By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
Where have these guys been?
Just six days after stunning Utica-Proctor, the 16th-ranked Class AA boys team in the state, unranked Fayetteville-Manlius did it again on Friday night, upsetting No. 9 Henninger in overtime, 48-42, in an Onondaga League inter-division basketball game.
Fayetteville-Manlius improved to 12-4 on the season, 9-1 atop the Onondaga League's Colonial American. Henninger fell to 14-2 overall, 11-2 in the Colonial National.
When F-M beat Proctor earlier in the week, the loss was the first of the season for Utica-based club.
"I do know I'm going to give my kids tomorrow (Sunday) off, and let them recover from all the emotion, and then we have to get back to work on Monday . . . it doesn't get any easier," F-M coach Tom Blackford told the Syracuse Post-Standard.
Though F-M made only 11 baskets for the game, five of them were 3-pointers. The Hornets made up for it at the free-throw line, converting 21 of 31 shots. Henninger, meanwhile, hit just one 3-pointer and went 7-of-17 from the line. All 10 of F-M's overtime points came on free throws.
F-M guard Brett Small led all scorers with 16 points. Forward Patrick Lee, who leads the team with 18.9 points per game, was held to six points. Henninger forward David Simmons led his team with 13 points before fouling out in overtime.
"It's not the end of the world,'' said Henninger coach Erik Saroney. "We would love the play (F-M) again in sectionals (Section 3). We have four games left to get ready for sectionals."
Notre Dame-Utica, New Hartford Play It (Close) Again
Notre Dame of Utica, the 10th-ranked Class A team in the state, beat rival New Hartford by a point for the second time this season, holding on for an 81-80 overtime victory before a crowd of 1,800 at Walsh Gymnasium in Utica on Friday.
Beck Dangler hit a long 3-pointer and all-state forward Kendrick Pollard converted two three throws in the final seconds of OT to secure the win for Notre Dame (16-2, 12-0).
Pollard, a 6-foot-5 senior, scored 20 points and had eight rebounds, while Dangler added 18 points and 11 rebounds; Steve Campbell had 18 points and eight rebounds and Dan Ruffrage added 14 points and 10 assists for the Jugglers.
Alex Prue led New Hartford (12-4, 9-2) with 26 points and 12 rebounds. New Hartford had trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half.
New Hartford's leading scorer, Ron Evans, fouled out with 1:41 left in regulation, but junior reserve Andy Roemer capped the Spartans' comeback with a game-tying 3-pointer from the left corner with 14 seconds remaining.
Notre Dame swept the regular-season series and clinched at least a tie for the TVL East Division title.
Niagara Falls Happy to Be Home
Niagara Falls returned to its stern home following a four-game road trip that included a loss at nationally-ranked Rice of New York City and a lackluster performance against Lockport. The Wolverines responded with a 90-50 rout of Lewiston-Porter in a Niagara Frontier League game.
"The little break that we had coming off our long road trip really helped," Niagara Falls coach Giulio Colangelo told the Niagara Gazette. "We played very well, especially defensively, tonight."
Niagara (12-1, 8-0) started quickly as Mike Crumpton scored eight of 12 points in the opening quarter to lift the Falls to an early 27-11 lead.
Then the Falls, the sixth-ranked Class AA team in the state, turned up the defensive heat and gave the Lancers all kinds of problems.
"We put in a different press to mix things up and we're pretty pleased with how it worked out," Colangelo said of his team's 25-8 advantage in the second quarter."
Niagara senior guard Johnny Flynn scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in the second, a period which also saw sophomore Kelvin Agee contribute nine of his 13 points. Flynn also had six assists and six steals on the night.
Rice's Pressure Too Much For Holy Cross
The speed and quickness of Rice's four-guard lineup was too much for Holy Cross to handle last week as No. 3 (in Class AA) Rice beat No. 4 Holy Cross, 83-72, in the Bronx.
Lamont Jones led Rice (13-2, 7-0 CHSAA AA West) with 22 points and Dorvell Carter added 14, Chris Fouche had 13 and Durand Scott and Kemba Walker each had 11.
Sylven Landesberg paced Holy Cross with a game-high 25 and Kayvon Roberts scored 21.
