By Kim J. Harmon

Whoa, talk about a valuable life lesson.

Despite finishing the 2002-03 regular season at 0-10 – that’s right, winless – the Yellow Submarines managed to find some inner strength to win four straight playoff games and, with a 39-30 decision over the Lakers last Saturday, capture the Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball Junior Boys championship.

Zowie.

“We were 0-10 . . . I’m not going to deny that,” said head coach Gary Zigman. “But some of our games were real close and I told the guys they were right there and not to give up. When the playoffs came I thought they were just tired of being the poor kids on the block, the laughingstock, and kicked it into high gear.”

The Subs started their run in the playdown round with a 40-28 win over the Knicks – the first win of the season. After that, they came a little easier. In the quarterfinals it was a 37-21 decision over the Huskies and in the semifinals it was a 36-32 win over the Hornets.

That set the stage for the conclusion of this most improbable story. And, yet, it seemed as if the Yellow Submarines had used up all of their good fortune after falling into a 6-0 hole (thanks to a couple of baskets from Aron Fay) against the Lakers on Saturday.

But the Subs began their own rally a few moments later. Kurtis Liska canned a three-point basket while Danny Cartisano drove the lane for another basket. When Erich Dinnan banked one in from the low post the Subs had trimmed the Laker lead to just one point.

The Lakers took that as a sign, however, and went on a 9-2 run to take a 15-8 lead. Chris Meier hit a couple of baskets in that run while Fay and Matt Mascolo had one apiece. Nick Urso added a free throw and the Lakers were up 17-9.

Remember, though – the Yellow Submarines learned NOT to give up. The Subs quickly turned the momentum in their favor and went on an 8-1 run to cut the Laker lead back to one point. Brian Pennarola hit a runner in the lane and then tossed in a bank shot off a steal to get the Subs moving. Dinnan hit another shot in the post before Steven Kramer popped in his first hoop of the game.

The Lakers finally answered back, with Brett Mauro canned a jumper just inside the arc. After Mascolo popped in a baseline jumper, the Lakers had extended their lead to 22-17. But momentum was like a hot potato in this game and the Subs soon took control of it, getting a basket and a foul shot from Kramer and another basket from Dinnan to tie the score 22-22.

Mascolo hit a free throw to give the Lakers a 23-22 lead at the half.

Now, halftime might have given the Lakers a breather, but they couldn’t hold off the Subs any longer. Tyler Tarantino was 3-of-4 from the foul line in the early stages of the third period to put the Subs on top for the first time, 25-23. The two squads traded hoops for the remainder of the period, but Dinnan – dominating in the post – popped in a late basket to give the Subs a 29-27 lead heading into the final quarter.

And that’s where the Subs pulled away.

Liska hit an off balance shot and Dinnan followed up with another post basket off a nice feed from Tarantino. Mascolo gave the Lakers some relief with a foul shot, but – with the parade to the foul line beginning – Cartisano and Pennarola were a combined 6-of-8 from the free throw line to give the Subs a 39-28 lead.

All that was left was for the Lakers to score with 11 seconds to go.

“I hope the team learned a valuable life lesion from this,” said coach Zigman. “As Yogi said, ‘It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.’ ”

 

NOTE: The Yellow Submarines consisted off Danny Cartisano, Brian Pennarola, Erich Dinnan, Steven Kramer, Tyler Tarantino, Jonathan Zigman, Kurtis Liska, Will Mahony, John Kozlov, and Alex Grier.

Meanwhile, it was the Wildcats completing a stellar undefeated season and capturing the Parks and Recreation Intermediate Boys championship last Saturday with a 35-25 decision over the Bucks. Jake DeVellis canned a game-high 22 points to lead the way.

“The kids were confident, but definitely excited,” said head coach Gary Hutchison. “They did very well through the course of the season and it brought it up another notch for the playoffs.”

Ryan Murphy, Jeff Spencer and David Hutchison combined for 11 points to spark the Wildcats. The ‘Cats reached the finals with a 48-30 win over the Celtics in the semifinals. DeVellis canned 22 in that game, as well, while Murphy added eight points and Spencer Williams and Mike Gabor played well on defense.

“Jake was the anchor of the team,” said coach Hutchison, “but not only did he do well individually, he was so unselfish that he made other kids on the team better. Every one of the kids improved significantly throughout the season and all of them contributed.”

For the Bucks, Nate Middeleer popped in six points while Chris Page played an all-around excellent game.