SYRACUSE — Miles Nelen made a steal on an inbounds play and then a layup with 4.8 seconds left in the game to send Cooperstown to the Class C Final Four with a 60-57 win over Section IV champion Notre Dame in the Central Region Championship on Sunday, March 15, at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
“I just knew Christian (Lawson) or I would get the steal,” Nelen said, “and then to be able to finish it, that was important for me.
“We didn’t want this to end,” he said.
The Hawkeyes trailed for most of the first half and didn’t take their first lead until Nelen’s free throws with 5:03 left in the third quarter to make it 35-33.
In the fourth, they stretched the lead to as many as seven points, including with 2:44 left in the game on Brody Murdock’s fast break layup.
However, the Crusaders cut the lead down to one with 34 seconds left on Landon English’s layup and free throw after getting fouled by Cooper Coleman.
Notre Dame had fouls to give, forcing an inbounds. Lawson stepped on the line, turning the ball over and giving Notre Dame the final chance that Nelen knocked away.
“It turned into a grinder,” Cooperstown Coach John Lambert said. “They are a good team. They are very efficient in their half-court offense. They set good screens. They put a lot of pressure on back cuts. They put a lot of pressure on help-side defense. So, if you’re not ready for that, it can really hurt you. Luckily, we were ready for it.”
Lambert said since the Hawkeyes also had fouls to give before the final play, he thought his team could foul away the final 12 seconds and keep the Crusaders from getting a last shot.
“I think the freedom to be aggressive led to the steal,” he said.
Notre Dame started the game on an 11-2 run, capped by a baseline drive and jumper by Rocco Sayers with 3:23 left in the first quarter.
Murdock answered with a layup and free throw, and then Nelen made a driving basket to make it 11-7 with 2:47 left in the first.
Max O’Connor made a three-point basket from the right wing to make it 14-7, but Crisman made a putback and Murdock did the same just before the buzzer to cut the Crusader lead to 14-11 after one quarter.
Sayers made a long three from the top of the key with 7:08 left in the half to make it 17-11.
A half minute later, Crisman picked up his second foul and Finn Schweizer made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 18-11.
The Hawkeyes started to chip away at the lead. Crisman made two three-point baskets and a steal and dunk with 2:12 left in the half to make it 26-24. He made a pass to Murdock who drove the baseline and scored 40 seconds later to tie the game at 26.
O’Connor made a long three from the top that banked in at the buzzer to give the Crusaders a 29-26 lead.
Lambert said the Hawkeyes changed their offense at halftime.
“We decided to see if we could run some different action on offense to see if we could free Miles up,” he said. “Our main priority was to get the ball inside to Jackson. We didn’t do a very good job of that tonight, so, that is something we need to clean up a little bit. We had to go to plan B tonight. We needed to do some things on the right side to get Miles open.”
Nelen scored a game-high 24 points, but both coach and player said he had a rough game, especially in the first half, when he had just one field goal and five points.
“We all know that Miles is the leader and Miles is the one that has the ball in his hands the most, and that is great,” Lambert said. “There are times when he’s not making a shot, and he knows that he needs to get everybody else involved. He did a good job of that. He did a good job of focusing on next step, next play, and so on.”
Crisman scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds and three assists. Murdock scored 13 points. Coleman had two points and seven rebounds. Ben Lewis had five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, including a huge one late to stop a fast break.
“They really find a way to win somehow,” Lambert said, “even when the ball is not going in the basket.”
Sayers led the Crusaders with 15 points. English scored 13 points, O’Connor scored 11 points and Schweizer scored 10 points for Notre Dame (18-5).
For the Hawkeyes, which also entered the regional game undefeated last season, only to lose to Moravia, 55-48, the trip to the Final Four was something they had sought all year.
It is the first trip to the Final Four for the Hawkeye boys since their state championship in 2019.
“It feels great,” Lambert said. “These boys waited one year for this game. We have talked about that. We talked about it before the game. They were very focused on that. Maybe it caused some nerves, maybe it doesn’t.”
Cooperstown (25-0) will face Section V champion Lyons in the Class C semifinals at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Visions Veterans Arena in Binghamton.
Lyons beat Section VI champ Global Concepts, 76-46, in the Western Regional game at Buffalo State on Saturday, March 14.