North Farmington Falls to St. Mary's in District Final

In a game that came down to the wire, the boys’ basketball team was edged by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the District Finals, 43-38.

St. Mary’s, which has four students playing Division 1 college athletics next year, was a tough physical match-up for the Raiders. Yet, from the start, North Farmington made sure the pace of the game was slow and played great defense, keeping it a close, low-scoring affair all night.

“We run a very, very difficult defense for (opponents) to play,” said North Farmington coach Tom Negoshian. “We trap on every make or miss…That’s a very talented, very well-coached team. You can’t just go out there and match-up to them.”

By slowing down the game and dominating the boards, the Raiders did a great job of frustrating the St. Mary’s team. At the end of the first, North Farmington led 7-4 and by halftime, they trailed 15-14.

In what turned out to be Negoshian’s final game as head coach, his players executed his game-plan as well as he hoped.

“We need to slow (the game) down. We need to make sure our kids get to the right spots, get the right shots for the right kids, and I thought our kids just did a great job. They executed the game-plan right to the way I wanted it,” he said.

The lead swung back and forth for three quarters. The Raiders led by as much as four in the third quarter. After a St. Mary’s three-pointer and two free throws, the Eaglets took the lead back at 24-23 with 3:16 left in the third, and held on to that lead for the rest of the game.

St. Mary’s got a big boost of momentum in the third, getting back-to-back three-pointers from their big man, senior Justin Barrows. “That happens, and it’s our responsibility to then defend it and not hang our heads,” Negoshian said. “Because we’re so young, I thought we were hanging our heads a little bit.”

Trailing by as many as eight in the fourth quarter, the Raiders gave St. Mary’s a run in the final minutes. After coming up with some baskets and a couple big turnovers, North Farmington cut their deficit to three with 54 seconds left in the game. However, that was as close as they would get.

“We got three great looks. Three great looks. I know all three of them,” said Negoshian. “Urbane [Bingham] had a wide open three, Do’rrell [Foster] had a wide open three, [Caleb] Hogans had a wide open three, Do’rrell had another great look. You know what I’m saying? Those types of things happen in a game.”

Despite great efforts from the Raiders players, coach Negoshian thinks fatigue may have gotten to his players late in the game. North Farmington played four games in the last seven days. “I thought our legs really gave out on us,” he said.

As pleased as Negoshian was with his players’ effort, he was equally displeased with the game’s officiating. He pointed out several plays where he thought the referees got the call wrong, including back-to-back three-pointers for St. Mary’s in the fourth quarter.

“Both of them (came after) really bad – I thought questionable – not bad calls, but could have gone either way, and then instead of us getting the ball, they keep the ball, and then they hit a three. We never even got a shot to the rim.” He insisted the officials were not qualified to ref Division 1 games.

“I’ve never seen (these refs). Forty-three years, I’ve never seen any of them. It’s a long time not to see somebody, right?” he said. “Just like players, every kid’s not ready to play in Division 1.”

“But that’s not why we lost,” Negoshian deferred. “They made plays; we didn’t make plays. That’s the name of the game, okay?”

Despite holding St. Mary’s Allen Robinson to just two points in the first quarter, he finished the game with 22. Justin Barrows had 10 points.

Senior Urbane Bingham was huge for the Raiders Friday night, finishing the game with 17 points, 12 rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal. Junior Do’rrelle Foster was next on the team in scoring, with nine points. Senior Caleb Hogans finished with seven points, and sophomore Sterling Sharp had five.

Though Negoshian was not pleased with the final score or the officiating, he has to be pleased with his long and successful career that ended on Friday night at .

“I knew I was never going to win my last game coming back to high school to coach. You know what? This was a great high school game, a great battle,” he said. “As they say, it’s all over.”

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