The Eleventh Hour
Sullivan West Picks Up Its 11th Win Of The Season In Non-League Dominance Of Eldred; Yellow Jackets’ Sectional Hopes Now Hinge On Winning Out Over Remaining Five Games
Sullivan West 56, Eldred 36
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com Photos at www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Scenes from the Sullivan West vs. Eldred non-league clash (clockwise) E.J. Franskevicz looks to pay Eldred back for a 52-49 defeat to the Yellow Jackets back in 2010 as he rises up for a shot. Franskevicz had an off night with only eight points but created havoc for the Jackets defensively. Battle of the bigs: Eldred's P.J. Collins arcs a shot over a leaping Patrick Pierce. Collins had 17 points in the game. Sullivan West junior Sawyer Erlwein capitalizes on a steal with this lay up. He scored 15 points on the night. P.J. Collins rejects a shot by Sullivan West's Drew Parsons. Sullivan West Coach Bruce Nober has orchestrated an amazing turnaround for the Bulldogs in his first year at the helm. They currently have 11 wins, ten more than in each of the past two seasons. Here he draws up a scheme during a time out. Eldred freshman Bray Curreri shows his accuracy from beyond the arc.
LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY—As midnight approaches on the regular season, that bewitching hour looms as a markedly different moment for Sullivan West and Eldred.
For the 11-4 Class B Westies who have already clinched a sectional berth, the anticipation of going to the Section Nine ball will seem enchanting to say the least following two one-win seasons. Though they already know the pressure is off on making it to the big dance, the euphoric anticipation of being on the brink of playing in sectionals will be intoxicating to say the least.
A warrior at both ends of the floor: Sullivan West's Matt Cardona led his team with 22 points, while defensively proving monstrous. Here he blocks a shot with authority put up by Eldred's Mike Donnelly.
But for Class C Eldred following this deflating 56-36 non-league loss to its infrequently encountered neighbor, the clock striking twelve could signal the death knell to sectional hopes unless they can run the table on their remaining five games against Chapel Field, Roscoe, a home senior night clash with Seward, a victory at Family and an upset of Tri-Valley on its senior night.
For the team’s five seniors that include tall tree P.J. Collins, Brian Hazen, Matt Bisland, Chris Fredericks and R.J. Stymacks, the sense of urgency is inescapable. In the final seconds of their post-game huddle in the locker room, Hazen, a three-sport warrior who is anxiously awaiting word from West Point on his application for admission, summoned his team with an impassionate plea.
“We don’t want to go out like this,” he implored. And you can be sure that the Killer Bees will return to their hive against Chapel Field with all of their venom to try and stave off a loss that would make the rest of the season moot.
It’s a tall order but as Coach J.J. Gass sees, it, “We have to take it one game at a time. If we play well, we can hang with anybody,” he affirms. And with Collins who along with Sullivan West junior Matt Cardona, turned this game into a block party, Eldred has an interior weapon of mass destruction. Collins scored 17 points in this game while he altered and blocked shots within his purview. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
The problem for the Yellow Jackets is not Collins’ ability to go up and score or to alertly kick it back out to others who are often more open on the perimeter, it’s the fact that Eldred’s guards don’t do an adequate job of getting the ball into him.
That flaw has cost Eldred a couple of close games including a recent three-point league loss to Chester in a game the ‘Jackets led from the opening tip until the 2 ½ minute mark of the fourth quarter. They missed a shot at the buzzer. The defeat was reminiscent of a close encounter of the losing kind to Tri-Valley. Now it’s do or die. Coming into this fray, Eldred was hoping to stage a replay of its epic 52-49 victory over the Westies back in January of 2010.
Get a ladder! There's not much you can do to alter this as P.J. Collins scores two of his team-high 17 points.
That night it was Sullivan West that couldn’t close the deal as they allowed the Yellow Jackets to come back from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game twice before winning it by dint of a trio of free throws. Current Sullivan West seniors including John Masten and E.J. Franskevicz remember that game all too well.
Those were grim times for the then 1-11 Sullivan West Bulldogs and halcyon days for Eldred which had just won Section Nine Class D and Regional Semifinal football honors by downing Chester and Tuckahoe. Its girls basketball team was in the throes of greatness too and cross-country runners Hunter Proscia and Christine Donnelly were state contenders. Those were Green days indeed.
But on this Groundhog Day, the skies continue to sport the hue of Carolina Blue and for the Dawg veterans in particular, the agenda was clear: Don’t let that Giant PJeach propel his team to a win on our court, avowed the Bulldogs who claimed this as their time to shine.
Coming out of the shadows of recent years’ struggles, the Bulldogs are predicting more weeks of winter basketball success as they looked to upstage Punxsutawney Phil in the local nightly news.
Collins controlled the opening tip against Patrick Pierce who was playing his first game back from a bout of strep throat. Pierce had a tall order on his plate in trying to front Collins all night. Given his somewhat diminished verve from his recent illness and Collins’ ability to send shots in the paint hurtling back towards the floor with authority, it seemed clear that the Bulldogs were going to have to get their scoring from others.
Enter junior Matt Cardona who could arguably be named as the team’s MVP this season. Cardona recently led the team to its sectional-clinching win over Tuxedo. His heroics against Monticello were the stuff of legend and on this night, he’d pen another chapter in his ascendant legacy with a game-high 22 points and a spate of blocks authored by his leaping ability and quick reflexes.
