The West Rocks Panthers took on the Ponus Ridge Panthers in the nail-biting, thriller boys basketball championship game. West Rocks came into this game as the previous champs the last two years. Coach James Voytek since taken over has gone back-to-back and was looking for the three-peat in his third championship game. Since the league has been back in action since COVID-19, Ponus has been looking for its first championship win.
This game was electric, back and forth both ways it almost felt like watching a high level varsity basketball game. Peter Candito led the way for Ponus with 15 points while on the other side Mateo Reyes and Deon Brown got it done for West Rocks. Coaching was at a high level this game and you can see it based on the subs and clock management. We talked to both coaches but something that really stuck with Devin and I is what coach Voytek said about his team. Coach Voytek said “I was very lucky to have some unselfish and willing to play together as a family. It really takes a village and everyone willing to “buy in” to their role and successful.”
With 7 seconds left in the game, Mateo Reyes gets the inbound and dribbles 94 feet up the court. Mateo drove to the hoop but couldn’t find a shot, he used his 20/20 court vision to find Deon Brown wide open who caught and threw up a three with 0.3 seconds left. The shot felt like it was in the air for 5 minutes as the insanely loud crowd went silent, once it came down the ball landed straight through the hoop and the clock hit 0.0. After hitting the shot of his life, Deon sprinted straight too the main lobby where he was corralled by his teammates and fans. A moment the young star will truly never forget.
