One word defined what the Mid-Hudson boys basketball team needed after Friday’s final game.
Respond.
Mid-Hudson’s opening day at the BCANY Summer Hoops Fest wasn’t a bad one.
The Section IX representatives opened Friday afternoon with a 61–55 win over Suffolk, with Rohan Kenney scoring a team-high 15 points and knocking down three three-pointers. Max Sheth and Somto Awaka each added 13 points, while Patrick Pagano scored nine.
Then came Rochester.
Three hours later, Mid-Hudson suffered an 84–35 loss to Section V, a dramatic swing from the competitive performance it had put together earlier in the day.
It was one bad game in what had otherwise been a successful opening day, but it was also the type of result that could have changed the direction of the entire weekend.
Mid-Hudson had a choice.
“I challenged the guys to RESPOND,” Mid-Hudson head coach Sal D’Angelo told KOT845. “I challenged them to not accept the outcome of Friday and allow it to impact us moving forward.”
By Saturday afternoon, Mid-Hudson had answered.
The group returned with back-to-back victories — first defeating North Country 71–42, then beating Central 71–61.
From 1–1 Friday to 3–1 after Saturday, one difficult performance had brought out a different version of Mid-Hudson.
A Different Level of Urgency
There wasn’t much interest inside the Mid-Hudson group in making excuses for what happened against Rochester.
Somto Awaka took it personally.
“Honestly I felt like I let my team down yesterday,” Awaka told KOT845. “And today I decided I wasn’t going to do that again.”
Awaka scored just two points in the Rochester loss.
On Saturday, he responded with eight points against North Country and 13 against Central, including six made field goals in the Central victory.
The physical big man brought a different presence inside, attacking the basket and making his size felt around the paint.
Awaka also credited the guards in front of him for helping create opportunities defensively by funneling opposing players toward him.
But the mentality behind his physical style is his own.
“When I step onto the court I want to be known as the most dominant player,” Awaka said, “which leads to my physicality.”
D’Angelo saw a similar transformation across the roster.
He described Saturday’s effort as carrying a “collective sense of urgency and competitive spirit that far exceeded”what Mid-Hudson showed in the Rochester game.
“It is unfortunate it took the pummeling we got from Rochester to get us there,” D’Angelo said. “But it did. We got the talent and were clearly a little embarrassed with yesterday’s performance.”
Mid-Hudson had the talent.
Saturday was about matching it with urgency.
An Immediate Answer
Mid-Hudson didn’t have to wait long Saturday to demonstrate that Friday night’s loss wasn’t going to carry over.
At 9 a.m., Section IX overwhelmed North Country 71–42.
The difference was balanced offense.
Grey Whitmore scored 12 points, Sheth added 11, Castillo and Kenney each scored nine, while Pagano and Awaka added eight apiece.
Mid-Hudson also knocked down 11 three-pointers as a team.
It was exactly the type of reset D’Angelo wanted.
But the bigger test came three hours later.
The Central Win Made the Statement
Central entered Saturday after producing one of Friday night’s most important results: a 64–63 victory over Rochester.
That made Mid-Hudson’s matchup with Section III an interesting measuring point.
Basketball isn’t transitive. Central beating Rochester and Mid-Hudson beating Central doesn’t erase the 49-point loss Mid-Hudson took Friday.
But the results do illustrate just how much the level of play changed from one day to the next.
Mid-Hudson beat Central 71–61.
And this time, the Section IX offense had several players producing at once.
Sheth delivered his biggest scoring game of the weekend, finishing with 23 points and going 8-for-9 at the free-throw line.
Awaka scored 13.
Kevin Castillo added 12, including two three-pointers.
Pagano scored 10.
Kenney knocked down three more threes for nine points.
Five different Mid-Hudson players scored at least nine.
After Rochester held the team to 35 points Friday night, Mid-Hudson scored 71 in both games Saturday.
That is the response D’Angelo was looking for.
Turning Section IX Opponents Into Teammates
Talent was never the biggest question surrounding Mid-Hudson.
Chemistry was.
BCANY puts players who normally compete against each other during the high-school season on one roster and gives them a short amount of time to figure out how to become a team.
For point guard Max Sheth, one of the first requirements is simple.
“One of the biggest things when you get so many great players is to kill the egos at the door,” Sheth told KOT845. “We’re here to win basketball games, not to see who can play the best.”
Sheth’s play backed up his leadership role.
He scored 13 against Suffolk, then followed Saturday with 11 against North Country before exploding for 23 against Central.
Across the three Mid-Hudson wins, Sheth scored 47 points.
But his approach to the weekend has been centered on getting the group connected rather than chasing individual production.
Kenney believes those connections are one of the best parts of the BCANY experience.
“I love this tournament, mostly because it lets you connect and bond with guys across the section that all have similar personalities and experiences but never get to see each other,” Kenney said.
Patrick Pagano of Spackenkill has experienced another side of that relationship.
For a weekend, sectional opponents become teammates.
The competitiveness doesn’t disappear.
Pagano said practicing against some of Section IX’s best players can carry the intensity of a sectional playoff environment.
“Although I’ve come to see these guys as close teammates,” Pagano said, “it makes me want to see them and beat them even more in next year’s high school season.”
The relationships become stronger.
So does the competition.
Pagano Keeps Firing
Pagano’s weekend also provided one of the clearest examples of Mid-Hudson’s mentality.
When the outside shot wasn’t falling early, he kept shooting.
Pagano told KOT845 that he makes 200 three-pointers per day as part of his shooting routine.
“Yeah they weren’t falling at first but I know the work I put in,” Pagano said. “It’s just a matter of time till they fall.”
Saturday rewarded that confidence.
Pagano hit two threes against North Country on his way to eight points.
