BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Stillwater crowned State Champions at long last

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — A State Championship can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

For some, it can be in honor of a father, passed-away, or a grandfather. For others, it can be to join a family circle of previous State Champions, and say they’ve got their own at the dinner table. It can mean vindication for season-long rankings and predictions, justification for coming to the school in the first place, or redemption from losing in the final round, already more than once before.

With the Stillwater boys basketball team, which defeated top-ranked Marcellus, 59-50, in the NYSPHSAA Class B Championship game on Friday night in front of the home faithful, at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, it meant all of the above, and then some.

“It means more than everything because we suffered a significant loss, every single one of us did, over the over the winter and we decided, ‘you know what, we’re not only gonna play for the community, we’re gonna play for Butch now,’ and that’s what just fueled our fire this whole season. It’s just something amazing,” said Stillwater senior forward Jaxon Mueller, postgame.

Butch Lilac, who passed away in December, was the topic of conversation among the Warriors postgame and rightfully so. The father of now Warriors head coach, Bruce Lilac, and grandfather of senior guard Lukas Lilac, had two New York State Championships to his own name, as an assistant for the varsity baseball team in 1998 and the boys varsity basketball team in 1988 – the last in the program’s history.

Just wanted to see something real quick…yup. Stillwater faithful rolls deep!

This started 40mins before tipoff and didn’t even include the first 30mins of maroon that got here early! Class B Final underway now vs. Marcellus, in Glens Falls🏆@stillh2o_sports @SaratogaSports pic.twitter.com/r6blGjhiJY

— Drew Wemple (@DrewWemple) March 15, 2024

The Lilacs, along with plenty other Warriors on the roster, had fallen short of a State Championship on the hardwood in the 2021-22 season. On Friday night, Lukas would score a team-high 21 points with his father at the helm to help guide the Warriors to their long-awaited, State Championship plaque.

“We said at that point in time, when we met as team, that we were going to play this season for (Butch) because this is what he wanted and we did it and we climbed the mountain and we overcame and we won the whole darn thing,” said Bruce Lilac, head coach of the Warriors. “They’ve been building on this for a long time, so I really did (think team was capable). I thought this was the year they were gonna make a run and when you get into the final game, you never know what’s gonna happen. Teams can shoot you out of the gym, we’ve had that happen, but we did it. We stayed poised and I knew this team was special and they showed they really were.”

It was slow-goings for both sides to start the game, as after the first 5:30 of play in the opening quarter, the score was only 3-3. After Mueller would make one-of-two from the free throw line to give the Warriors a 4-3 advantage, the Mustangs would score seven, unanswered to take a 10-4 lead, capped-off by a hectic, reverse-layup plus a three-pointer from Mitch Donegan.

But to end the quarter, the Warriors would kickstart a mini, 6-0 run, via layups from Lilac and Mueller.

Mueller, who finishes his high school career with over 1K-points and rebounds, would put the final basket of the frame through at the buzzer, to tie the game at 10-10. The Stillwater senior big-man was chasing not just a State Championship Friday, but continuing a family legacy.

“It feels surreal. I finally joined what we call, ‘the club,'” Mueller said. “My sister’s got a State Championship, (father) has got one, I came short twice and it finally happened.”

Postgame, Mueller’s father, Jon, who was a player on the ‘88 Championship group for Class C and currently head coaches the UAlbany baseball team, while hugging every player on the way to the locker room, couldn’t stop saying the phrase, “I’m just so proud of him.”

To start the second quarter, the Mustangs would get back on the offensive, as a 9-2 run to open the frame would put the team ahead of the Warriors, 19-12.

It may not have helped that Mueller had to go to the bench with two personal fouls, by that point, but the Warriors didn’t seem to mind, as the group would go on a 21-4 run, overall to end the frame, including scoring the last 16 points by themselves.

“It shows that we’re very versatile and we are scary team,” said Mueller. “Six guys can hurt you, seven guys can hurt you; we got a whole bunch of talent on this team, it’s just sad that it came to an end.”

“Once ‘the big dog’ went out with foul trouble, I knew I had to step up and the coach pulled me aside and said, ‘you got to be special,” said Lukas Lilac, who scored six in the quarter, apart of his 11 point first half. “Coach (Dave) Cook pulled me aside, said, ‘you got to be special,’ and I took that to heart and I just wanted to be special. So, I caught the ball, shot-faked, got in the paint, and they couldn’t stop me in that second quarter.”

HALFTIME: Stillwater 33, Marcellus 23

Warriors close the 1H on a 18-2 run and with all the energy at Cool Insuring Arena, in the Boys Class B State Championship.

