Boys basketball

Westies will waltz

Dawgs punch sectional ticket with gutsy win over Bears; both teams brace for postseason frays

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — Rent that tux, call for the limo and purchase that lovely corsage. After a roller-coaster season that had its ups, downs and loopty loops, Sullivan West will head to the sectional tournament, also known as “the big dance.” The old adage says, “every dog will have his day,” and the Bulldogs couldn’t have chosen a better moment to claim theirs.

By the time this story hits the streets, the Bulldogs will have clashed with John S. Burke Catholic on March 1 and one of the two teams will be moving on to the first round of the sectionals at Orange County Community College on March 3 at 8:30 p.m. The finals will be held at SUNY New Paltz on March 5 at 5:15 p.m. For results of Sullivan West Burke game and the following rounds, visit www.riverreportersports.com.

Chapter one: The Dawgs have their day

In the eleventh hour of a season that could have easily been entitled “Murphy’s Law,” the Bulldogs got the win they needed to make sectionals by defeating gritty Tri-Valley 42-36 in a game that featured outstanding defense by both teams.

“It’s been my goal from the beginning to make it to sectionals,” Sullivan West coach Rick Ellison said, with a sigh of relief after the win.

Much this season had gone awry. The heart-rending last-second loss to Cornwall, the injuries to Kevin Cappiello and the loss of Derek Hahn were all examples of the luckless ride that led the desperate doggies to Tri-Valley on February 22, a ride that turned into a gameless round trip due to a power outage at the school. Ellison just scratched his head as his team, faced back-to-back games against the Bears and Port Jervis, reboarding the bus, needing a win.

“This just hasn’t been our year,” he smiled wryly.

That hapless history, however, was swept away with the timely win over the Bears. Despite being banged up and shorthanded, Sullivan West showed itself to be a team that has the intangibles that might just carry them further than people think.

With the win over Tri-Valley that unveiled heart, guile, oppressive defense and every last ounce of nerve, the Bulldogs earned the seventh seed in the Class B tourney and the privilege of facing their nemesis, John S. Burke, in the Monster’s Ball.

Pundits might heavily favor Burke on their own floor, but the Eagles have to be edgy about drawing Sullivan West in the first round. Without Hahn in the mix and barely making it to the tournament, the Bulldogs are playing with house money. Getting to the sectionals has already earned them stripes, and if they stay hungry and marshal their-newfound luck, who knows what might happen? The game draws an extra charge from the fact that Burke was recently stripped of its division and sectional titles from 2005. Sullivan West has been deemed the rightful recipient of each. With their 2005 record now amended to 20-2, it is the Bulldogs who are the defending Section 9 champs, an honor Burke would love to recoup with its 2006 squad.

Chapter two: The Bears sharpen their claws for a fight to the finish

For Tri-Valley (13-7), the invitation to the big dance came a long time ago. But with their recent league losses to Tuxedo and Chester, the Bears lost a home game in the upcoming playoffs and had to settle in as the Class C fifth seed.

With their sectional entrance assured, the Bears entered their final game with somewhat less urgency than the Bulldogs. Still, this game meant a great deal. Not only was it the last home game of the season, it was also the home swan song for seniors Dan Walter, Zach Thayer and Ian Exner. Tri-Valley hoped to right the ship after the recent disappointing losses and head into the sectionals fueled by the headiness of beating their cross-county rivals.

It would be a fitting end to a regular season that witnessed one of Section 9’s biggest turnarounds. Tri-Valley morphed from an inexperienced 6-15 in 2005 to an impressive 13-6 entering the game against Sullivan West.

Though the Bears would come up short to the hungry Dawgs, they proved their defensive prowess by holding Sullivan West to 42 points, the Bulldogs’ second lowest tally of the season. Tri-Valley’s defense put them on a par with Burke and Monticello, who also held the Dawgs to the same number. Goshen had the distinction of extinction by holding the Westies to a woesome 32 in the Bulldogs’ season nadir.

Chapter three: the game at last

After the opening ceremony celebrating Tri-Valley’s winter sports senior athletes, the Bears controlled the tip. But Dustin VanLieu missed the opening shot in what proved to be a frustrating first quarter for Tri-Valley.

With his three seniors in and gunners John Merchant, Fred Moore and Mike Kaplan on the bench, Tri-Valley coach Jason Semo watched Sullivan West get out to an early 10-0 lead, fueled by Kevin Cappiello and Bret Youmans. Cappiello opened the night’s scoring with a trey and made seven of the Bulldogs’ 12 points in the first quarter. Youmans had the other five, and the Dawgs headed into the second frame with a 12-3 lead.

Tri-Valley’s only points came from a three-pointer by Exner, with 2:50 to go in the first quarter. Stifling defense prevailed on both sides, but the Dawgs caused a quartet of Tri-Valley turnovers while committing none of their own.

