Turner Sparks Peekskill Past Nyack

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Rashard Turner tossed in 20 points as Peekskill H.S. pulled away late for a 51-44 victory over Nyack H.S. on Saturday night in the New York State Section 1, Class B final.

With the game deadlocked at 34 after three quarters of play, the Red Devils used a strong defensive effort in the final quarter to claim the victory.

In addition to Turner's fine play, Peekskill also got eight points from UConn bound Hilton Armstrong, seven from Chris Horton and six from Keith Staten.

"Rashad has been carrying us for four years, so his his performance today was nothing less than we expected from him," said Peekskill Head Coach Louis Panzanaro.

With Peekskill clinging to a 46-40 lead and the game very much in the balance, Turner hit one of two free throws, Horton scored on a drive and Staten hit one of two from the line to extend the lead to 50-40 with just over a minute to play.

Horton's basket was a bit of a dagger, and on Nyack's next possession, forward Brandon Jackson knocked the ball away from an Indian player and Turner recovered it. Nyack proceeded to foul Staten, who boosted the lead to 10 points with the free throw. And that proved to much to overcome for the Indians, who as the top seed had entered the game undefeated at 22-0.

Second seeded Peekskill advanced to face Norwich H.S. on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. The game will be played on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Following the Red Devil victory, former Peekskill mayor and current New York Governor George Pataki made the award presentations to both clubs.

Turner was named Most Valuable Player. Others who made the all-tournament squad included:

*Donnie McGrath, John F. Kennedy H.S.

*Jason Weltman, Lakeland H.S.

*Nigel Morris, Nyack H.S.

*James Smith, Nyack H.S.

*Hilton Armstrong, Peekskill H.S.