Children's Village Beats Keio, Heads to Finals

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Roger Owens and the rest of Children’s Village basketball had been relatively quiet for the better part of three quarters. Then, in the fourth quarter and overtime, Owens came alive.

The junior forward scored eight of his 14 points in overtime as the Hawks defeated Keio, 46-35, in the Class C semifinals at the Westchester County Center.

With the score at 33-31 with 11 seconds to play, Owens put back a missed shot to tie the game and send it to overtime.

“The ball was coming my way. It was there for me to go get it,” Owens said. “And I put it in.”

Owens also grabbed 11 rebounds for the Hawks.

Keio held Children’s Village, which had scored 70 points or more in its last three games, to just 19 points through the first three quarters. The Hawks heated up in the fourth quarter and took a 31-24 lead with about three minutes to play.

But Fumaiki Kobayashi hit three consecutive three-pointers in the final minute-and-a-half to put Keio back on top, 33-31. Keio had scored just two points in the fourth quarter, both off free throws, before Kobayashi got hot.

Children’s Village coach Michael Graves said even though Kobayashi hit those threes, he knew the Hawks could get the win in overtime.

“I felt our momentum was still going forward,” Graves said. “Even though they hit the three threes, I didn’t think they were overwhelmingly confident going into overtime.” He added, “The last one, it kind of bounced in, so we felt kind of good going into overtime.”

Though the Hawks trailed 19-13 at halftime, Graves said he did not have to lift to finger.

Graves said, "I just walked in and smiled and then I just walked out."

The coach also said he tried to not let the atmosphere at the county center overwhelm his team, which made its first ever trip to the arena.

"We've been preaching it for so long. We want to get there, and we want to give you this chance to experience this type of thing," Graves said.

Graves and the rest of the Hawks stayed to watch the second game of the night in which undefeated Tuckahoe faced Haldane. When asked what the strategy would be for the finals, Graves was quick with a joke.

“We’ll see who wins. Hopefully Haldane wins,” Graves said.

Follow Andrew Meola on Twitter @andrewmeola for live scores, updates and analysis from all the Section 1 Playoff action.

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