Boys basketball

Dawgs overpower Wildcats in Moran first-round fray

Manor’s Baker lights it up early, but Bulldogs torch Wildcats in the long run

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY - Fans came out in big numbers to watch Sullivan West get its 2006-07 campaign underway and to witness the return of big man Derek Hahn, who was sidelined for the second half of last season with a knee injury suffered against Livingston Manor last January. Without Hahn’s presence, the Bulldogs’ season ended with a Class B quarterfinal loss to arch-rival Burke.

Once again, it was the Bulldogs versus the Wildcats but a revitalized Hahn, along with forward Alan Ackermann, proved to be too much inside for a smaller Livingston Manor team, which graduated big man Robby Baker and his deft-shooting teammates Mike Perry and Ethan McCann. Hahn was unstoppable in the post, netting a game-high 24 points to pace Sullivan West to a convincing 86-52 victory.

Although they were on their third consecutive night of a four-game opening-week barnstorming tour that began with road wins in the Roscoe tournament against the Blue Devils and Eldred, Livingston Manor came out determined to make an impression. In order to do that, coach Charlie Hicks knew he would need a big game from James Baker, who had already led the Wildcats to their previous victories. He also knew that Baker would need help in scoring, as Manor could not expect to win the battle on the glass against the Bulldogs’ wealth of size.

Baker did not disappoint Hicks or his teammates as he came out on fire, netting a trio of three pointers in the first quarter, while scoring a total of 10 of Manor’s 14 points in the opening frame.

Sullivan West’s man defense, accentuated by its rotating help, forced Manor turnovers and denied penetration to the rim. Consequently, Manor used a quick-ball rotation around the perimeter to find the open shooter. Early on that was Baker. whose long-range accuracy had already hurt two of Manor’s class D rivals this week.

Following Baker’s first-quarter outburst, Manor coaches Bob Menges and Cliff Kelly had seen enough and put Kevin Cappiello on Baker, with occasional help from Kienan Garn.

Baker quieted down as the Bulldogs denied him the open looks he had earlier on. He scored four in the second quarter and had one more trey in the third before being blanked. He ended his evening with a team-high 17 points.

Manor also got a good contribution from Justin Mendez with 10 points, Mike Hendrickson with eight and Eric Bonilla with seven.

Many of those points came off Manor’s quick movement without the ball that availed cutters open looks underneath, despite the prevailing height of their adversaries. It was a good effort, but it was clear that the Wildcats were overmatched.

For their part, the Bulldogs looked sharp in their debut. Cappiello showed the effects of a hard-working summer in AAU basketball where he played with some of the area’s best players under the tutelage of Jason Semo, who is now athletic director at Liberty.

Cappiello poured in 18 points and played the kind of defense that makes him one of Section IX’s notables.

Ackermann did his share of clearing the glass and added 11 points to the Bulldogs’ outburst. Garn added eight, including a three-pointer in the early going.

The packed gym, featuring the return of the Dawg Pound, appreciatively responded to the Bulldog coaches’ use of nearly all of the players including James Spruill, Kevin Pinkel and Justin Armstrong. Spruill poured in eight fourth-quarter points, as both teams gave minutes to their bench players.

A three-pointer by Manor’s Alan Yenic drew a smile from Hicks as he watched some of his other second-stringers go up against Sullivan West’s subs in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs led 22-14 after the first quarter; the lead was 10 at 31-21 at the half.

The game was quick and physical at times, availing both teams ample time at the charity stripe. Manor’s attempts to slow down the Bulldogs’ rampage resulted in 23 free throws. They made 13 of them. Manor was nine-of-16 from the line. Manor (2-2) moved on to lose 61-49 versus S.S. Seward (1-3) in the championship game.

See riverreportersports.com for a story about the game and albums of pictures from all of the tournament games.