The Winning Formula
Seward Brings Its ‘A’ Game To Thwart Fallsburg’s Bid For A Share Of The Division V Lead; Spartans Override Comets’ Determination, Wealth Of Talent And Home Crowd Fervor To Marshal Their Best Effort Of The Season; Performance Should Quiet Doubters Who’ve Claimed That The Best Of The Orange Crush Exited Last June
S.S. Seward 59, Fallsburg 53
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Photos at: www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
And so the battle is engaged again...Fallsburg vs. S.S. Seward for Division V dominance (clockwise) Seward players gather with Coach Rob Gravelle and his assistant Sal Mineo while Fallsburg players amass around Coach Pete Dworetsky during time outs as each team seeks to will its way to a key Division V win and improve its seeding in the coming sectionals. Fallsburg senior Russell Corley electrifies the crowd with this score. He netted 14 on the night including some amazingly athletic drives to the rim amidst a horde of defenders. Fallsburg senior Michael Robinson, a player that Seward Coach Rob Gravelle references as the best small school center in Section Nine, goes up and scores over Seward junior Kevin Smith. Seward senior Anthony Bailey rises over Fallsburg's Dustin Foertsch for two of his game-high 22 points that included a pair of treys. Speaking of treys, Seward had nine of them.
FALLSBURG, NY—You could feel the storm approaching on the high ‘C’s as Division V rivals Fallsburg and S.S. Seward got set to write the next chapter in what has become over the past two years, a riveting hardwood novella.
Indeed, this February 8 battle was to be fought not just for the division lead, but for the sake of the all-important seeding hierarchy in the coming Section Nine tournament. In addition, each team sought to make a statement to the other and to the Section Nine world at large about its viability.
Fallsburg was looking for redemption against its staunchest rival for three consecutive losses dating back to last year including a season-ending semifinal defeat and an OT loss this January; Seward had a chip on its shoulder to prove to the local hoops world that they pose a serious threat despite the graduation of its former All-Stars.
Falllsburg senior Braiden DeGraw fires in two of his 14 points on the night.
In the turbulent world of competitive basketball there is always a confluence of past, present and future when it comes to rival teams. While the only thing that matters is the here and now when such teams take to the floor in critical games, what went before and what may happen hence are also in the ethers.
A year ago Fallsburg staged an impressive 55-51 home win over Seward in December 2010, throwing down the gauntlet to challenge the Spartans for Division V come-uppance. Seward took that loss to heart and proceeded to demolish teams in its wake including Fallsburg in a 64-34 rematch on its way to a 16-2 regular season. They shared the Division V crown but that would be the Comets’ sole moral victory.
To punctuate its message, the number-one seeded Spartans beat the Comets 66-51 in the semifinals before losing a 46-45 heartbreaker to Pine Plains in the Class C final.
In June a bevy of Seward talent graduated including standouts Scott Glowaczewski and David Oliver, while Fallsburg licked its wounds and looked forward to returning its entire cast this season.
The two teams met in Florida on January 4 and battled to 52-all deadlock by the end of regulation. Seward dominated the OT and garnered the 59-52 win. Coming into this fray, that was Fallsburg’s sole Division V loss and they now looked to grab a share of the division lead with a home win.
Making Amends: Seward senior Shawn Howell had to sit in the first half after committing a pair of what his coach referred to as "silly fouls." Coach Gravelle told Howell at the half, "you owe your team," to which he replied, "yes I do." He answered the call in the second half. with six points in the third quarter. Here he goes over Michael Robinson for two of them.
Both teams were already sectional-bound before this encounter, but garnering a higher seed was part of the agenda. With coaches and players from the undefeated Pine Plains Bombers looking on, as well as those from rival Tri-Valley which plays the Comets next week in another crucial seeding battle, the Comets and Spartans began their warms ups amidst the fanfare of blasting music and zealous crowd noise in an atmosphere that felt like the playoffs had already arrived.
