Newark tops Pal-Mac in a thriller for Sectional Class B1 Title

The Newark Reds won their first sectional title since 2010, the second for head coach Bob Havarilla, with a 68-65 victory over Palmyra-Macedon on Sunday night inside the Blue Cross Arena in the Section V Class B1 Championship Game. Sunday night’s title game was the latest edition of an ancient rivlary between the two school separated by just over eight miles, the "Route 31 Rivalry". The all-Finger Lakes East final was hotly anticipated after both teams advanced through the semifinal round of Class B1 on Wednesday. #4 seed Pal-Mac defeated top seed Livonia in Victor, while #2 Newark defeated #3 Hornell in Penn Yan. The championship round did not disappoint. Both teams came to play out of the game with a torrid pace to the gameplay. Pal-Mac jumped out to a 33-30 halftime lead behind 15 first half points from junior guard Brandon Hawkins. Newark came out in the second half strong, outscoring Newark 20-12 in the third quarter. Nate Beard took the task of guarding the red-hot Hawkins and held Pal-Mac’s senior guard to just 2 points in the second half. Newark wouldopen up a 9 point lead with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter before Pal-Mac stormed back, improbably cutting the lead to just one possesion, at 68-65 with 35 seconds remaining.After two straight Newark turnovers, Pal-Mac would have the ball with a chance to tie with a three-ball, but Damien Wright chose to penetrate the Newark defense and go for a quick two-points with about 10 seconds left. He came up empty on his driving lay-up attempt and Ben Cowles pulled down one of his game high 13 rebounds.Cowles was fouled and missed a pair of free throws with 3 seconds on the clock but the Red Raiders, with no timeouts left, had their last second desperation heave from half court miss the mark and the Reds stormed the court to celebrate.- Listen to the call from Sunday night’s Class B2 Championship Game on FL1 Radio.- Watch the full in-game video starting at 2 pm Monday afternoon Newark shot 40% from the field (47% in the second half) to Pal-Mac’s 36%. The game may have been even close had Pal-Mac made a few more free throws. The Reds made 15 of their 21 attempts from the charity stripe while Palmyra-Macedon was 14 for 25. Newark also made 3 of their 4 second half three-point attemps.Jose Santell, named the tournament MVP, led the Reds with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore big man Taylor Clements was 6 for 10 from the field finishing with 14 points and 9 rebounds, including 7 offensive boards. Junior Brian Sharp fouled out late in the fourth quarter but not before scoring 13 points on 3 of 7 shooting from behind the arc. Sophomore Ben Cowles had another strong postseason effort with 8 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Nick Synesael was a perfect 3 for 3 from long range finishing with 9 points and 4 rebounds. Nate Beard’s 6 points and 5 assists rounded out the scoring for the sectional champs.For Pal-Mac, Brandon Hawkins finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds, senior Davon McClain scored 13 points and pulled down 3 rebounds. Junior guard Damien Wright also had 13 points and dished out 4 assists while grabbing 5 rebounds and carding 5 steals. Junior forward Hunter VanDeVelde finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Senior guard Holden Knorr did not have his best night shooting, just 1 of 7 from long range, finishing with 9 points.The Reds now advance to the Section V Class B2 Champion Wellsville Lions in the state qualifyer game to be played at Mount Morris High School on Wednesday night at 8:00 pm. ROUTE 31 RIVALRY AT THE BIG HOUSE TWEETS: