“C” Change
Fallsburg Holds Sway Over New Array Of Lady Spartans In First League Match Up Of the New Year; Seward Hurt By Five Veteran Opt-Out As Former State Contender Goes To War Without Fire-Tested Platoon
Fallsburg 46, S.S. Seward 37
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from Fallsburg's league victory over S.S. Seward (clockwise): Fallsburg's Celia Garcia opens the scoring with a three-pointer. She ended up with 11 points on the night. Seward Coach Joe DiMattina draws up a scheme for an offensive set. Fallsburg's Shanice Mack scores two of her game-high 13 points on the night. Pressure defense by Fallsburg's Celia Garcia and Shanice Mack bottle up Seward's Brittany Siezcek. Fallsburg Coach Daniel Redmond uses a time out to stress consistency. Seward junior Julie Allen advances the ball up the floor as Fallsburg's Sheryl Pinder eyes her closely.
FALLSBURG, NY- “The Times They Are A-Changing,” the title of a sixties anthem by Bob Dylan seems timelessly relevant nowadays in so many respects. 2011 was marked by uprisings and protests aimed at seeking greater democracy and justice. Time Magazine selected “Protester” as the Man of the year. Change has become the byword of our times.
Sports mirrors life as I’ve often noted and as such, change is as inevitable in the hierarchy of athletics as it is in other aspects of human enterprise. “The first one now will later be last,” sang Dylan, predicting an inversion of the political and social paradigm. Those words and their opposite implication that those who once were at the bottom would soar to new heights, reflect the kind of shift we seem to see all around us.
When it comes to the Lady Spartans of S.S. Seward, the idea of change now applies to basketball, though remarkably, not to soccer.
Ever the threat to drive to the rim or square up to shoot the long ball, Fallsburg's Sheryl Pinder is much on the mind of opposing coaches. On nights when Fallsburg gets balanced scoring from other players, the Lady Comets are dangerous to say the least.
Under the watch of Coach Joe DiMattina, Seward has had an incredible amount of success in both sports. Selected by The Times Herald-Record as Coach of the Year in both girls soccer and basketball in 2006 and 2007, DiMattina has inspired an unfathomable run by the Lady Spartans in soccer. This past fall he steered his team to its 11th straight Section Nine title, eight of those coming since his arrival from Tuxedo in 2004.
Two state soccer championships and a bevy of trips to the final four have defined one of the most salient small school records of success in NYSPHSAA history.
And for a few seasons, success on the hardwood was impressive too. The Lady Spartans were Section Nine Class C champs in 2004-05. In 2006-07 they won Section Nine again and lost in the state final to Hammond 52-51.In 2007-08 they lost in the quarterfinals to Haldane. Small schools are particularly vulnerable to the ebb and flow of talent, but Seward has proven itself to be a rare exception to that precept in other sports including boys soccer, boys basketball and more recently in cross-country and track.
Looking forward to this season, DiMattina fully expected a veteran team to be taking the floor in the daunting Class C wars that now include rival Tuxedo down from Class B, as well as Tri-Valley, Fallsburg and Chester. But instead he discovered that five players he expected to be a part of this year’s campaign found various reasons to not come out. The result was obvious in the Lady Spartan’s first league encounter of the year, a January 3 tilt with the host Lady Comets of Fallsburg, a team rife with experience and talent that resulted in the 46-37 Fallsburg victory.
Coach Daniel Redmond’s strategy was to press Seward and to control the offensive and defensive glass. Most importantly, Redmond knew that his team needed a balanced attack, not a one-person show. By night’s end the Lady Comets would have a trio of players in double figures as Shanice Mack would lead all scorers with 13 points, followed by 11 each from Kelsey Moody and Celia Garcia.
Garcia opened the scoring with a swishing three less than a minute into the game. In that opening minute each team had turned the ball over. Seward would suffer from far more of these exchanges than Fallsburg by night’s end.
Seward's Kelsey O'Dell looks to pass the ball as she is closely guarded by Fallsburg's Kelsey Moody.
