Sanchez came back from his slumber. He nailed another three, and defense kept Somers from answering back. Joe Linehan drew a charge on O’Brien, and the defensive heroics let Tappan Zee cued up the highlight reel. Leveille to Piccione and back to Leveille, the backdoor layup extended to 31-23.

The lead would grow to eleven, and the competitive back and forth appeared to be at an end. Somers missed the memo, though.

First Quinones got to the rim to get the game back within single digits, and moments later, the guard’s missed drive had O’Brien on the follow.

1:24 remaining, Hauser let fly. The big man hit a jumper and was left open from above the arc. Taking the dare, the big buried the triple, and it was suddenly a three point game.

Somers wasn’t done either. O’Brien drew a charge with 9.5 seconds remaining, and off the inbound, Quinones went all the way for a buzzer beating layup.

Onto the fourth, defense opened the final chapter. Hauser drew a charge, and Somers continued to percolate.

Unfortunately, the boys could not convert, and hard work on the offensive boards was the beginning of the end. Leveille came up with the ball down low, shoveled to Sanchez in the corner, and the sharpshooter was true again.

Misses on both sides eventually ushered in Leveille to bring the doom. First he hit a three from the corner, and then from way downtown, his launch nestled the net for a 45-35 lead.

Three minutes to go, the Dutchman matched Decker’s three point play at 2:47, Quinones layup on the next possession, and Rao’s three at 1:40.

A valiant effort nonetheless, the third quarter heroics are going to stick, according to Quinones. “That’s something we’re going to remember forever,” the senior assured.

Afterwards, there were only smiles from the Somers fans, and the adulation didn’t go unnoticed. “It’s so awesome to see so much love from everybody here,” said Quinones.

The coach included, he reveled in the turnaround from last year’s three win season. “I’m tremendously proud of these guys,” Loughran concluded.

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