By PAUL GOTHAM
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — This time a rally to erase a double-digit deficit didn’t happen.
Noah Meabon accounted for eight of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
Fairport (23-2) lost to Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) of Albany, 78-67 in the NYSPHSAA Class AAA championship game at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday, March 20th, 2026.
Trailing 56-36 with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Gannon Culver hit a 3-pointer and followed that with an end-to-end layup that jumpstarted the Red Raider attack.
Alex Grejda hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth and then scored with an assist from Meabon. Meabon accounted for the next five points, and Antonio Nurse hit a triple of his own to make it a 10-point game at 64-54.
“We stepped up the pressure and we kind of had to leave it all on the floor,” said Fairport head coach Scott Fitch. “We tried a couple different defenses. They didn’t seem to work. So at that point, you just got to leave it all on the floor, and we opened ourselves up by pressuring, but it also gave us a chance to come back. I was really proud of the kids for having the energy and the effort, and not quitting.”
Grejda scored back-to-back baskets before setting up Meabon for a two-handed slam to cut the deficit to six at 69-63 with 1:37 left in the game.
The Red Raiders did not get any closer.
“We played a really hard game yesterday and with the style we use, it’s hard to play back to back,” Fitch said. “It’s one of the negatives, but that’s what the state tournament set up for, and so you gotta go, and you gotta make it happen. I felt like we still played with a lot of energy, even though it was a back to back game, and I’m proud of the effort we gave.”
Meabon also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Culver and Grejda scored 14 apiece in the game. Sam Roselli (5), Nurse (5) and Hadi Dergham (4) also contributed for the Red Raiders.
Grejda and Meabon were named to the All-Tournament team which also included Carter Proudfoot (Corning-Painted Post), Nolyn Proudfoot (Corning-Painted Post), Will Plunkett (Mamaroneck), Jason Vogel (CBA) and Jayden Osinski (CBA). Osinski was named MVP.
Fairport graduates 13 seniors including Culver, Dergham, Grejda, Meabon, Roesell and Roselli.
Grejda, an All-American in soccer, was part of the Red Raiders’ 2024 NYSPHSAA Class AAA champion. Grejda, Roselli and Roessel were all members of the the school’s baseball team that won the 2024 Class AAA title. Meabon, a member of the of the U19 Boys’ National Volleyball Team, is committed to play the sport at the University of Southern California. Roessel (USC-Upstate) and Roselli (Albany) are committed to play Division I baseball next year.
“It’s just a special group,” Fitch said. “Our mantra this year was ‘Trust Us’, and no matter what happened, even tonight, you know, they never splintered. It’s a group that I think are kids that I would have hung out with in high school. When you have that, it makes it fun to coach because they get your humor, they get your intensity. This group’s gonna be special for me because of that, for sure.”
Fairport was the first Section V team to reach a Class AAA final since NYSPHSAA reinstated play at the level for the 2023-24 season.
Rush-Henrietta Sperry reached the Class AAA title game in 1979 before losing to Mount Vernon (I). The state went to four classifications (A, B, C and D) the following season and stayed with that alignment until 2004.
Austin Osinski and Jayden Osinski led CBA with 21 points apiece. Jason Vogel scored 13.
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