Albertus Boys Beat Dobbs Ferry, 53-46, for Section 1 Class B Championship

The birds of prey were circling the Westchester County Center on Saturday afternoon as the Falcons of Albertus Magnus took on the Eagles of Dobbs Ferry in the Section I Class B Boys Final.

The battle was physical but in the end, the Falcons won, 53-46, giving Albertus Magnus the third section championship in school history and the first since 1994.

The Eagles were noticeably bigger than the Falcons and the Eagles used that to their advantage early on and pulled ahead early. Defense was so tight on both ends that the whistle seemed to blow for a turnover or foul every time down court and both coaches acknowledged their offenses' inability to get into any kind of flow.

Eagle Thomas Fleming carried his team early offensively scoring nine of his team's 13 first quarter points. Flemming ended up with 22 points, each of which he had to fight for.

Despite getting called for two early fouls and sitting for much of the second quarter, Falcons’ forward Tyler Sayre had a huge impact on the game and kept his team alive. Sayre blocked shots, took elbows, stole the ball, rebounded and even threw in a fast break dunk to keep his team close in the first half.

Sayre’s 22-point performance put his Falcons over the top and earned him the tournament Most Valuable Player award.

“They tried to push us around out there, we knew we had to push back,” said Sayre. “We weren’t executing in the first half, we were taking bad shots and making bad decisions. It feels really good to contribute to this win and we are going to enjoy this one for a while.”

“I really felt like we just escaped the first half. Things could have been a lot worse at the half,” said Falcons Head Coach Pat McFadden. “We needed to box out earlier, not allow them to get into the paint at all. We did a much better job in the second half. They were over the limit in fouls early in the fourth so we put an emphasis on trying to get to the line and we did.”

The Eagles led, 20-17, at the half.

Dobbs Ferry likes to play a physical style. Saturday was no different. The Eagles came out and tried to use their size to their advantage and it worked early, but in the second half the men in stripes were not having any of it.

The Falcons shot 22 fourth-quarter free throws and cashed in on 14 of them. Dobbs Ferry managed 14 points in the second and third quarter combined.

“We like to play physical and it was working for us in the first half,” said Eagle forward John Scaperrotta. “Our offense never got into any kind of rhythm in the second half. The physical part of our game was taken away from us and that made it difficult for us to operate.”   

Dobbs Ferry finished the season 17-5.

“The kids did a great job out there. They got up and down, pushed the ball and played well,” said Dobbs Ferry Head Coach Scott Patrillo. “They left everything they had out there, I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.”

Albertus was able to get the win without knocking down a single three-pointer in the game. Dobbs Ferry only hit two shots from three-point land, but neither team shot the jump shot well with any kind of consistency.

“Dobbs Ferry played a tough game, I give them a lot of credit. But our kids work so hard all season it is nice to see them rewarded like this,” McFadden said.

Albertus Magnus (18-4) also earned a berth in the state tournament with the victory. The Falcons will play the Section 9 champion Burke Catholic 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Westchester County Center.