Boys basketball

Eldred’s rise causes Roscoe’s demise

Yellowjacket pride and intensity ends Roscoe’s hopes for sectionals

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY — As the season winds down, teams jockey for wins in an attempt to either gain sectional berths or improve their seedings for the upcoming tournament.

Not every team is in that position. Some are already out of the mix. Others are still clinging to a remote chance to make it to the big dance.

Coming into their final league meeting of the year, Eldred and Roscoe approached this game with a renewed sense of purpose. Roscoe needed to win its final two league games against Eldred and Livingston Manor in order to make the sectionals.

Even though the Blue Devils beat Eldred twice this year, those 61-59 and 61-51 wins were now in the rearview mirror. Coach Fred Ahart knew that Eldred would be tough on their home floor, despite the fact that they had already been eliminated from sectional contention. Eldred still had something major to play for.

It’s what Yellowjackets’ coach Joe O’Connor referred to after the game as personal and school pride. Anyone who has been around Eldred athletics knows how powerful those forces can be in the land of yellow and green.

Marshaling that pride and fueling a tremendous defensive intensity, Eldred roared back from an 18-8 first-quarter deficit to play their best game of the year. The Yellowjackets forced 15 Roscoe turnovers in the first half, and tore off 11-5 and 17-5 runs in the second and third quarters respectively. They built a 26-23 halftime lead that burgeoned to 43-28 after three quarters.

Eldred deployed several weapons to reverse the game’s polarity. First and foremost, they out- rebounded Roscoe handily at both ends of the floor. They pressured the ball from the inbounds pass, and made it difficult for the Blue Devils to get the ball up the floor. And they out-hustled their opponent. Menacing man-to-man defense by Mike Prunka, Tyler King and John Scully forced Roscoe out of its potentially lethal offensive flow.

The game didn’t start out that way, though.

Eldred looked lax on offense and its players showed little movement without the ball. They missed open shots, and allowed Roscoe to control the tempo. Blue Devils’ leading scorer Dan DeVantier opened the game with a three-pointer. Committing a number of early fouls, Eldred’s defense seemed a step behind Roscoe. Roscoe led 12-3, with scoring from DeVantier, Troy Kirchner, Lance Brookins and John Clancy. Eldred’s Patrick Kean stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer.

Eldred’s ability to hit six shots from downtown would prove to be key in the course of the night. Prunka added two more points, but Kirchner and Brookins closed out the quarter to give Roscoe a 10-point lead.

Looking to bury the Yellowjackets early on, DeVantier hit the first basket of the second quarter and Brookins added a free-throw to give Roscoe an impressive 21-8 lead.

Sensing a dangerous dynamic, O’Connor called a quick time-out. Whatever took place must have been dramatic, because when the Yellowjackets returned to the floor, the game was not the same.

Scoring 11 straight points, fueled by a pair of Prunka treys, Eldred went on a tear. Holding Roscoe to two points in the final three and a half minutes of the quarter by forcing 10 turnovers, Eldred’s offense got into a mighty rhythm and scored 18 points. King tied the game at 23-all, with 1:31 to go in the quarter. Nick Klufas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer that sent the hive into halftime with a 26-23 lead. The margin would have been greater, if Eldred hadn’t missed seven of eight free throws in the second quarter.

Roscoe fans shook their heads and hoped for a second-half adjustment.

Nothing doing.

Eldred came out on fire in the third quarter, which debuted with Prunka’s third three, a steal and a layup by King, and punctuated with another basket shortly thereafter. The 7-0 run put Eldred up by 10 at 33-23. Scully extended it with two from the stripe. Kirchner scored Roscoe’s first points at 5:16.

Prunka, who was the team’s leading scorer with 12 points, did a lot more than score. Guarding DeVantier, Prunka harried the daunting Devil, drew a key fourth-quarter charge, and saved a ball destined to go out of bounds by swiping it to Patrick Kean underneath for a lay-up.

Roscoe has probably seen enough of Prunka this year. His last-second heroics in football gave Eldred a key win in Trout Town last fall. And given Prunka’s outstanding pitching skills in baseball, odds are the men in blue haven’t seen the last of the athletic senior. At least he won’t damage Roscoe’s sectional chances in baseball. The Blue Devils will combine with Livingston Manor and play in Class C. Prunka and his Eldred teammates will remain in Class D to battle Chapel Field and John A. Coleman Catholic.

Klufas hit his second three toward the end of the quarter, and Eldred led by 15 heading into the final frame at 43-28. Their defense had held Roscoe to five points in eight minutes.

Kojo Williams extended Eldred’s lead by two, but Roscoe was due for a run. Clancy and DeVantier accounted for six points, as Eldred ran valuable seconds off the clock on each trip up the floor. A layup by Clancy cut the lead to eight, but Roscoe’s foul trouble was becoming a huge factor. Kirchner, Clancy and DeVantier fouled out in succession and Eldred played keep-away to garner the 53-44 win.

DeVantier was disappointed to miss sectionals in his final season, but attributed the loss to Eldred’s defensive pressure. “They pressured the ball the whole way. I had trouble even getting the ball up the floor,” he said.

Ahart had a similar take on the game. “You have to give Eldred credit. They really stepped up their defense,” he said.

According to O’Connor, his team’s agenda was to play with intensity. “When they do that, they play really well. Our defense really fueled our offense tonight,” he said. O’Connor also had great praise for Roscoe. “They played really well and Fred is an unbelievable coach,” O’Connor said.

That fact is irrefutable. This week, Ahart earned his 400th career win with a victory over Margaretville.

The loss brought Roscoe’s record to 6-13 (1-6 OCIAA), while Eldred improved to 5-11 (2-5 OCIAA). While neither team will grace the court with their presence in this year’s run for the Section 9 Class D title, each has one game remaining.

In addition to Prunka’s 12 points, Eldred got 11 from King and 10 from Klufas.

DeVantier led the Blue Devils with 21. Kirchner and Brookins had eight and Clancy netted seven.

Eldred shot a miasmic 11-for-30 from the line. Roscoe hit 10 of 16.

For additional pictures of the game, visit riverreportersports.com.