Few teams across all classes in Section 1 had as much aesthetic basketball value as the 2020 Section 1 champions, Hastings.
Coached by veteran Bob Delle Bovi, the youth laden Yellow Jackets team displayed fluid ball movement, wall to wall defensive pressure, a knack for kicking in that extra pass, and spacing.
The result? Slaying a Westchester County Center ghost of the past and finally getting that elusive title and Gold Ball back to the tight knit village on the Hudson River.
“They learned how to win, that is the best thing about this group,” said Delle Bovi. “They know how to win close games.”
Don’t Argue With History
Twenty one years ago and five months to be exact, a senior laden and ultra deep Hastings team won a Section 1 championship. Led by the interior game and consistent high scoring of Farid Johnson (Manhattanville) and a 6-foot-4 manchild in then senior strongman Kern Mojica (who wound up playing Division 1 football at New Hampshire), the Yellow Jackets boasted a formidable post game.
They were led by a well built 5-foot-10 dish first point guard in then senior Nicky Battista and rode the hot hand of then-junior Chris Testa, a 3-point ace capable of getting red hot.
That was a selfless, fun loving and memorable Hastings team that bought into a culture of winning under then head coach Joe DeGennaro.
They were a spirited group with tight bonds on and off the court.
They had a maniacally rowdy student section backing them, making their home Cochrane gymnasium a place where an opponent would really dread shooting an airball or having an off day.
This Hastings team’s depth—they played 11 guys comfortably in a Class C synonymous with star power and thin rosters–is what differentiated them. They overwhelmed foes in waves.
They honored the tradition of a true rivalry game with cross village foe Dobbs Ferry, with Johnson erupting for 40 points to propel them to a pulsating win in a jam-packed, bandbox Dobbs gym. While the two schools combined for a joint Hastings-Dobbs football team, the rivalry was akin to bloodsport back then.
Johnson took that particular game personally, citing it as a true test of who he is. He said he reminded his Dobbs Ferry friends and football teammates that on the court, they are not friends.
Fast forward to 2020. The Yellow Jackets finally ended an agonizing 21-year Section 1 playoff drought, beating a talented Valhalla team at the Westchester County Center.
This Hastings team, however, was a vastly different beast than the aforementioned ’99 team. Led by a smooth high scoring sophomore in Josh Thigpen and a tough, traditional point guard in the seasoned Chris Rotiroti, the Yellow Jackets thrived with a youth movement.
Both guards enter their junior and senior seasons, which may or may not happen given the coronavirus pandemic, as two of Section 1’s elite.
Thigpen for his all around scoring ability and Rotiroti for his passing and ability to make his teammates beneficiaries of his presence.
“Josh is just a player,” Delle Bovi said.
“He can do so much off natural ability and instinct. Chris makes everyone around him better. He’s too unselfish. I have to get him to shoot the ball more (his senior year).”
Liam Hopwood shouldered the burden of savior in hitting the game-winner to drive Hastings to this memorable title, converting a pass from Rotiroti with all the pressure in the world weighing down on the County Center.
“We’re going to miss him,” Delle Bovi said of Hopwood. “We are really going to miss our two big guys more than anything.”
This youth includes freshman outside shooter Rob Kennedy and an eighth grader in Keith Capuano, a 6-foot-2 forward who is active on the glass and knows how to score hustle points. It was a different cast of characters, a much younger team, but the Yellow Jackets were able to expunge this County Center demon.
“I put (Kennedy) in as a freshman and he had a tremendous year for us,” Delle Bovi said. “I had an eighth grader off the bench playing quality minutes for a team that went 23-2. His brother Chris Capuano, we are going to have big expectations for him. We’re going to have to work on our depth.”
The Hastings program lost close games to North Salem in 2002 and were beaten by Tuckahoe in 2003. They didn’t have it in a 2011 loss against Dobbs, putting forth a lackluster performance.
“We should have won that game (in 2002), said Delle Bovi, who was the head coach back then before leaving for Pleasantville that summer and eventually finding his way back to Hastings 12 years later.
“I remember it so clearly. We did everything right except put the ball in the basket.”
Intriguing post script to that 2011 game. That 2011 Section 1 semifinal game featured 6-foot-5 behemoth Ali Marpet (currently playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs of the NFL on a lucrative contract), then a Hastings senior.
Eric Paschall, who starred at Villanova and currently plays for the Golden State Warriors, was a seldom-used freshman on that Dobbs Sectional runner up team.
That Dobbs team erupted with a 10-2 run sparked by Thomas Fleming, who hit two momentum bolstering 3-pointers to go into the first half with an edge.
This memorable Dobbs team was also led by battle tested senior experience, with point guard Eddie Fanning and then junior Eddie Ritch delivering in big moments. Fiery competitor John Yozzo Scapperota was a handful on the glass and in the trenches. The Eagles wound up being Section 1 runner ups that year. They won the championship in 2019.
Delle Bovi is known for often downplaying any hype or emotions surrounding his team or a game. The veteran coach did not entertain much on the program history or even think about ending a 21-year drought before and after bringing the Gold Ball back to Hastings.
He did say, however, that just how hard this 2020 team played is what makes them so unique.
“I have been doing this long enough to know that sometimes when you win, you have to get a little lucky,” Delle Bovi said.
“But these kids put in so much effort to everything we do. I’ll put it this way, “God gave everyone the ability to hustle. And hustle never had a bad day.”