Merchant, Kaplan and Moore took the floor at the start of the second and the polarity switched in a hurry. Merchant canned his first shot, and the Bears’ defensive intensity completely shut down Sullivan West’s offense. Tri-Valley forced four Sullivan West turnovers and outscored the Dawgs 11-4. The Bears pulled within two, trailing 16-14 at the half.

A three-pointer from Dustin VanLieu, two more each from Merchant, Walter and Moore offset Sullivan West’s second quarter trickle, which amounted to just three points from Kevin Brewer and one from Youmans.

A scary moment occurred just before halftime when Cappiello had to leave the floor with a bruised hip. But as long as it wasn’t a recurrence of his recent high-ankle sprain, it was assured that he would return to start the second half. He did that and played a tremendous game, leading all scorers with 13 points by game’s end.

At halftime, Ellison schooled his team. “We’re playing excellent defense, but we have to box out and rebound. We also have to execute our half-court offense the way we did against Burke,” said Ellison.

Semo counseled his kids to “keep doing what we do effectively. Play good defense and be aggressive.” The prospect of beating two of his mentors, in Ellison and Bob Menges, added an extra incentive to Semo’s battlecry.

But it was Sullivan West that answered the bell in the third quarter, as they doubled up Tri-Valley 16-8 to take a 32-22 lead into the final frame. Alan Ackermann came up big in the second half with four points in the third and another four in the fourth. His presence in the paint afforded the Dawgs buckets at key moments. His rebounding was also just what Sullivan West needed to keep Tri-Valley from their appointed purpose of running up and down the floor.

Despite the rising Sullivan West lead, Tri-Valley’s sense of purpose was amped up by the noisy home crowd led by the G-Ville crazies. The intensity was there, but akin to recent efforts by the Bears, the scoring just did not come around.

While Sullivan West got a balanced attack in the third quarter from Pitz (2), Brad Reimer (2), Ackermann (4), Brewer (2), Jason Leewe (2) and Cappiello (4), only Dan Walter (4) and Ryan VanLieu (4) managed to score for Tri-Valley in the third quarter. Leewe’s shot came at the buzzer on a pass from Brewer.

Sensing the power of a dramatic finish, the Bears turned it up a notch in the fourth and proceeded to chip away at the 10-point lead. Merchant poked the ball loose from Cappiello, and drove for a layup. At the other end, Cappiello had a shot partially blocked, followed by a Moore turn-around jumper. After Merchant danced down the lane for two more, the lead was down to four at 32-28. Ellison called in his team to talk it over.

“We just kept trying to settle our kids down,” said Ellison after the game, “and to plan the next play.” But the next play went Tri-Valley’s way, as a cutting Walter hit a layup and the lead was trimmed to two at 34-32 with 3:29 to go. Leewe hit one of two free throws. Merchant got the Bears within one at 35-34, with 2:52 to go.

Two key Tri-Valley turnovers, and a timely charge taken by Reimer on Dustin VanLieu, may well have been the defining moments in Sullivan West’s victory. After Cappiello hit one-of-two from the line, Merchant lost the ball out of bounds. With 1:44 remaining, Ackermann put back a Youmans’ miss to stretch the lead to four at 38-34.

The Bears missed key shots in the ensuing seconds, and Cappiello came down with a rebound with 59 seconds to go. Ackermann hit the front end of a one-and-one and Youmans picked off VanLieu’s dribble. Key free throws by Cappiello, Pitz and Brewer down the stretch iced the win as Pitz stole the final inbounds pass and the clock expired.

Cappiello led the Dawgs (10-8) with 13 points. Ackermann had eight. Sullivan West was 11-for-19 from the line. Merchant led Tri-Valley with 12 points and Dan Walter had 10. The Bears (13-7) were two-for-seven from the stripe.

Ellison reflected on the harrowing season and game lead up. “I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I just paced the floor thinking about this game,” he said. “We hoped to make sectionals, but at the beginning of the season there was no way to figure how much of a factor O’Neill was going to be in the picture,” he said.

Ellison was effusive in his praise for Semo and Tri-Valley. “I can’t say enough about the kind of turnaround they have shown,” he said as he shook his head. “It’s incredible. He’s got a great group of kids over there and they’re still young,” Ellison said.

Semo was clearly disappointed, but accentuated the positives. “I can’t say enough about my seniors. These kids have stuck with us and played hard even though Dan Walter is the only one to see minutes. Zach Thayer was my manager last year, and look at the way he came in tonight and did some really good things.”

Looking forward to his third run-in with Chester, Semo can take consolation in his team’s daunting defense. At the same time, he shows understandable concern about the Bears’ inability to score. “How do you hold a team to 42 points and lose?” he marveled.

“Tonight was a great chance to focus on things we want to make happen in the sectionals,” said Semo. “We need to get that eye of the tiger back again, the way we approached things earlier in the season.”

It’s a short practice window for Tri-Valley, but with the talent the team possesses and the wiles of their great coach, this could be a momentous run for the Bears, who are quite capable of winning out in the talented Class C tourney.

For an album of photos from this game visit riverreportersports.com.