LI Lutheran boys: Federation AA title at last!

Crusaders relish championship, and vindication from last year’s disappointment.

Exactly one year ago to the date, the Long Island Lutheran boys basketball players and coaches were left wondering, ‘How could this have possibly happened?’

Last year — due to a fault the New York State Federation of Secondary School Athletic Associations would later admit and apologize for — Lutheran was issued a technical foul for calling a timeout when it had no timeouts remaining with 8.3 seconds remaining, when the team really did have a timeout left. The incident occurred with the score tied at 72, and the Crusaders surrendered the final four points from the foul line as their season ended without the chance to play in a state final.

Fast forward to Saturday evening, after the hours turned into days, days into weeks, weeks into months and the months continued to pile up before the chance to avenge a crushing loss that arguably never even should have happened, Lutheran finally had the opportunity to right the wrong and take home a championship. And the Crusaders weren’t going to let anything get in their way.

Lutheran defeated Christ the King, 51-31, in a boys basketball state Federation Class AA final at Cool Insuring Arena behind a stalwart defensive effort. It’s the Crusaders first Class AA title in program history, and its first Federation title since winning Class A in 2012 and its state-leading eighth Federation championship.

Congrats to Long Island Lutheran Boys Basketball on their 2019 Federation Class AA Championship!

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