PA boys, NY girls win second Classic
By: Sam Wilson | Olean Times Herald | March 14, 2016 | Photo courtesy Paul Burdick Sports Images
PORTVILLE — Senior boys basketball stars from around the Big 30 let the three-point shot fly like the Golden State Warriors Sunday night.
In the second-ever Big 30 Basketball Senior Classic, New York and Pennsylvania’s boys teams combined for 31 treys. Pennsylvania hit 18 of them, mounting a 28-point lead before coasting to a 107-95 win.
The Pennsy boys tied the series after losing the inaugural Classic a year ago, while the New York girls knotted their series with a 67-44 win Sunday.
Mike Moses, a Portville assistant who coached the New York boys with former PCS mentor Ron McMahon, admitted there’s only so much his team could do to defend the Pennsy three-pointers.
"They were hitting them from everywhere," Moses said. "Our press at the end worked somewhat to make it respectable (a 28-12 run over the final seven minutes), but really there's not a lot you can do. In a normal high school game, you don't let kids take those shots very often but they were GOOD."
Johnsonburg forward Kevin Benson paced Pennsy with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Kyle Huff (Elk County Catholic) had 12 points and 12 boards, Brady Bauer (St. Marys Public) added 11 bounds and seven rebounds and Brandon Brabham (Oswayo Valley) marked 12 points on four treys with five boards.
Anderson Nicka (Austin) had 10 points, Jordan Seefeldt (Port Allegany) had nine points and four assists and Jeremy Breier (Ridgway) eight points and six boards. Tre Garzel (Port Allegany) and Heath Stewart (Otto-Eldred) pulled down six boards each.
After winning the New York state public school Class B title Saturday night, Olean High's two Big 30 senior selections — Jake Cavana and Elijah Ramadhan — withdrew to save their eligibility for the Federation Cup.
In their place, New Life Christian’s Morris Taylor made the most of his late addition to the New York roster, scoring a team-high 17 points with five rebounds.
"He impressed me," Moses said of Taylor. "Normally we don't get to see those guys (at New Life). But he's pretty good. Anybody who gets to 2,000 points has got to be pretty good."
Wellsville guard Liam Ebert had 15 points and five steals, Randolph forward Mason Bosley added 14 points (all in the second half on four treys) with four steals, and Archbishop Walsh's Christian Churakos and Cuba-Rushford's Simon Glogouski added 13 points each.
Whitesville's Seth Snyder and Genesee Valley's Carter Schneider (four blocks) had seven boards each.
"We just wanted them to have fun, play basketball and respect the game obviously," Moses said. "We had 45 minutes to practice and I think we did pretty well. There were some comments on the bench toward the end that if we had a little more practice time we'd be better, but we didn't have any less than they did.
"I was lucky enough to be here last year with Mike Blask. I coached with Ron for a number of years before I did with Mike. It good to be on the bench with Ron one more time."
Led by Allegany-Limestone forward Ally Forness, the New York girls imposed a size advantage, in rebounding 42-36 and making 12 blocks to one.
Forness led all scorers with 15 points and seven rebounds and four assists.
New York coach Karen Loucks, the former longtime A-L girls hoops mentor, said she hadn't coached Forness in nearly five years.
"I was coaching softball and I brought her up as an eighth grader to catch," Loucks said. "She's an outstanding athlete and one of those types of girls that's very athletic and good in almost everything she does and she's very humble.
"It was a delight when I was asked to coach. I was honored. Then, at second thought, I thought 'She's a senior, alright.' That was exciting."
Bolivar-Richburg forward Allison Pacer marked 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Olean High's Brigid Taylor scored 12 points on New York's three total three-pointers.
Pioneer's Erika Wittmeyer added eight points and four assists; Randolph's Peyton Terrette tallied seven points, five assists and four boards; Franklinville's Jenna Hicks had eight boards and A-L's Sarah DeCapua made five steals.
