Defeats Leffell to advance to regionals on Wednesday
The Haldane boys’ basketball team, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class C, had not played in two weeks waiting for its matchup on Sunday (March 3) against Leffell in the Section I title game at the Westchester County Center.
There was no rust. The Blue Devils dominated from start to finish, winning their second consecutive Gold Ball, 64-49. Haldane (18-3) advances to the regional semi-finals, where it will face Millbrook (12-6) at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday (March 6) at Yorktown High School.
Haldane got off to a fast start, building a 19-6 lead behind senior Matt Nachamkin, who started the scoring with a three-pointer from the corner and recorded 11 of his 21 points in the first quarter. The second quarter would prove to be more of the same, with the Blue Devils expending their lead to 38-15 behind eight points from senior Michael Murray.
Photos by Skip Pearlman
Leffell opened the third quarter with a 14-4 run, cutting the lead to 13 but Haldane was still leading by 16 going into the fourth, which they started with a 10-4 run. Nachamkin scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to give Haldane a 19-point lead.
With 1:40 left, and the Blue Devils up 21, Coach Joe Virgadamo substituted his starters. But after two 3-pointers by Leffell’s Will Hirsch in 11 seconds, he returned his starters to finish the game.
It was Haldane’s seventh Section I title. “I’m blessed to have a great group of guys who enjoy each other, love each other and play for each other,” said Virgadamo.
Nachamkin was named the tournament MVP. “Even though we lost a lot of people [to graduation], we were putting in the work in the offseason and we had great coaching leading us to get here again,” he said. Along with Nachamkin, who will play next year for Williams College, Murray and Ross Esposito were named to the All-Tournament team.
