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Closing Bell (Buzzer) Signals Profitable Sullivan West Win Over Tri-Valley But Both Teams Yield Valuable Dividends From Investment Of Hard Work In Hotly Contested Non-League Fray
Sullivan West 58, Tri-Valley 48
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Bull or Bear Market? Scenes from the Sullivan West non-league victory over Tri-Valley (Clockwise)Tri-Valley's Dave Donovan looks to dribble around Sullivan West's Sawyer Erlwein, SW's Patrick Pierce opens the second half by tying the game and then giving his team the lead. He scored a game-high 18 points on the night. Sullivan West cheerleaders pay close attention as the game gets dicey and close in the fourth quarter. SW senior E.J. Franskevicz cans one of his two treys on the night. Tri-Valley's James Pugh fires a three over the head of Matt Cardona. T-V's Jesus Lozada cans one of his two three-pointers. E.J. Franskevicz dribbles as he is guarded by James Pugh.
LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY—To some people, basketball and the stock market may seem as unlike as apples and oranges .But in fact the seemingly disparate worlds are actually quite analogous. Both involve investment with the potential for gain or loss and both are subject to a variety of influences that can lead to positive or negative trends.
For those not familiar with the terms, a Bull market is one that is defined by an upward trend, while a Bear market is one seemingly hampered by a downward trend. Stocks go up and down as each day brings a certain degree of uncertainty as to the outcome. Fluctuation is a natural part of the economy as it is with basketball teams whose stock seems to rise or fall based on the acquisition of valuable wins or their troubles in doing so.
One day on the Stock Exchange is only part of a larger picture. Barring a crash such as the momentous one of 1929 or the more recent miasma of 2008, one day’s loss can be offset by the next day’s gain. Similarly the outcome of a particular basketball game is not a life or death matter unless it is requisite to making the playoffs or to the continuance of play in the tenuous life of the postseason.
Sullivan West's Sawyer Erlwein looks to pass the ball as he is closely guarded by T-V's Cody Exner.
What coaches and players hope is that their continued investment in their system, their commitment towards hard work and a bevy of talent will yield dividends in the long run.
Savvy coaches teach their teams the right investment strategy including what moves to make, when to make them and which ones to avoid.
It’s an ongoing process and for players who return to the sport from past campaigns, the accumulation of priceless knowledge and skills is bankrolled from one year to the next.
While basketball is a winter sport in high school, interrupted by subsequent athletic endeavors in spring, summer and fall, it has an ongoing life from year to year. The Tri-Valley community remembers like it was yesterday when they traveled to Westbury L.I. to watch their Section Nine Class C Bear fall one game shy of going to Glens Falls in 2007.
Likewise many Sullivan West denizens hearken back to the glory days of 2004 and 2005 playing in the Sectional finals against Red Hook and Burke.
Though they lost both of those games, they were subsequently crowned 2005 champs when Burke had its victories vacated for using an ineligible player. Unfortunately it was after most of the team had graduated.
Tri-Valley’s girls won the Section Nine title last year and that was indeed more than momentous but for both schools the realm of boys basketball has been rather bleak.
It wasn’t just Tri-Valley that had a “Bearish” season a year ago with its insufficient accrual of wins, the same held true for the Sullivan West Bulldogs whose one win was anything but “Bullish.”
Tug of War: Sullivan West's Sawyer Erlwein and Tri-Valley's Conor Walsh have exchanged their football ferocity for basketball and neither one will give an inch as they tug at a loose ball.
But this is a new year and things are looking far brighter for both teams. Needless to say their non-league clash on January 4 was going to result in a win for one and a loss for the other but regardless of the outcome, which ultimately fell in Sullivan West’s favor, there would be priceless experience from the rigors of the fray that both teams can profit from once their league seasons get underway one week hence.
Sullivan West came in with a 3-3 record, while the Bears who were 3-2 were still relishing the newfound feelings of being .500 or above, something they didn’t achieve a year ago. A rich rivalry in football, baseball, golf and track has made encounters between the schools events that bring fans out in force despite the 80-mile roundtrip excursion between the two schools.
Bears Get Out To The Early Lead
Tri-Valley’s Conor Walsh controlled the tip against Sullivan West’s Patrick Pierce and a quick dish from Greg Swarthout to Walsh netted the first points of the game. A steal and bucket by James Pugh made it four-zip as the Bears used early quickness to the basket to their advantage.
Tri-Valley's Shatik Smith drives by Sullivan West's Brad Hemmer who would have his own shining moment by hitting a turnaround jumper to widen the Westies' lead late in the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer by E.J Franskevicz made it 4-3 but the Bears would take advantage of early SW defensive laxity to fire up a quartet of treys in the opening stanza enroute to a 21-10 first quarter lead. Those long-range missiles came from Pugh, Jesus Lozada, Cody Exner and Dave Donovan. Moving well without the ball and coming off screens, the Bears poured it on as Westie defenders failed to close on shooters beyond the arc.
