The dream is a common one, even for those who graduated from high school decades ago; you arrive at school only to learn that the big exam—the test that will make up more than half of your final grade—is today, and you haven’t studied a lick.

On Monday, March 4, this implausible scenario turned reality for the Tuckahoe basketball team.

The 2019 Class C champions arrived at school following a two-hour snow delay with a general idea of how the next few days would unfold. With their regional semifinal game against Millbrook looming on March 6, the Tigers would go through their shortened school day, have a film session at 5 p.m., and begin to implement a game plan in the two tune-up practice sessions they would have before heading up to Poughkeepsie High School on Wednesday to take on the Section IX titlists.

They soon found out, however, that the game against Millbrook would be played that very night.

The last-minute changes didn’t disrupt the Tigers, however, who would overcome a lack of preparation to top the Blazers 67-57 in overtime.

A scheduling mix-up between officials from the New York Public High School Athletics Association, Section I and Section IX led to the confusion, as both Section I and Section IX believed that it had the authority to schedule the eventual showdown between the region champs. Section I officials told Class C teams that its regional semifinal game would be played at 6 p.m. on March 6 at Poughkeepsie High School. Section IX—which ultimately had the go-ahead from the NYPHSAA—chose to schedule the contest for Newburgh’s Mount Saint Mary College on March 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Tuckahoe Athletic Director Austin Goldberg didn’t get the news about the change until 11 a.m. on Monday morning, when he received a call from Section I executive director Jennifer Simmons.

“I got to school after the two-hour delay and got the call saying that our game was that night,” Goldberg told the Review. “I pushed back for sure, just thinking about everything that needed to be done in order for us to play.”

That included not only informing Tuckahoe’s players, coaches and fans of the new plans but also making last minute transportation arrangements to the Newburgh venue.

First-year head coach Ben Newman, who teaches in Manhattan, was planning on spending the snow day devising a game plan for Millbrook and spending time with his family. When he was informed the game would not be moved, his plans changed.

“Luckily the city schools were closed for snow, so when we found out the game was definitely going to be that night, I knew I had a lot of work to do,” Newman said. “So I had to cut up some game film, piece together the schemes we were going to be seeing; from the time I found out to the time I left my house to go to the school, I was basically on my computer.”

Tuckahoe’s players had to scramble home after school to pick up their uniforms, then headed back to the high school for a quick film session before the busses departed for the hour-and-a-half ride to Newburgh. Due to the abbreviated nature of the session, Newman said he decided to make things simple for his players.

“I didn’t want to put them through the ringer, so I just decided to show them pieces of our Section I title win [from Feb. 23],” he said. “I deliberately stopped the film as we were celebrating so that was the last thing they saw before we got on the bus.”

Once the Tigers took the court, it was apparent that Millbrook would be a stiff test. The two teams traded leads throughout regulation, but the Tigers’ toughness showed through in the overtime period as Tuckahoe outscored their foes 11-1 to secure the win.

Malik Moore-Crooks scored a team-high 28 points in the win, but Newman was quick to credit the rest of Tuckahoe’s supporting cast for refusing to give in under the circumstances.

“Malik was gassed, but he kept on finding it in him to help us by getting to the rim, finding the open man,” Newman said. “We were definitely a bit tight, especially early on, but we got contributions from everybody; even the kids who aren’t normally diving on the floor for loose balls were doing things like that in big spots.”

Newman said his team’s performance recalled a quote by turn-of-the-century journalist Jacob Riis about the importance of perseverance.

“That quote is about a stonecutter who hammers a stone 100 times without it making a mark; but when he hits it the 101st time, it becomes a masterpiece,” the coach said. “We didn’t change anything really in that overtime period, we just kept on grinding.”

With the victory, the Tigers move on to the state regional finals, where they will play against Section XI Greenport at Centereach High School on March 9.

Newman joked that he would “quadruple check” the time and location of the game, but was adamant that the trials his team faced on Monday would serve as a valuable life lesson for his charges.

“I’ve told them since Day 1, there are things we can control, which is our attitude and our effort, and some things we can’t,” he said. “We are going to take a minute at practice [on Wednesday] to appreciate what we accomplished, but then we just need to get back to work.”