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SCCC Invite BOYS - A

Cold Shooting sinks Eldred

Frank Rizzo
Posted 12/21/20

Published December 21, 1993

LOCH SHELDRAKE - Every basketball coach will tell you that defense is the one thing you can control, a variable that, unlike shooting, isn't subject to luck or cold …

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SCCC Invite BOYS - A

Cold Shooting sinks Eldred

Posted

Published December 21, 1993

LOCH SHELDRAKE - Every basketball coach will tell you that defense is the one thing you can control, a variable that, unlike shooting, isn't subject to luck or cold or hot streaks.

Nothing better illustrated this than Eldred's 53-33 loss to Chester in the SCCC Invitational Boys Division A Bracket championship game. While its offense was inconsistent, Eldred's defense held the Hambletonians to their lowest point total of the season.

Chester (5-0) had been averaging 75.5 points a game in establishing itself as the early Class D favorite. Four of its wins have come against Western Sullivan League teams and have been by an average margin of 32 points.

After Scott Ross connected on a fadeaway to give the Yellowjackets a 2-2 tie at the 6:10 mark, Eldred shooters went cold. The next time Eldred scored, via Erik Hofmans' two foul shots with 44 seconds left in the first half, Chester had a 21-2 lead and would head into the locker room up 25-4.

The shooting chart showed that Eldred made only one out of 18 shots in the first half and missed all nine attempts from three-point range, usually one of the staples of the Yellowjacket offense.

Eldred shooters regained their eye in the second half, shooting 9-of-16, and the Yellowjackets wound up outscoring Chester 29-28. But, after that horrendous first half, Eldred had no chance to catch up.

Chester coach Verdelle Payne said his team used a diamond-and-one on Eldred point guard Adam Cyrek and tried to deny the ball to Scott Ross.

“We took away his (Ross) three-point shot and the baseline (drive) so that he had nowhere to go but back to the point guard - who's overcovered. I think that caused confusion.”

Ross wound up leading Eldred (2-3) with eight points. Tim Milisauskas and Pat McLoughlin added seven points each while Cyrek hit two three-pointers in the second half. Tourney MVP Steve Luciana scored 16 points and Jason Turner (16) and Kevin Wright (13) also scored in double figures for Chester.

“Fundamentally, we were excellent. We just couldn't make our shots,” said Eldred coach Charlie Donnelly. “Hopefully, this game will get (poor shooting) out of our system.

“I was very pleased with my players, especially with the way they came back in the second half,” Donnelly added. “Chester's a very good basketball team and we held them to 53 points.”

Steve Luciana of Chester was the MVP, and the rest of the all-tourney team consisted of Matt McCaffrey (Seward), Tim Milisauskas (Eldred), Adam Cyrek (Eldred), Jason Turner (Chester) and Kevin Wright (Chester).

Consolation Game

In the A Bracket consolation game, Roscoe dropped a 56-43 decision to S.S. Seward. With the score 22-19 in their favor at the half, the Spartans put on an 11-2 spurt at the start of the third to put the game out of reach. Roscoe had beaten Seward a week before.

“They've improved a lot in the course of the year,” said Roscoe coach Fred Ahart. “We had early shooting problems today. We couldn't get the running game going, and they did a better job of controlling the pace.”

J.R. DeVantier led Roscoe (3-3) with 14 points.

Opening Round

Chester routed Roscoe 93-48 on Thursday evening to stop the Blue Devils' three-game winning streak. The Hambletonians' stingy defense and turnover-fueled offense put them ahead 13-0 before Roscoe could score and ended the quarter with a 27-7 lead. Troy Evans scored 11 points to lead Roscoe.

Juniors Adam Cyrek and Tim Milisauskas scored 16 points each to lead Eldred to a 54-49 victory over S.S. Seward.

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