He Started It With a Three

The first points of Wednesday night's sub-regional game belonged to Dane Brown. He caught the ball, set his feet, and knocked down a three-pointer before Monroe could even get settled. That first possession set the tone for everything that followed at Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Grand Island won 77-51 over Monroe from Section V, advancing to the NYSPHSAA Class A state quarterfinals for the first time since 1992. Brown finished with 39 points, a career best, in what Coach Chris Simpson called a performance that reflected exactly who Brown is as a player. The Vikings are now 23-2 and will return to Buffalo State on Saturday at 6 p.m. to face Maine-Endwell from Section IV.

What 39 Points Looks Like When You're Not Chasing Them

Brown's 39-point night wasn't the product of hero ball or shot-forcing. It was the natural result of a player letting the game come to him, the same thing Simpson has been saying about Brown all season. Grand Island's defense created turnovers, the ball found Brown in good spots, and he made plays. By halftime the Vikings led 37-21 and the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Monroe responded in the second half by going to a full-court press, trying to disrupt Jonathan Neville's inbound passes and create chaos for the Grand Island offense. It backfired. The pressure just opened up more Vikings in scoring territory, and Grand Island extended the lead through the fourth quarter to finish the game at 77-51.

When asked about his career-high night, Brown didn't take the bait. "39 is cool, but I'd score 10 points and win and be perfectly fine," he said. "Scoring doesn't mean much to me. I want to win with this team, and I just want to go as far as we can."

Simpson has coached a long time. He knows what he has. "He's the most patient kid that I've ever seen play basketball," Simpson said after the game. "No weight on his shot. He doesn't take very many bad ones, and he'll even pass the ball maybe a little too much and be unselfish, but he definitely lets the game come to him and it definitely shows in the score books."

Uribes Is Playing His Best Basketball Right Now

Sophomore Chase Uribes finished with 19 points, the second-highest scoring night of his career. It was the second straight game he's been Grand Island's clear second option. He had 24 in the crossover win over Fredonia on Sunday. Brown noticed. "Chase played really well. Last game he had 24, too, so he's really come together with scoring these last couple games," Brown said.

That's the part of this Grand Island run that doesn't always get the headline. Yes, Brown is the player everyone in Section VI has been talking about all year. But Uribes stepping up at exactly this moment in the season, hitting his two highest-scoring games back to back in the postseason, gives the Vikings a second guy who can put the ball in the basket when defenses try to take Brown away.

The Point Guard Nobody Stopped

Jonathan Neville doesn't show up in the box score the way Brown and Uribes do. He showed up in the game the way he always does. When Monroe went to a full-court press to try to disrupt Grand Island's half-court sets, they were specifically targeting Neville's inbound entries. It didn't work. Neville got the ball where it needed to go, the Vikings got open looks, and the lead grew.

Neville's role on this team goes beyond basketball. His grandfather, Jon Roth, coached the 1992 Grand Island team that last made a state tournament run. His mother, Julie Roth Neville, was a Grand Island basketball legend who passed away in 2018. Every game this team plays in the state tournament is territory the Neville and Roth families have been waiting 34 years to see again.

What Saturday Means

Grand Island faces Maine-Endwell from Section IV on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Buffalo State Sports Arena. A win puts the Vikings in the state semifinals. That's four wins total in this postseason run: the Section VI Class A1 title over Lewiston-Porter, the crossover win over Fredonia, Wednesday's sub-regional over Monroe, and a quarterfinal win over Maine-Endwell that hasn't happened yet but is what this team is aiming for.

The program has been to the state tournament exactly twice in its history. The first was 1992. Wednesday night was the second trip. Saturday is the chance to go further than any Grand Island team has ever gone.

Coach Simpson told reporters after Thursday's sectional title win that the trophy in his hand wasn't the one he wanted. He's still after the one he wants. So is this team.