Pearl River, Byram Hills Renew Acquaintances in Section 1 Class A Boys Basketball Final

Pearl River last playd Byram Hills two years ago, giving Bobcats coach Ted Repa his first look at Pirates' guard Luke Houston.

"He had longer hair then," Repa said. "Here was this small, shaggy-haired kid who hit four or five threes on us. I was like, 'Wow, who is this kid?' He came out of nowhere and exploded on us."

Scoring over 20 points per game, Houston does not sneak up on anybody these days, but both coaches expect there to be few surprises when No. 2-seed Pearl River (18-3) plays No. 5 Byram Hils (16-5) in the Section 1 Class A boys basketball championship game 7 p.m. Sunday at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.

"They are very much like us," Repa said. "We’ve always had very similar teams. I’ve coached against him nine years."

"Both teams are relatively small in terms of size, but the teams that really do similar types of things," Pearl River coach Jerry Houston said.

The primary differences are that Pearl River is a more senior-oriented team, but Byram Hills has been more consistently balanced offensively. The Bobcats have three players averaging double-digits scoring -- sophomore guards Jeff Lynch and Ryan Golden  and forward Andy Murphy.

"We fit really well together," Repa said. "Balance is very huge, balance offensively. We have three guys in double figures and two others who are close. We play very intelligent basketball. We usually don’t beat ourselves. On the defensive end, we are pretty smart. We execute the game plan well, take charges and help each other out."

"I know coach Repa," Jerry Houston said. "He’s a good guy. He does a great, great job with the kids . Theya re one of those schools that as long as he’s there, you can predict the type of team he has. They are going to do their homework and be well-prepared. They are disciplined offensively. They won’t beat themselves. They will get good shots. They share the ball. They make the extra pass. They have very good chemistry."

Good chemistry is something else the Pirates share with the Bobcats. They also showed what they can do without Luke Houston for much of their semifinal victory over Tappan Zee, when he missed large chunks of the game after aggravating an ankle injury and battling foul trouble. Austin O'Toole scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and Anthony Calise made two huge three-point shots to help the Pirates hold off a rally by the Dutchmen. Houston returned late and finished with 20 points.

"Guys stepped up and made critical contributions," Jerry Houston said. "From what I can see, we took a look yesterday and I think he’s ok. I would take a lot to have him not be on the floor. He’s learned to kind of manage it. He said he was ready to go so I put him back in. He showed no ill-effects of it during the game."

"First of all, they are extremely well-coached," Repa said. "Everybody in Section 1 had tremendsous respect for coach Houston and those kids.

"What jumps out is their intensity. They play tough, man-to-man basketball. They contest every ball. They step in and take charges. They an shoot the basketball well at the same time. This is going to be tough."

Luke and Jerry are not the only members of the Houston family Repa has encountered. He once was in a scrimmage with a team that included Luke's father, Kevin Houston, when he was a standout at Army.

"It was a long time ago, but he seems similar in a way to his father," Repa said. "He's very crafty."