Yes Don .. the 1985 NY State Federation Girls' Final between August Martin and Christ the King was a true classic. There was certainly a lot of talent on the floor and the game was not decided until the final few seconds with Martin prevailing 43-42.
Martin's plan seemed to be focused on stopping CTK's outside shooters - Alice Scalfaro, Jill Cook & Margaret McKeon - from scoring, thereby opening things up for my daughter - Leslie Hathaway - down on the blocks where she scored 25 points.
Margaret McKeon, the first Miss New York State Basketball the following year [1986] did most of the damage racking up 10 or 12 assists. She was very unselfish.
And I hear you about Mike Flynn against whom I coached in AAU. Mike was very provincial [about Philly] in more ways than one! And I'll leave it at that.
STORY: In 1996 #1-ranked [in the nation] Cardinal O'Hara [from Philly] came up to Queens to play CTK whom they had never beaten. Flynn and most of his basketball buddies were in attendance thinking that O'Hara would finally prevail because All-American Chamique Holdsclaw had graduated the year before. The Philly fans were laughing and joking prior to the game, very confident. But the ride back to Philly was a looong one as CTK triumphed 49-46, holding O'Hara to 40 points below their season's scoring average! My younger daughter - Chelsea - led the Royals in scoring and rebounds. Ironic, since Chelsea was heading to Philly the next year to play college hoops at UPenn.
Notably, Hall-of-Fame coach Vinnie Cannizaro was still at the helm for CTK as he was for the 1985 Martin game, eh?
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