44°
St. Matthew's (26-0) defeated St. Charles from Staten Island in the state quarterfinals, Epiphany, the champs of Manhattan and the Bronx (semis), and St. Joseph's from Kingston in Ulster County for the state championship.
Coached by Marek Fuchs and assistant coach Tom Zarkowski, the St. Matt's team, one of the smallest local parish teams in the Archdiocese, went 26-0 overall and 12-0 in its league.
"Sometimes, on a team, all the planets align correctly and that's what happened here," Fuchs said. "We won games by a lot of points and other games by the skin of our teeth. The team had a lot of natural, complementary talent, but the love of the game is really just bred into this group's bones and they were willing to work harder than any group of kids I've seen."
Fuchs said his players had the perfect blend.
Lovell Staton was the team's leading scorer and rebounder and a dominant, team-oriented player. Point guard Emmett Fuchs is an accomplished ballhandler, pace setter and lock-down defender.
Jackson McKiernan added outside scoring and an ability to drive to the basket and Tommy Zarkowski ran the court tirelessly and proved capable of stopping the other team's top scorer.
Sebastian Scioscia added rebounding, strong defense and additional scoring and Michael Calamari and Bruno McCarthy brought energy off the bench.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rivertowns and receive free news updates.