Lilac leads Stillwater with 11pts, Leak had 2, 3’s@stillh2o_sports @SaratogaSports pic.twitter.com/k3wKbCvl5i

— Drew Wemple (@DrewWemple) March 15, 2024

Senior guard Kaelan Leak would hit the exclamation-mark three-pointer to end three quarter, to take a 33-23 lead into halftime. Leak had transferred from Christian Brothers Academy last year and in his first year with the Warriors certainly made it efficient – going out a State Champion.

“It started out as a dream and now it’s a reality,” said Leak, postgame. “I can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now.”

The run wouldn’t stop there, as out of intermission, Stillwater would get a free throw from Mueller, back in the game, plus a and-one finish at the rim from senior guard Thomas McDonough, to take a 37-23 lead.

McDonough, Mueller, Lilac, along with most of their teammates and coaches, were all apart of another State Championship game just three months ago, but in a completely different sport. To end the fall season, the Warriors had also fallen shy of a State crown in football, losing in the Class D Title game in Syracuse, back in early December.

“You miss out in basketball (2021-22), then you miss out in football, there was a little bit of pressure because you don’t want to go 0-3 and they dug in. This team has worked hard. We practice harder than we play in the games and that’s what makes these guys special,” Bruce Lilac said, postgame. “They practice so hard and I demand so much in a two-hour practice that when they play the game there’s nothing they haven’t seen or done. There’s not a situation, even though we had to roll through the season, they didn’t see and they were ready for everything.”

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was thinking about it because losing two State Championships is not something you forget. But winning one, that’s something I also won’t forget now,” said Mueller.

The double-digit advantage however, would soon slip away, as Marcellus would hit a trio of three-pointers to end the quarter and eventually trail, just 41-34.

In the fourth, the three-point barrage from the Mustangs would keep up, hitting three more in the quarter to bring their overall total to nine in the game, to go down just 54-50 with under two-minutes to play in regulation.

The Mustangs would get no further, missing some crucial shots at the wire from distance, leading to a Warriors rebound and free throws for McDonough and Leak to seal the win.

“They hit some threes, but, when you play up here in Glens Falls, you can’t rely on three-pointers. You got to be able to get down hill and score in the paint,” Bruce Lilac said. “Every time they went down hill, we denied them. We knew the threes were eventually going to miss and they did and we got the rebounds and made our foul shots again.”

FINAL: Stillwater 59, Marcellus 50

For the first time since 1988, the Stillwater boys basketball team are NYS Champions. Bruce Lilac and Co. can turn the lights out the way they wanted to🏆 @stillh2o_sports @SaratogaSports pic.twitter.com/kqtSzX7PsX

— Drew Wemple (@DrewWemple) March 15, 2024

The Warriors had trailed Marcellus all season in the New York State Sportswriters Association’s weekly rankings, but whatever doubters were left of the group, would assuredly be brought to silence by the time of the final horn.

“That’s been the message actually all year. Marcellus has been the number-one-ranked team all year, we were number two and tonight we had to come out come out and prove why we should have been the number one and that’s what we did,” said Leak.

But as Mueller mentions, this iteration of the Warriors has now come to a triumphant end, with nine seniors on the roster set to graduate this June. The team isn’t going to worry about that now however having gotten back to the long-awaited, top of the mountain.

“I’m just gonna embrace it. These are lifelong bonds we’re gonna have now and all these guys, they’re not just friends, they’re not just classmates. They’re brothers and that’s what we’ve thought of each this whole year,” said Mueller.

As for what’s next in this year, Mueller is excited for another quick turnaround athletically.

“I’ve got practice tomorrow for baseball. I’ve been going since August 20 for sports and I’m just excited to be able to finish off my season, playing my favorite sport,” Mueller said. “Looking into the fall, I’m excited to play for my dad at UAlbany too.”

—

Stillwater 59, Marcellus 50

STILL;10;23;10;16;— ;59

MHS;10;13;11;16;— ;50

Warriors- McDonough 3-3-9, Leak 4-2-12, Lilac 8-3-21, Cocozzo 1-0-2, Mueller 4-2-10, Wichelns 2-0-5. TEAM: 22-10-59.

Mustangs- Ciota 1-0-3, Donegan 5-0-14, Kociela 3-0-7, Kershaw 2-1-5, W. Burnett 6-0-15, T. Burnett 1-0-2, Gosh-Sandy 1-2-4. TEAM: 19-3-50.

Halftime- STILL, 33-23.

3-point Field Goals- MHS 9 (Donegan 4, W. Burnett 3, Kociela, Ciota), STILL 5 (Leak 2, Lilac 2, Wichelns).