Powers family savoring basketball Final Four

Beacon coach, sons on squad

By Roderick Boone
Poughkeepsie Journal

 

Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal Beacon's Collin Powers drives between two Red Hook defenders during the state Class B playoff game at Pace University in Pleasantville on Saturday. Beacon won.

This is how crazy things have been at the Powers the past few weeks.

On one instance, as soon as the door bell rang, so did the telephone. Immediately after the telephone rang, Tom Powers' cell phone starts chiming.

''It's been absolutely nuts in our house,'' said Powers, coach of the Beacon High School boys basketball team. ''My wife and I haven't been able to hold any conversations.''

Said Powers' son Collin, who's one of the team's top players: ''It's wild. It's wild. I have never had something like this before. Everybody is calling the house saying congratulations on the answering machine. Everybody I know in Beacon has been supporting us.''

That's what happens when a team turns in one on the best seasons in school history. This season has been one to remember for the Powers family and the rest of the community.

Heading to Final Four

The Bulldogs won their first Section One championship since the 1972-73 campaign, and already knocked off Red Hook for a regional championship. At 10 a.m. Saturday, they'll journey into uncharted territory when they take on three-time defending New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B champ Amityville in the Final Four at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

''It's the way to go out,'' Collin Powers said. ''I couldn't ask for a better season. It's the best season of my life.''

For Tom Powers, it's still hard to believe. In his eyes, a movie producer couldn't have come up with a better script.

Not only is he and his oldest son, making the trip to Glens Falls. But his wife, Susan, and his youngest son, Ryan, will be there, too. Powers brought Ryan, a freshman, up from the junior varsity team at the end of the regular season.

It's been such an incredible journey, he needs someone to pinch him to make sure he's not dreaming. Oh, wait. That's already happened.

''My wife has done that to me a couple of times,'' Powers said. ''This has been the most unbelievable ride. To have both of my sons on my team ... By being the first (Beacon) team ever to go to Glens Falls. It's just been unbelievable. It's been like a script. It's something you read about in 'Sports Illustrated' in those side columns.

''And is it happening to me.''

There's one thing would make this run even more special for Powers: If his parents Charlie and Dorothy Powers were here to see it. Powers' parents died about two years ago, roughly six months apart. Every time Collin and Ryan were playing, the two were there to watch them.

Powers' sister, Jane Rogers, has tried her best to be there for her big brother whenever he needs her. And like just about everyone else who knows Powers, it's a sure bet she was extremely happy when the Bulldogs edged perennial power Peekskill for the Section One championship at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on March 2.

Incidentally, that's the same place Powers played when he and his Beacon teammates were vying for a section championship back in the late 1970s. And it's also a place Collin Powers longed to play at before his scholastic career came to a close.

''I don't know if I can really put into words how special it's been,'' Tom Powers said. ''All he (Collin) ever wanted was to get that gold ball for the Section One championship. He wanted to play on the County Center floor, and for him to have his dream fulfilled is great from a father's perspective. I played on that floor and it was a special moment for me.''

It was also special for Susan Powers.

''My son Collin ... just the look on his face to win down at County Center,'' she said, ''it's his dream come true. So, of course, it's mine.

''He was so overwhelmed. ... He kept saying I don't want it to end.''

It hasn't.

But even if the Bulldogs fail to knock off the defending state champs Saturday morning, it won't change a thing at the Powers. Well, maybe one thing: The phones and door bell won't ring at same times.

''It's been a tremendous ride and it's been a lot of work,'' Susan Powers said. ''And I have to say that all their effort and hard work is paying off. I can't be prouder as a wife or mom.''