Seward’s only losses to date were to O’Neill, Warwick and Goshen. At 10-3 (5-0 OCIAA), they looked calm and confident. Fallsburg at 10-4 (6-1 OCIAA) looked to shake off a disconcerting recent loss to Class D Livingston Manor by squeezing Seward into orange juice for a delicious and thirst-quenching quaff of victory.
But by night’s end, in place of that, they ended their night with the bitter after taste of defeat as the Clockwork Orange put on a show of synchronicity and impeccable execution that authored a 59-53 Seward win.
All games matter in the abbreviated 18 game regular season. But the cathartic crucible of struggles like this dwarf others by virtue of their magnitude.
For the young men from both teams who took to the floor this was to be a test of mettle, will and skill, a measuring stick of where each one stands now as the Big Dance looms closer.
When talented teams clash, the one that executes more efficiently, keeps its cohesive composure, gets big efforts from players up and down the lineup and overcomes the other teams’ runs will be crowned the victor.
Seward fit that description and would show it from the outset.
Diminiutive Mekayla Pernesvi’s sonorous rendition of the National Anthem elicited the last piece of pre-game fervor as Fallsburg’s Michael Robinson and Seward’s Shawn Howell got set for the tip.
Fallsburg cheerleader Kali Seastrand goes aloft for an entrancing basket catch. Fallsburg finished sixth at Pine Bush in the cheerleading competition facing schools much larger than they were. They'll vie at the OCIAA championships at Kingston High School on February 18.
Seward controlled the tip but a quick travelling call put the ball in the Comets’ hands but they failed to convert. Howell missed but senior Anthony Bailey was fouled on the put back attempt. He canned both for the 2-0 lead, the opening salvo of his eventual game-high 22 points that would include two of Seward’s nine treys. Bailey would register 10-of-13 from the line for an impressive 77% by night’s end.
The hallmark of Seward’s December 2010 loss to Fallsburg had been its inability to take care of the basketball. On this night they sought to not provide the Comets’ quick guards like Rakkir Watson and Russell Corley with easy lay ups via thefts.
But Michael Robinson put an early crimp in that agenda with a steal and a bucket to tie it. Robinson missed the free throw and the Comets blanked on the put back but soon took the lead at 4-2. Seward junior point guard Kevin Smith showed his quick hands with a steal and was fouled by Watson. Corley got a steal and scored for the 6-2 lead with 4:57. The squads exchanged turnovers before Howell picked up his second foul. You could hear the report as Seward Coach Rob Gravelle slammed his diagram board down on the bleachers. Howell would have to come out and Gravelle wasn’t a happy camper.
Now going to its smaller lineup, Seward would get a lift as Jake Kinley marshaled a steal and dished it across the lane to Isaac Rodriguez. Kinley fractured his wrist in a soccer game in September and was in a cast for 16 weeks. He missed the first six games of the season and returned just in time to play in the first fray with the Comets on January 4.
His ascendance in the Seward constellation of rising stars was one of many things Gravelle would extol after the game. “His getting healthy has been huge. He really played like he can play tonight,” he would aver. He was referencing
Seward applied full court pressure and Fallsburg would soon make three errant trips beginning with a ball thrown away by senior Jimmy Bertholf. Fallsburg turned it over on its next possession too. A three by Bailey gave Seward its first lead as they now led 7-6 at 3:38. Another Fallsburg travel made for the erroneous trifecta.
Corley slid his way in and around Seward defenders to regain the lead at 8-6 before Kinley stood in an took the first of two charges against Robinson to the delight of Gravelle.
Seward sophomore Jake Kinley broke his wrist in soccer in September and was in a cast for 16 weeks. He missed the first six games of the season but returned on January 4 to fact the Comets. Here he fires in one of two treys. "His return is huge for us," says Coach Rob Gravelle.
“To see him and take charges from what I think is the best small school center in Section Nine says a lot. Michael Robinson’s got game,” declared Gravelle in his post game commentary. “I thought that was the turning point of the game,” he averred.
