WHITE PLAINS — Behind closed doors after Friday night’s semifinal win, a red-faced Bob Cimmino chided his team, not for its effort but a lack of focus. The team had lounged around waiting to play Clarkstown South and allowed it to affect its play. Mount Vernon beat South by just six points, but it was those moments beforehand that left the coach fuming.
“We didn’t bring it Friday, and it translated into what I thought wasn’t a stellar performance,” Cimmino said. “That’s what we talked about, and we were very focused today. Everyone to a man was focused, doing their own thing individually to get mentally prepared.”
No player was more emblematic of that than senior Randy Stephens, whose all-around effort sparked the refocused Knights to a 77-51 victory over No. 3 Mahopac in Sunday’s Class AA championship game at the County Center. The defending state and Federation champs claimed their record seventh straight gold ball and the program’s 29th Section 1 championship.
“We were just trying to come out for this game with more intensity because in the semifinals we didn’t come out as hard as we could,” senior Jarrel Marshall said. “I think that’s why that game was a little closer. This time, we just wanted to come out with a little more intensity.”
Stephens was perhaps most responsible for that turnaround. The two-time all-section swingman sat the majority of Friday’s subpar effort, but responded with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals on 7-of-10 shooting the day after his 18th birthday.
He and the rest of the starters built a lead as large as 41 points before spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
“I definitely did want to redeem myself,” Stephens said. “It’s hard coming back from that, but you just have to get back in the gym and work hard.”
“He got his birthday present today,” Cimmino said.
Stephens paced a balanced effort spurred by a devastating halfcourt trap. Tournament MVP Isaiah Cousins anchored that pressure. The 6-foot-4 point guard and his teammates forced Mahopac into nine turnovers as they built a 21-7 first quarter lead.
“That gave us the most trouble for sure,” Mahopac coach Kevin Downes said. “You can’t simulate that in practice as much as you try. I think that was the difference in the game early on.”
The Knights continued their unrelenting attack, building a 44-20 halftime lead, limiting the Indians’ leading scorer, Brendan Hynes, to just one of his 13 points. In the process, Josh Doughty set up a rolling Givvion Jones for a dunk and Cousins lobbed an alley-oop pass to Marshall in front of Mahopac’s student section lining the balcony.
Cousins finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, playing in front of several Division I college coaches, including Oklahoma, South Carolina, UConn, Xavier and Dayton.
“It felt like all eyes were on me, so I had to do what I do and get the job done,” Cousins said.
Mount Vernon (20-2) received a bye into the regional finals on Friday night and will host either unbeaten Binghamton (Section 4) or Middletown (Section 9) at Pace University at 7.
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