Patriots win first state title in Penfield Boys’ Basketball program history.
By PAUL GOTHAM
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Tournament MVP Jackson Green scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, and Penfield (25-1) defeated Amsterdam (23-3), 62-54 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class AA championship game at Visions Veterans War Memorial Arena, Saturday night.
The state title is the first in Penfield boys’ basketball program history.
Green’s 3-pointer to close the third quarter gave the Patriots a 43-42 edge.
“We were getting beat up physically,” said Penfield head coach Jason Ellis. “We were losing on the scoreboard. Jackson Green was MVP of the tournament for a very, very good reason. It was huge. I mean, that pretty much turned everything.”
Green caught the ball in the right corner and with a defender in front of him, he took a jab step toward the baseline before setting up a shot off the dribble.
“My team needed a shot,” Green said. “I trusted myself. I practice that shot every day, so I have to take it.”
The basket was part of a sequence where the junior guard scored nine of Penfield’s 11 points.
Green connected on 10-of-12 shots from the floor in the championship game including 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc. For the two games of the weekend, he was a combined 18-of-22 (4-of-7 from behind the arc) for 45 points to go along with 21 rebounds.
“It doesn’t even feel real,” Green said. “I haven’t even really processed it yet. I’m just filled with so many emotions. I’ve been, I’ve been waiting for this moment all year since we lost in the regional qualifier last year. I just had a feeling. I was like, I don’t want my season to end like that ever again. So I came in here, I used that as fuel today.”
The game contained 15 lead changes and eight ties with neither team leading by more than five points.
“We don’t crack under pressure,” Green said. “I mean, we practice these moments, we come in here, we know what we gotta do.
“This is our turf. I don’t care if it’s Binghamton. This is Section 5, this is Rochester everywhere we go.”
Coming out of timeout with the game tied at 54 and 1:57 remaining, CJ Johnson hit a runner for the go-ahead to give Penfield a lead it did not surrender.
Johnson followed that with a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game.
“That my brother out there,” Green said. “I knew he was gonna knock it down as soon as it left his hand. I knew it.”
Three seasons ago, Penfield as a seven-seed lost to Edison Tech, 80-53 in Round 1 of the Section V Class AA playoffs. They finished that season with an 11-10 mark. With Saturday’s victory, the Patriots, which lost in the regional qualifier a year ago, now have 45 wins against five losses over the past two seasons.
“I am so overly filled with emotions and pride, and my life has completely just changed because I’ve just been impacted by the most unbelievable group of kids that I’ve ever been able to work with,” Ellis said. “I am so privileged. I mean, it started with a dream 11 years ago, and… We got it.”
Johnson had 13 points in the win. Jake McCarthy finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Savino (5) and Aaron Hardaway (4) also scored.
McCarthy joined Green on the All-Tournament Team along with Amsterdam’s Caleb Miller and Aundray Fowler. Allan Eagles (Seton Catholic) and Ben Hudson (Rye) also earned honors.
Fowler’s corner 3-pointer gave Amsterdam its last lead of the game at 50-49.
“We always knew we were going to win today,” Ellis said. “We just didn’t realize it was gonna be in such a fistfight fashion.”
Penfield’s state title is the 30th in Section V history including nine large-school titles. Victor (2023, AA), Irondequoit (2017, A), Aquinas (2016, AA), Bishop Kearney (2013, AA), McQuaid Jesuit (A, 2003), McQuaid Jesuit (A, 1997), Greece Athena (A, 1992) and McQuaid Jesuit (A, 1988) have also won large-school state titles.
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