ELDRED — After their non-league loss to Tri-Valley on Wednesday evening, the Eldred Yellowjackets had a quick turnaround before their home matchup against Livingston Manor. The Wildcats came to town Thursday night, and despite a strong second half effort from the Yellowjackets, Livingston Manor was able to hang on for the 49-37 victory.

Livingston Manor kicked the hornets’ nest early, jumping out to a nice 11-point lead by the end of the first quarter after allowing just three points of offense to Eldred. The two teams were tied at three apiece early, but Livingston Manor scored 11 straight points to close out the quarter.

Strong defense was on display from both sides, with neither team willing to concede easy baskets to their opponents in the early going. Eldred’s offense was able to break through in the second quarter, getting seven points and reaching double digits by halftime. Livingston Manor, on the other hand, netted 13 and almost doubling their score by the break to lead 27-10.

With a 17-point lead at the half, it looked like the Wildcats would be able to cruise to victory, but the Yellowjackets came out of the break intent on crawling back into the game.

At the start of the third, Eldred quickly netted back-to-back baskets and forced Livingston Manor to take a timeout. The timeout failed to break Eldred’s momentum as they continued their run, extending it to 14-2 and cutting the Livingston Manor lead down to five with four minutes to play in the third.

During the third quarter run, Trai Kaufmann was able to earn a steal and knockdown a transition dunk to ignite the crowd forcing another Livingston Manor timeout.

After their lead dwindled to just five points, urgency returned to the Wildcats who began a run of their own, outscoring Eldred 11-2 to close out the third quarter and increase their lead back to 14 points.

Livingston Manor scored the first basket of the fourth, increasing their lead to 16 before Eldred answered with five straight points to get the lead down to 11. The teams exchanged buckets for the final few minutes, but Eldred was unable to capitalize on defensive stops and go on a run, ultimately falling 49-37 to the Wildcats.

Aiden Johnston was lights out for the Wildcats in the game, scoring 20 points with a perfect 8/8 from the free throw line. The Wildcats shot 13/17 from the line, an impressive 76 percent for the team.

Eldred was led by Deyermond (19) and Kaufmann (15) with the bulk of their points being netted in the second half. 

“Basketball is four quarters,” Coach Bill Furler said. “We had too many turnovers in the first half and put ourselves into a corner. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, they [Livingston Manor] are a good team. I love playing Manor, they’re a great, well-coached team.”

“We’re feeling good, it was a big win for us,” Livingston Manor Coach Charlie Hicks said. “Trai [Kaufmann] is one of the best players in the league and James [Deyermond] has grown a lot since last year. It’s always tough playing here, and even though the third quarter was a lull we came through when it mattered.”