Then he made two more against Central and finished with 10.
“Once a few shots dropped you could feel the energy build,” Pagano said. “I feel myself as a player that once I see one drop through the net, everything starts to drop.”
His impact, however, wasn’t limited to shooting.
Pagano sees himself as one of the players responsible for establishing Mid-Hudson’s competitive standard.
“I pride myself on being the most competitive guy on the floor, no matter what gym I’m in,” Pagano said.
That includes diving for loose balls, sacrificing his body and finding ways to bring energy even when the shots aren’t falling.
D’Angelo noticed it.
When discussing the players bringing energy Saturday, the Mid-Hudson head coach pointed to Sheth and Kenney before specifically mentioning “a much hungrier version of Pat Pagano from Spackenkill.”
After Rochester, Pagano’s objective was straightforward: return Saturday and win.
“The way we responded shows the mental fortitude that this group has,” Pagano said. “We all came together as a team and said we have to do better.”
They did.
Castillo Finds Other Ways to Win
Kevin Castillo of Kingston entered the weekend understanding that his value wouldn’t always be measured by scoring.
“If I’m not scoring, I’ll provide some other way like getting defensive stops or rebounding,” Castillo told KOT845.
His production grew throughout the weekend.
Castillo scored four against Suffolk and two against Rochester.
Then came Saturday.
He scored nine points against North Country and followed that with 12 against Central, making five field goals in the Central victory, including two from beyond the arc.
But Castillo still points to the less glamorous parts of the game when discussing his role.
“I really take pride on rebounding for my team,” he said.
The published BCANY box scores don’t record individual rebounds, assists, steals or blocks, so his impact in those categories has to be evaluated through observation rather than the statistical table.
For Castillo, though, the biggest adjustment after Rochester wasn’t statistical anyway.
“What changed was our mentality and how we would respond after that loss,” he said.
Following Saturday’s victories, his takeaway was clear.
“We are capable of beating anybody if we stick together and [are] on the same page.”
Kenney Delivers in the Clutch
Before Mid-Hudson needed to respond to Rochester, it first had to finish against Suffolk.
Suffolk was making a push late in Friday’s opener.
Kenney answered.
The guard finished with 15 points, including three three-pointers, and delivered two major outside shots late as Mid-Hudson closed out the 61–55 victory.
There wasn’t much going through his mind when he released them.
“Nothing going through my mind really,” Kenney told KOT845, “but I did hear Coach say ‘gametime’ right behind me on the second one.”
Kenney knocked it down.
He also saw composure from the group as Suffolk tried to rally.
“I think we won because we knew we weren’t playing to the best of our ability,” Kenney said, “so everyone stayed calm and didn’t panic.”
Rochester provided a different lesson later in the day.
“This isn’t a tournament where you can ignore any single detail because everyone’s highly skilled and will punish you,” Kenney said.
Mid-Hudson got the opportunity to apply that lesson immediately.
Kenney hit another six three-pointers across Saturday’s two wins, scoring nine against North Country and nine against Central.
More Than Four Games
The value of BCANY extends beyond a 3–1 record.
For Section IX’s representatives, it means competing against players from other regions, playing in front of college coaches and measuring themselves against a different level of competition.
Sheth called the opportunity to represent Mid-Hudson one of the best honors in the state.
“It’s one of the best events all year to be seen by some of the best D2 and D3 coaches in the Northeast region,” Sheth said.
Castillo sees it similarly.
“It’s a great opportunity to get your name out there and showcase what you can bring to the floor,” he said.
But Sheth also identified an area where the Mid-Hudson program can continue improving.
More preparation together.
“I think we could improve on getting players that play in this tournament together more often to have a chance to further bond before the tournament actually begins,” Sheth said.
Mid-Hudson isn’t simply collecting talented players.
It’s taking players from different schools, roles and systems and asking them to develop chemistry quickly enough to compete against other regional all-star groups.
Saturday showed what can happen when those pieces begin fitting together.
Pagano Represents More Than Himself
For Pagano, wearing Mid-Hudson across his chest also provides an opportunity to represent Spackenkill.
He doesn’t want people seeing one Spackenkill player on the roster and assuming the Patriots’ talent ends with him.
“What I want people that may not watch Spackenkill basketball to know is that we have a lot of talent,” Pagano said. “I may be the only [player] from Spackenkill representing the Mid-Hudson, but it’s the talent around me that put me in this position.”
His message entering the next high school season is clear.
“We play with a different level of intensity than other teams and we have a lot to prove this year,” Pagano said. “It’s going to be an exciting year for Spackenkill basketball.”
That is another part of what makes BCANY valuable for Section IX.
KOT845 is getting an early look not only at individual players, but at the personalities, improvements and storylines that will return to their respective schools once the high-school season begins.
These players are teammates now.
Soon enough, they’ll be opponents again.
They Responded
Through four games, Mid-Hudson’s path has been anything but ordinary.
Suffolk: W, 61–55.
Rochester: L, 84–35.
North Country: W, 71–42.
Central: W, 71–61.
The record is 3–1.
But the record alone doesn’t explain the first two days.
Mid-Hudson won a close game.
It got overwhelmed.
Then Sal D’Angelo challenged his team to respond.
Awaka took the loss personally and came back with greater physicality.
Pagano kept shooting and raised his competitive level.
Castillo continued finding different ways to affect winning.
Kenney provided timely perimeter shooting.
Sheth directed the group and delivered 23 points in its biggest Saturday test.
And collectively, Mid-Hudson went from scoring 35 points Friday night to 142 points across two Saturday victories.
One difficult performance didn’t become the story of the weekend.
The response did.
3–1.
And Mid-Hudson is showing what it can look like when Section IX’s talent begins playing together.