Fallsburg led 8-7 with 2:48 to go as Robinson authoritatively blocked a shot by Rodriguez. The teams were soon knotted at ten apiece as Watson put back a Robinson miss. Stunning as it may seem, that would be it for the talented guard in terms of his scoring in the game. Watson’s shots would just not find their way through the rim again.
Seward got a pair of threes from junior Tom Sanchez to cement the 16-10 lead by the end of the quarter. Gravelle wouldn’t leave him out in his post game honorarium, “He’s embraced his role in the last month and become a big piece for us,” he’d declare.
Robinson and Corley each had four points in the opening frame. Seward had marshaled twelve of its 16 points from beyond the arc. Bailey and Smith had a trey apiece to dovetail with the two from Sanchez.
Braiden DeGraw hit two free throws to start the second quarter. Watson rode the bench with two fouls as Fallsburg’s Jarrett Madison came in to run the point. Smith stole the ball from Madison and scored as Seward pulled out to a nine point lead at 21-12. DeGraw added two for the Comets. He’d net six of his eventual 14 points in the second stanza.
Seward junior John Sgonbick went baseline and scored two for the Spartans. Robinson incurred his second offensive foul as he looked clearly frustrated. Following a travelling call by Bertholf, he incurred a technical foul for disputing the call to an official.
Bailey hit both as the Spartans now led 25-17. Watson had returned and authored a great pass across the lane to DeGraw to cut the deficit to six. Bailey dished it to Smith for two. Fallsburg’s Sam Didinsky missed a shot and was whistled for slapping the arm of a defender from behind. Both teams were over the limit but Smith missed the front of a one-and-one.
Fallsburg’s Daniel Justiniano offset three straight Fallsburg put back attempts with a floater from the wing to make it 27-21. Seward slowed it down with under a minute to go. Bailey was fouled and hit both. Corley was next up at the line and hit two. Seward led 29-23 at the half. Both teams had scored 13 apiece in the period in which Kinley had knocked down a three pointer.
Smith had four points in the period as did Bailey.
Fallsburg inbounded to start the second half. Robinson posted up for two to cut the margin to four but sustained a cut that caused a brief hiatus in the game. DeGraw made it a two point game but Bailey answered with a trey. Corley put on a mind-bending move to score through the paint as Fallsburg trailed 32-29 with 5:33. Rodriguez dished to Howell in the paint as Seward continued to rebuff every Fallsburg run.
Three offensive rebounds finally netted a bucket for Howell who was making amends for what Gravelle referenced as “Two silly fouls. I told him at the half that he owed his team and he said yes I do Coach. That’s what I love about these guys, their accountability. No pouting..he just came out and played like a man,” he declared.
Seward’s 36-29 lead was diminished by a trey from DeGraw at 4:22. Howell put back a miss by Smith for his sixth point of the quarter to extend the lead to 38-32. Corley electrified the crowd with another dance in the lane.
Michael Robinson rejects a shot put up by Seward senior Isaac Rodriguez.
Smith nailed a trey for the Spartan’s eighth long range missile of the night. Fallsburg trailed by seven and needed a stop. They got it and Dustin Foertsch scored. But Seward responded with yet another trey as Kinley hit his second from downtown. Fallsburg looked frustrated as the Spartans now led 44-36.
Seward outscored Fallsburg 4-2 for the 48-38 lead at the end of the stanza. Seward outpaced Fallsburg 19-15 in the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway it appeared that Seward was heading for a win by a big margin as they built a 15 point lead. The quarter began with a great block of a Howell shot by Robinson who then scored.
With a minute gone by, the Comets trailed by eight..then ten..then eight again before Sgonbick hit the Spartans’ final trey of the night to make it 53-42. Fallsburg was in desperate need of some stops and greater efficiency on the offensive end of the floor.
A turnover by Watson was not what they needed, nor was fouling Bailey who proceeded to can two. He’d make four of seven from the stripe in the stanza. The Spartans led by 13 at 5:04, their biggest lead of the night, a bulge that would widen to 15 as Rodriguez marshaled a steal and a lay up.