"The problem when you are playing against a team (Rice) that fast, you can't simulate that in practice," Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary told the Queens Currier. "There is nothing you can do in practice that properly prepares you for what the game is going to be like."
Holy Cross (12-3, 3-2 CHSAA AA East) would twice get within four points in the final eight minutes, but each time the Raiders answered.
"(Rice) kept throwing more and more pressure at us," said Holy Cross point guard Blaise Ffrench. "We weren't able to handle it."
"We understand the way they play the game now, how fast they are," said Landesberg. "We were told that, but we didn't really believe it. Now we see how fast they are."
Sands Breaks 1,000-Point Barrier For Carey
In a game that featured a pair of Ivy League recruits, the 6-foot-7 Yale-bound Mike Sands topped the 1,000-point mark for his career as Carey routed Roslyn, 63-42, in a Nassau Conference A-II game.
Princeton-bound swingman Jason Liberman was held to 10 points for Roslyn.
Sands sank a 10-foot baseline jumper in reaching 1,000 points. He finished 30 points and added 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.
"He (Sands) is a throwback," Roslyn coach Jeff Risener told Newsday. "He's a powerful player with a big body. He can create and rebound and block shots."
Carey improved to 8-4, 5-3 for the season.
MKL Team Resurrects it's Season
There's one thing for certain you can say about the Martin Luther King boys team, a team that was otherwise the epitome of uncertainty this season:
The Tigers have heart.
A week after its season was cancelled for unspecified reasons, Martin Luther King not only returned to the court, but turned in an inspiring performance against a strong Dobbs Ferry (10-4) team before dropping a 58-36 decision last Thursday.
The MLK team plays out of the high school at the Graham Home, a residential treatment center in Hastings-on-Hudson.
"The guys on this team were really upset when we first heard the season was canceled," MKL guard Andrew Bradley told the Journal News. "We were all looking for something else to do. We've all really looked forward to playing basketball this year and we didn't want to have it taken away."
In the end, they were allowed to keep what they coveted.
The Tigers, who had to forfeit two games last week before being reinstated, had to endure a long layoff. They went 10 days without practicing until last Wednesday.
"Our kids worked awfully hard tonight," coach Victor Laurenceau said. "These kids are fighters and they wanted to show that they can play. What happened internally shouldn't happened and the kids fought through it."
Said Dobbs Ferry coach Scott Patrillo: "We said at practice that 'Hey, this (MKL) team got their season back and they're going to come out hungry. After having their season stripped away and bringing you to the lowest-low, then getting reinstated and getting the highest-high, we knew they'd come out emotional and throw everything they had at us."
Playoffs On the Docket For Oneonta
Oneonta High, No. 13 in New York in Class B, clinched its first Southern Tier Athletic Conference playoff berth since the 2001-02 season by overwhelming Maine-Endwell Friday night, 67-31.
Brandon Southard and Dan O'Brien scored 14 points apiece for the Yellowjackets, who scored the game's first nine points and were not challenged thereafter in the home victory.
The win clinched the STAC's Central Division title for OHS (13-2, 10-1), which still has three league games left, including a showdown Tuesday at rival Norwich.
Oneonta will play Metro Division champion Binghamton or West Division champion Horseheads in a STAC semifinal Feb. 13 or 14 at the Broome County Arena. The STAC title game is Feb. 16 at the Arena.
"It's real big," Oneonta point guard D.J. Basile told the Oneonta Daily Star. "It's something I've always wanted, to get a chance to play at the Arena. We got to play there in the STOP-DWI Tournament (in late December), but unfortunately, we lost the title game (to Candor). We're going to go back and get revenge."
Tri-Valley Clinches in Orange County
Unbeaten Tri-Valley (No. 5 in Class C) clinched the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division V title with a 69-59 victory over host Chester Friday night.
John Merchant led Tri-Valley (13-0, 3-0 OCIAA) with 28 points. Dustin Van Lieu had 18 points and Fred Moore 11.
Matt Thomas' 20 points led Chester (9-3, 1-2 OCIAA). Guerino Saint-Pierre added 14 points and Max Laing scored 13.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com master photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area and a Northeast region columnist. He may be reached at j.stout@jmstout.org