Mack’s turnaround jumper and a pair of free throws from Sheryl Pinder led to a 7-0 Fallsburg lead. Seward shots weren’t dropping. Mack had a put back on the weak side to make it 9-0. The Comets led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter as Moody scored four. Seward got its first basket at 1:31 of the first quarter as Maggie Paras finally ended the drought. Veteran Lindsey Dunn provided the other bucket for the Lady Spartans.
DiMattina consistenly drew up the strategy for the offensive sets but it took the Lady Spartans quite some time to execute what he called for. When they did, it worked. The question he posited was would they continue to do so on subsequent trips. As the game moved along there was certainly an improvement over the miasma of the first half.
The Lady Comets led 22-12 at the half, as their second quarter production diminished. They outscored Seward 9-8 in the second stanza. Seward got six of its eight points from Kelsey O’Dell but foul trouble would consign her to miss valuable minutes in the second half. Junior sparkplug Julie Allen provide the other two points in the quarter.
She looked impressive with her hustle and her ability to distribute the ball from the point.
Fallsburg’s second quarter output came via six points from Mack, two from Nyasia Harris and a free throw from Garcia.
Fallsburg erupted for 16 points in the third quarter led by seven from Moody to go along with a trey from Samantha Rivera, a bucket from Pinder and three free throws from Garcia who ended up shooting six-for-nine from the stripe. The Lady Comets were 12-for-24 (50%) by night’s end from the line.
A big edge in rebounding by bigs Moody and Mack helped Fallsburg to dominate the inside game and score many points in the paint.
Seward got five of its nine third quarter points from Brittany Siezcek. Allen and Amanda Tantillo scored a bucket apiece in the period.
Fallsburg's Kali Seastrand soars above the crowd. The Lady Comets will bring their spirit and verve to the Monticello Cheerleading Competition on January 7.
Seward saved the best for last as it amassed 16 points in the final frame to double up Fallsburg’s eight in the stanza. Seven of Seward’s points came from Dunn who had swished a three. She ended up with nine to lead the Lady Comets on the night. Allen added four, Sieczek had a trey and Katie Moos added a bucket to bring the orange total to 37 on the night, the most points they’ve scored in their 3-3 season to date. They are 0-1 in Division V.
Four of Fallsburg’s final eight points came from Garcia. Mack and Moody had a bucket apiece in the final frame. Fallsburg is now 4-3 (1-2 OCIAA). Fallsburg lost to Chester and Eldred in prior league games.
DiMattina viewed this as his team’s best game to date. “We’ve been having a slow start because of losing those girls who didn’t come out.” He praised the play of Allen at the point guard who has had to adjust to stepping into that position, a different role from the one she played a year ago.
“It’s just a new team. It takes getting to know each other a little bit more, knowing where we fit in and knowing our role,” said DiMattina. “We know it’s going to be rough in Class C this year but I’m hoping that we play a little bit more aggressively.
It was positive that we were able to score when Lindsey (Dunn) was on the bench. She missed a third of the game.
Redmond knows his work over the past four years is paying off. “I thought our defense did well in spurts. We pressed them at times though we’ve had to change things up in that regard due to the season-ending injury of Paige Seletsky who tore her ACL in Fallsburg’s recent win over Livingston Manor.
“That’s a huge loss in terms of her hustle points and her defense. We’ll have to do the best without her. We brought in Samantha Rivera who played JV last year. She’s not scared to shoot the ball. Kelsey and Shanice have been playing well together. Redmond reiterated the need for balanced scoring when the load doesn’t have to fall solely on Sheryl Pinder.
Redmond knows his team will be tested against the other league opponents besides Chester and Eldred. They play Tuxedo and Chester in back-to-back home games on January 17-18. “We ready for the challenge and we play so much better on our court. I was able to get a lot of subs in tonight.”
Fallsburg travels to play Family School on January 5 and then on to Roscoe on January 9 before heading to Tri-Valley on January 13. The Lady Spartans host Tri-Valley on January 5, travel to Eldred on January 9 and then host Tuxedo on January 13.
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