Corley scored in the paint but Seward worked the clock. Bailey picked up his first foul on an offensive incursion. Watson’s three rimmed out. Robinson rose up in the paint to make it 57-46 with 1:35. Foertsch cut it further at 57-48 with 58 seconds remaining.
DeGraw mugged Smith to stop the clock as Fallsburg had fouls to give. A trey by DeGraw made it 57-51. Bailey hit one of two from the stripe. Seward picked up another point from the charity stripe. A miss of a trey by Corley was a dagger for the Comets as that would have cut the Spartans’ lead to five.
Fallsburg had outscored Seward 15-11 in the final stanza but it wasn’t enough despite Robinson’s six in the quarter, Corley’s four, a DeGraw trey and two points from Foertsch.
The Comets fell to 10-5 (6-2 OCIAA), while Seward improved to 11-3 (6-0 OCIAA).
Bailey led all scorers with 22 points. Smith had ten. The Spartans were 12/17 from the stripe for 70.5%.
Robinson led the Comets with 15. Corley and DeGraw had 14 apiece.
Prowess at the point: Seward benefits from the steady leadership of junior Kevin Smith at the point guard position. Here he dribbles as Fallsburg's Sam Didinsky looks to keep tabs on him.
Bailey who remembers well last year’s encounters with Fallsburg as well as this year’s said, “This was huge. It gives us a better chance in the playoffs. We got a better seeding and it feels good to win against a division rival. We work very well together. We’re friends outside of basketball,” he noted.
Gravelle was elated by the victory and agreed with this writer’s assertion that this was a total team effort. “We said right before the game that it’s not about any one of us. It’s about all of us and that’s the way we played tonight. I had a lot of kids grow up tonight and really become great varsity basketball players,” he averred.
Gravelle eschewed the idea that last year’s loss on this floor had any residue with this year’s team. “We graduated all of those players. This year’s team has had a chip on its shoulder all year long to prove the section and everybody else wrong who said we graduated our best players. We still have players,” he declared.
“These kids were so calm in school today, on the ride and when we got here and I had big hopes.” Asked about the team’s chemistry which appeared seamless, Gravelle was quick to point out, “It hasn’t always been that way. We’ve had games where we played like we did tonight and others nothing like this. Every game is close. It doesn’t matter who we play. There’s nothing accomplished yet and we know that and that’s what I’m going to preach when I get in that locker room,” he vowed.
After all, with Pine Plains in the stands, the remainder of the challenge ahead was impossible to avoid. “We know where they stand and the air up there is mighty thin. They’re phenomenal and that’s not coach speak. It will take somebody’s man-size effort to beat them. They beat my team last year and I felt like my team was very good. They are legit,” he concluded.
Seward has remaining division games against Tuxedo, Tri-Valley, Eldred and Chester.
Fallsburg Coach Pete Dworetsky summed things up this way. “I thought our attitude and effort were right tonight. We worked hard but we had a couple of problems as far as assignments go. Anytime they got an open shot they hit it and that was the difference in the game,” he offered.
“They brought their ‘A’ game tonight and it seemed like every time we’d make a run they’d come down the floor and hit a three. It kind of killed our momentum. Sometimes we didn’t do a good enough job moving the ball at the offensive end for the best possible shot. At times we needed to make the extra pass. We’d kick it out and then have a better position inside but instead we’d try taking it in from the top ourselves.”
He reiterated that he was happy with the effort and the fact that the team stayed together. “We still have the sectional tournament,” he noted but turned his immediate concerns to a road game at Tri-Valley. “It’s tough on the road,” he noted recalling his team’s recent defeat against Livingston Manor. “They’re a quality team and they’ll do well in Class D but we didn’t execute well enough.
He concluded by noting, “We were down by 15 in the fourth quarter tonight and we battled back to within six. If Russell made that three we’ve got ourselves a ball game,” he noted.
The gym was quiet by the time this writer left but the real noise and the hoopla of Class C boys basketball is coming and both of these teams will be integral parts of that tableau.
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