Cardona would be ably abetted by junior Sawyer Erlwein who poured in 15 points. Both had to be pleased with the result. Franskevicz struggled in this one in terms of his scoring and his frustrations were written all over his face and in his body language. But the stalwart senior’s defensive verve was right on cue as was that of his teammates who have molded themselves into a unit that applies intense ball pressure and great rotating help.
Sullivan West cheerleader Ali Vertress takes to the floor during a time out as the Lady Bulldogs now down to just seven loyal and stalwart cheerleaders do their part to keep spirits running high.
Sullivan West Coach Bruce Nober understood coming in that to diminish Collins’ effectiveness, his team would need to do just that. That became eminently clearer as Collins blocked four or five shots in the opening minutes of the game.
“We came out a little slow but we made some adjustments by trying to put more pressure on their guards and by picking up the intensity of our defense. We wanted to make it difficult for them to get the pass into him and we were somewhat successful in the first half and far more successful in the second half,” he noted.
Sullivan West led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter though it was Eldred that drew first blood with a bucket from Bisland. Both teams had turnovers in the early going. Collins rejected a shot by Pierce as the din from the Bulldog Dawg Pound began to gather force. Franskevicz gave the Bulldogs their first lead with a trey as they pulled ahead 4-2. Anthony Margarum tied it back as Eldred was playing with intensity from the get-go.
Collins helped Eldred regain the lead but Sullivan West would go on to outscore Eldred 7-2 to marshal the 11-8 lead by the end of the stanza. Another trey by Franskevicz and two points apiece from Erlwein and Drew Parsons accounted for the canine count. Erlwein’s bucket came via a great dish from Franskevicz across the lane. Margarum added another bucket for the Bees in the opening period of play.
The game remained close in the second quarter as the Bulldogs took a 29-22 lead into halftime. Parsons drew the Pound’s accolades as he blocked a shot by Collins from behind at the start of the second quarter. Pierce dished to Erlwein for two in the paint but Eldred freshman guard Bray Curreri answered with a trey to keep it close at 13-11.
Cardona replied with a missile from beyond the arc. He’d soon follow up a miss of his own with a put back. Collins responded as Eldred hung close at 18-15. Collins rejected another Pierce attempt. For a non-league game, this one was proving to be rather riveting and quite entertaining.
Collins picked up foul number two as did Sullivan West’s Masten. Cardona blocked a shot and then rejected an inbounds pass as the Dawg Pound practiced their chants and rants for the coming rematch with Liberty.
The second quarter was Eldred’s best as they poured in 14 points that included a trey from Nick Dilles to go along with the aforementioned one from Curreri. Collins scored six in the stanza and Margarum added a deuce.
Scrambled legs: Eldred's Nick Dilles and Sullivan West's Drew Parsons get tangled up diving for loose ball as E.J. Franskevicz looks to claim it too before it goes out of bounds.
But the Bulldogs trumped that with 18 points in the frame, 13 of which came from Cardona. Erlwein and Franskevicz contributed a bucket apiece and Parsons added one from the stripe.
With a renewed defensive vigor in the second half, the Bulldogs held Eldred to just nine points in the third quarter. Collins has six of those and Margarum ended his nightly tally with a shot that would give him eight on the night. Hazen hit one of two from the stripe for a disconcerting total of one point in the fray.
The Bulldogs scored 15 in the third quarter as Cardona led the way with six. The Westies got four points apiece from Erlwein and Pierce as they led 44-31 after three quarters.
The Bulldogs closed the deal with a 12-5 advantage in the final frame. Erlwein lit it up with a pair of treys, while Cardona and Pierce went four-for-four from the stripe. That said, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for Adam Talbi who got some rare moments to play as he came off the bench and scored a bucket to the delight of his fanbase in the now totally rabid Dawg Pound.
Collin had three of Eldred’s final five points. Curreri had the other two for the Yellow Jackets.
Sullivan West 11-4 shot 11-for-19 from the stripe (57.8%), while Eldred 4-9 made two-of-ten for an unimpressive 20%.
Sullivan West will have a week to prepare for its rematch with Liberty, a team that is attempting to make its case for a plea to a Section Nine basketball committee that could rule on the Indians’ admission to the Class B Sectionals.
The Indians’ 60-38 win over the Bulldogs on January 10 was reversed when the district discovered that Yovanni Fields was in his fifth year of school and therefore ineligible. Liberty’s four wins including its league win over the Westies were wiped out.
In the story entitled “Revelry and Rivalry, the incredible atmosphere of the game and the competitive vibe between the two schools that has grown to epic proportions was delineated in this writer’s best prose. Read it or re-read it to understand the coming tsunami of the rematch set for the Dawg House on February 10. http://74.220.215.54/~sportsi2/revelry-and-rivalry/
Liberty Coach Mike Salvia was in the stands to scout out the Bulldogs for that coming do-or-die encounter for the Indians. Nober admits to having watched the game film from the first encounter at least 25 times to assess what needs to be tweaked to reverse the outcome.
“They nipped us up there and we’ll try to make some adjustments to beat them on our court,” he noted. The Bulldogs have one game a week for the next three weeks. Following Liberty, it will be a senior night home clash with Burke followed by a trip to O’Neill.
Sullivan West vs. Liberty redux? A "Thriller" in the making.
Yes my friends, Midnight approaches and in the words of the late, great Michael Jackson it’s gonna be a “Thriller.”
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