Cooperstown’s boys have already topped last year’s success by winning a regional title, but to equal the accomplishments of the 2019 state championship team, the Hawkeyes must go through a gauntlet of of the state’s top Class C programs.
Here is a look at this weekend’s Class C boys basketball Final Four.
Cooperstown (25-0) vs. Lyons (24-2)
While some basketball fans have been circling Berne-Knox-Westerlo as the big showdown for the Hawkeyes, Coach John Lambert and senior point guard Miles Nelen both said they were not looking past the Lions of Lyons.
“The next game is without a doubt the hardest game we will have to play in two years,” Lambert said. “The team, Lyons, from Section V is very, very good. It will be an unbelievable game.
The Section V champion, Lyons made a dramatic comeback in the Western Region championship Saturday, March 14, at Buffalo State.
Lyons trailed Global Concepts Charter after one quarter, 20-4, but won 73-46. Contrell Parker Jr. scored 27 points in the win.
Global Concepts had just three field goals in the second half.
In the Section V championship, Lyons beat Honeoye, 70-56. Honeoye led after three quarters, 47-46.
Jamire Johnson led Lyons with 27 points.
Johnson, a senior forward, leads the Lions in scoring this season with 18 points per game, and in rebounding with 12 per game. Parker Jr. is averaging 14.5 points per game. Steven LeBrecht is averging 14.3 points per game.
The Lions only two losses were to larger schools by three total points. They lost to Class B East Rochester, 69-68, on Feb. 6, and to Class A Geneva on Dec. 29, 67-65.
Lyons, which has won three section titles in four years, lost in the Class C semifinals in 2024 to Moravia.
The Class C semifinal between Cooperstown and Lyons will take place at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Visions Veterans Arena in Binghamton.
“If we are fortunate enough to win and if Berne-Knox is fortunate enough to win, it will be a great championship game,” Lambert said. “It should be a fun weekend.”
Berne-Knox-Westerlo (20-6) and North Salem (15-8) will play in the second semifinal.
B-K-W, the defending Class C state champions, played an independent schedule this season, hoping for tougher competition than their usual Section II opponents could provide.
Shane Kirker, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, leads the team in scoring, but the Bulldogs are a veteran team, with several other scoring options.
In the North Region final in Plattsburgh on March 14, B-K-W beat Northern Adirondack, 81-39, the eighth time the Bulldogs won this season by more than 30 points.
Kirker scored 25 points while only playing in about half of the game.
Against Stillwater in the Section II final in Glens Falls on March 7, the Bulldogs won, 54-33.
Dayne Coates, a senior guard, led the team with 16 points. Kirker scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds and was named the Tournament MVP.
B-K-W beat Honeoye in last year’s championship game, 63-47.
North Salem beat Section IX champion Pierson in the South Region final, 66-40, on March 14 at SUNY Farmingdale. Junior Lucas Virzi scored a game-high 26 points.
A week earlier in White Plains, North Salem won the Section I title by beating Tuckahoe, 55-44.
The New York State Sportswriters Association has Cooperstown ranked No. 1 in Class C boys basketball, followed by Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Lyons and North Salem.
The semifinal winners will play in the championship game at 11:45 a.m., Sunday, March 22, in Binghamton.