Sullivan West Coach Bruce Nober knew exactly what was wrong as he would later note, “We werent’ playing good defense, not closing on shooters or hedging screens. Nor were we in the passing lanes. It’s easy for teams to run their offensive stuff when there’s no ball pressure or help defense,” he averred.
Good teams make adjustments and Sullivan West was going to need more offense than the ten points it had mustered in the opening eight minutes six of which had come from a pair of Franskevicz threes and a bucket apiece from Pierce and Andrew Parsons.
Change of Polarity
When the buzzer sounded to start the second quarter it signaled a polar shift. Not only were Tri-Valley’s shots failing to fall, but the Bears got away from what had worked early on and settled instead for what Coach Brian Tingley would later describe as just “passing and cutting.” Those aspects are a part of T-V’s offensive strategy but far from all of it. Sullivan West upped its defensive verve as it jumped the passing lanes and closed on shooters.
The result was a 14-5 SW scoring advantage in the frame reducing Tri-Valley’s lead to a mere two at 26-24 by halftime. Half of the Westies pointed came from an enlivened Pierce who had a trey as part of his onslaught. Two points each from Sawyer Erlwein and Matt Cardona coupled with a bucket and a free throw from Andrew Parsons. Erlwein fired a shot from beyond half court that threatened to go in as the buzzer sounded the end of the first half.
Tri-Valley coach Brian Tingley draws up a scheme during a timeout while his players look on with rapt attention.
Tingley counseled his team to get back to what they know how to do well. He fully expected the Bears to come out and reassert themselves and had to be shocked as his team was outhustled on two straight plays by Pierce who tied the score and then gave the Westies the lead they would never relinquish.
Eight straight Bulldog points were the second half welcome they extended to the Bears who couldn’t buy a shot until Swarthout finally scored halfway through the period. Holding the Bears to eight points in the quarter, the Bulldogs scored 18 to pull ahead 42-34 heading into the final frame.
The Bears inbounded the ball but Pugh promptly turned it over. Far from an auspicious start but the Bulldogs would make their fair share of mistakes too as this game got close. Pugh made amends with a trey to cut the lead in half at 42-39. Tri-Valley turned it over again but Parsons picked up his fourth foul, the team’s fifth.
T-V’s Devin Donnolly missed a potential game-tying three and at the other end of the floor Franskevicz went baseline and scored a valuable bucket to push the lead to 44-39. Pugh missed a trey but Pierce traveled as nails were being bitten on both sets of bleachers by anxious fans who knew this game was up for grabs.
With starting senior point guard John Masten out sick, Nober had to rely on other people to handle the ball, something Masten does well. One of those people was Brad Hemmer who proceeded to can a turnaround jumper that was huge as it extended the lead to 46-39. The Bears countered with a trey from Cody Exner. Speaking of missing players, the Bears were without tall tree Alex Brown who was out sick.
Slash and burn: Sullivan West's Matt Cardona slides along the baseline and sends in two off the glass. The fiery junior was quiet in the first half with just two points. He poured in 11 in the second half to make up for it.
Games are often won or lost on the free throw line and the Bulldogs would soon get a chance to control their own destiny from the charity stripe. In the fourth quarter they shot eight for 12 on their way to a 12-for-19 night for a 63 percent success rate. The Bears had only six attempts on the night of which they made two for 33 percent. Do the math: the ten point SW margin of victory was akin to their edge at the stripe.
The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 16-14 in the final quarter for the 58-48 win which improved their record to 4-3. The Bears fell to 3-3 and with a home league game against powerful Seward on January 7 they run the risk of dropping below .500 for the first time this season. The Bulldogs will look to add to their winning ways as they take on Chapel Field.
Aside from Pierce’s 18, the Bulldogs got 13 points from Cardona, 11 of which came in the second half. Franskevicz contributed 12. Pugh led the Bears with ten, while Lozada and Exner had eight apiece.
“We’re a better defensive team than we showed tonight,”said Nober who noted the improvement after the first quarter but who avers there’s much better play to be shown by his squad.
Tingley summed things up thusly: “We had a good start, going to the basket but we stopped setting screens or using other people as screens. This was the first team that played us man-to-man all night but we knew that coming in,” he said. Tingley used a mix of man and zone defense and admitted his team was caught betwixt and between a couple of times when he called for a shift a bit too late.
Sullivan West turned the ball over 20 times on the night (eight and 12 in the two halves respectively). The Bears turned it over half as much (six and four). The Bears had eight treys in the game with two each from Pugh, Exner, Lozada along with one apiece from Rodney Jester and Donovan.
Fans will continue to invest their hope in the ongoing ascendancy of their beloved teams. As for this writer, I’m Bullish on both squads and plan to see the Bears in the Class C playoffs as well as the Bulldogs in the Class B postseason wars. Ante up your enthusiasm people. It’s a sound investment that will bring great rewards no matter what the final outcome.
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