Making their third trip to the PSAL 'AA' championship game in four years, second-seeded Boys & Girls rallied from a 10-point deficit to upset Cardozo 55-50 at Madison Square Garden yesterday on the strength of 25 points from Mike Taylor.

   In winning their first championship since 1979, the 'Roos made Lovelace the first woman to lead a PSAL boys basketball team to the top. She is in her 16th season at the school, having been hired at the age of 23 by Frank Mickens. Mickens, the former Boys & Girls HS principal and coach, died last July.

   "I'm so proud of this team," Lovelace said in tears, speaking to The New York Daily News. "To see me cry, they started crying."

   Said a gracious Cardozo coach Ron Naclerio: "I've got to be happy for her. She's put in a lot of time and effort and she got the ring this year."

   Boys & Girls closed a 28-18 halftime deficit to 39-37 after three quarters. Taylor's two free throws with 3:01 to go gave the Kangaroos the lead for good at 51-49, and Leroy Isle drove for a layup and a 53-49 lead with 1:19 left.

   Island nail-biter: Uniondale, ranked 20th in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association, pulled out a 64-61 victory against No. 16 Baldwin.

   Goey Charles made two free throws with 8.9 seconds to go, and Baldwin's Ashanti DePass missed a buzzer three-pointer in the Section 8 Class AA final.

   The Knights got 19 points from sophomore point guard Shaq Mosley and 12 points and 12 rebounds by Bolade Akingboye.

   DePass scored 12 fourth-quarter points to rally Baldwin, riding a 15-game winning streak, from 11 points down with 2:43 left.

   "It's Baldwin-Uniondale. It's as big a rivalry as there is in Nassau," Uniondale coach Tom Diana told Newsday. "It's fun and hectic and stressful, but if we would have won by double-digits I would have been shocked. Not because we're not good enough, but because it's Baldwin-Uniondale."

   Next up for Uniondale is No. 1 Half Hollow Hills West on Saturday in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association quarterfinals.

   End of the struggle: Williamsville South is celebrating its first Section 6 boys basketball championship since 1991 after beating Buffalo McKinley 74-55 in the Class A-1 final at Buffalo State to wipe up multiple frustrations over the years.

   The Billies, ranked seventh in Class A, will play No. 20 Buffalo East on Tuesday for a berth in the state quarterfinals. They got seven three-pointers and 26 points from junior guard and football star Joe Licata to advance.

   "It's just awesome," coach Al Monaco told The Buffalo News. "We lost in this game twice in double overtime, once in overtime and two other times. This is a great feeling."

   Over and over and over: Three of the seven Section 5 boys finals played yesterday at Blue Cross Arena in

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Rochester went to overtime, but the best story of the bunch came from a most unlikely source.

   Sophomore Chase Rangel went from late-season JV call-up to No. 14 Fillmore's hero by tallying all 14 of his points after the third quarter in a 49-46 upset of fourth-ranked Batavia Notre Dame in Class D action.

   "If someone told me I'd be standing right here with this (all-tournament team) plaque after the game I'd tell them they were crazy," Rangel told the Democrat and Chronicle. "I'm just happy coach had enough confidence to put me in the game in such a big spot."

   Rangel made the first of his four three-pointers with 4:13 to go in regulation to forge a 33-33 tie and then hit again on the next possession for the Eagles' first lead. Notre Dame's Matt Thompson would hit a three-pointer of his own with :30 to play to force OT, but a Rangel trey midway through the extra period gave Fillmore a 47-44 advantage.

   "I don't think he even knows how special his performance was today," Fillmore coach Jamie Mullen said. "We tell our players that anybody can be called upon given the situation, and I give credit to Chase for being ready and stepping up."

   It's Bergtraum ... again: Murry Bergtraum broke open a two-point game at the half and downed Bronx JFK 58-37 in the PSAL girls 'AA' final at Madison Square Garden.

   Senior forward Doris Ortega scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter as the Lady Blazers (25-0) took home their 12th consecutive PSAL trophy and 13th overall under coach Ed Grezinsky.

   Senior center Shukurah Washington chipped in with 10 points and 19 rebounds as Bergtraum moved one ahead of August Martin for the lead in all-time PSAL championships.

   Ortega, who went over 1,000th career points last month, helped Bergtraum take control in the third with five points in the first 1:30 for a 29-20 lead.

   "Honestly, we are a second-half team," Ortega told The Daily News. "The whole season our coach has been telling us to put teams away in the first half."

   It's Shen ... again: Shenendehowa fought off a fourth-quarter Shaker rally and scored a 47-42 victory in the Section 2 Class AA girls final at Hudson Valley Community College.

   The Blue Bison closed a 14-point deficit to three in the final minute, but the Plainsmen maintained their composure despite not making a basket in the final five minutes and collected their 10th championship since 1988.

   "They didn't go away at all. It was horrifying," Shenendehowa junior center Allie Setter told The Times Union. "I was so afraid, but we once again pulled through. We always seem to do it."    Shaker was playing for its first championship since 1982 against a Shen squad appearing in its third straight final.