SYRACUSE — Henry Perkins and U’Mier Graham quietly walked off the court at SRC Arena on Saturday afternoon. The two Green Tech teammates each had an arm around the other.
Perkins was shedding tears after completing his scholastic boys’ basketball career. The Eagles started slowly against Section III champion Liverpool and never fully took flight.
There were some concerted surges made by Green Tech in the second half, yet each time the Eagles drew closer they confounded themselves with poor shot selections or costly turnovers. The result ended up being a 65-49 Class AA state boys’ basketball quarterfinal loss at Onondaga Community College. The loss was the first in 11 games for Green Tech and its sting proved pervasive.
Even after a prolonged talk in the locker room after the game, Perkins emerged and was tearful. The 6-foot-8 senior center, one of the few players on this season’s roster that played significant minutes when the Eagles reached the 2022 state championship game, could not contain his disappointment at what unfolded against the Warriors on Saturday.
“As a senior, this hurts me the most,” Perkins said. “No matter what we went through this season, I am proud to call these guys my brothers and my teammates. That loss was pretty hurtful. The younger guys are going to come back next year and win it.”
“This young group enjoyed a great season. Hats off to Liverpool. It was a long time coming for them,” Green Tech coach DJ Jones said. “They have a lot of seniors and wanted to avenge last year’s loss (in overtime to Green Tech in the state quarterfinals). This year, we exceeded our expectations with only three seniors on the team. Getting this late in the state playoffs, you saw the youth come out a little bit making those pushes and thinking we have to hit the home run play on every possession.”
Green Tech (16-8) never led Saturday. The…
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