“The difference was …. they were just better finishers today.”
Those were the words of O’Neill Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach Pete DeLeo on Thursday evening as he waited for his players to emerge from the locker room after falling to Burke Catholic 56-44 in the Section 9, Class B championship game at Mount Saint Mary College.

The Raiders and Eagles had each won one of two games the two rivals played during the season, but DeLeo said the championship game wasn’t about ‘avenging’ a loss to Burke two weeks ago, but just competing at a high level.

“We beat them at their place the first time, so we knew we could compete with them; they’re a very good team,” DeLeo said. “We can’t take anything away from that. They are a tough team to match up with.”

He said they went into the game knowing it would be hard fought.

“They took the paint away from Sean, but he still managed to get his points,” DeLeo said. “We got a lot of the shots we wanted, we just weren’t able to convert like we wanted to.”

The Raiders had four wins overall in the 2023-24 season, DeLeo said he reminded his team in the locker room. “Realistically, probably nobody expected them to be here tonight,” but to their credit, from day one they bought in to a new system, a new coaching staff. They had obstacles to overcome, and they worked hard and it paid off. We feel they should be walking out of here with their heads held high because this was not easy to do. We’re looking forward to next year.”

The Raiders were the number three seed in the sectional tournament, to Burke’s number one seed. For the Eagles on Thursday, Ehsan Watson scored 15 points, Ryan Shust had 13, Jordan Davis nine and Dylan Demaro seven. Burke led the entire game.

The Raiders were supported by a large fan base, including the varsity girls’ team which played after them. For O’Neill, Sean Larkins scored 13 points, the very quick Hoben Barretto had 10 and Camryn Williams had seven. Larkins probably drew the loudest cheers of the evening when he weaved and dodged all the way down the court just as the third quarter ended and scored two off the glass, taking the score to 42-37.

David Walsh had four points in the game, Seamus Dodge (a three-pointer just seconds into the game) and Jordan Sams each had three, and Cooper Rose came in off the bench with six points, all in the second quarter.

Burke went on to play the Section 1 champion on March 12 at Yorktown High School in the first round of the state tournament.