Basketball

‘Bulldog Express’ races to Division win over Raiders

Sullivan West steps it up in fourth quarter to dispatch talented O’Neill in league opener

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY - Sullivan West’s transition defense finally got on track as the Bulldogs outscored James I. O’Neill 28-11 in the fourth quarter in a demonstrative 78-60 league-opening win on December 14.

Beating the Raiders in front of a packed home-gym crowd sent a shiver of excitement through Bulldog territory as Sullivan West did something it failed to accomplish last season: suit up a healthy Derek Hahn and Kevin Cappiello.

Cappiello, the team’s best defender, was sidelined last January with a high ankle sprain in the first set-to against O’Neill. His presence was sorely missed as O’Neill’s Eliud Suarez knocked down five three-pointers and scored 25 points in the Raider win.

By the time the two teams met again down in Highland Falls in mid February, it was Hahn who was no longer in uniform, lost to a season-ending knee injury. The Dawgs got close but lost 70-67.

Ultimately, both teams fell victim to Burke in the sectionals, with the Dawgs going down in the quarterfinals and the Raiders succumbing by one bucket in the semis. Spackenkill downed Burke in the Class B final.

So much for ancient history.

O’Neill’s Suarez is gone, as is standout point guard Derrick Stanton, who now wears a Burke uniform. But other maroon-and-white veterans are back, including J.R. Downey, and Ben and Mark Anthony Johnson.

United in purpose, Hahn and Cappiello provided a one-two punch, especially down the stretch. Their combined fury proved to be too much for the Raiders.

But as Bulldog coach Bob Menges pointed out, it was a total team effort that spurred the win, fueled by an intensified defense that shut down O’Neill’s early dominance on the glass that led to second- and third-shot opportunities in the first half.

Hahn created havoc in the low post for Debbi Crowe’s crew, who had their hands full trying to cover him. The big fella’s steady production never abated from his seven-point first quarter through to his game-high 25. Mark Anthony Johnson got the main call to try and keep Hahn at bay. He and Hahn went at it in the paint, but foul trouble soon consigned Johnson to time on the bench.

Others stepped up to the task with little success, especially in the Bulldogs’ fourth-quarter rampage as Sullivan West’s younger players James Spruill, Brad Reimer and Chris Story added fuel to the fire. Spruill scored six points in the final frame and dished off a couple of pretty passes to Hahn inside.

But for the first three quarters, this game was nip and tuck.

The Bulldogs controlled the tip and Hahn made an early statement down low with four quick points. The Raiders, paced by eight points from Mark Anthony Johnson, four from Connor Broesler and five from Downey, including his first-of-four three-pointers, looked to have the edge as the first quarter wound down.

But Kevin Cappiello’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Dawgs the first of its last-word statements that would define the game. The Dawgs led 19-17 at the end of the first frame.

O’Neill answered early in the second quarter with a series of put backs, which started with one from guard Matt Gibney. Sullivan West newbie Chris Story responded off an inbounds pass and the teams traded buckets and the lead. O’Neill’s Jack Stevens got active and put in six, but the Dawgs responded with a three-pointer from Jason Leewe and four points each from Hahn and Alan Ackermann. Cappiello suffered a second quarter drought, but the Dawgs staved off a last-second scoring opportunity to nurse a narrow 32-31 lead at the half.

Coaches Menges and Cliff Kelly told their team during halftime that the game would come down to “our power versus their speed. We have to box out and stop them from getting those second-chance points inside.”

Like a heavyweight fight, the two teams punched and counterpunched their way through the third quarter.

Johnson sent up the opening salvo, but an elevating Cappiello fired right back. Downey hit a three to put O’Neill up 36-34. Twice more, O’Neill got up by a bucket but each time Hahn tied it again. A three by Cappiello gave the Dawgs a 43-40 edge, but a free throw by Downey and another of his patented treys put the Raiders back in the driver’s seat.

Cappiello refused to be a passenger and retook the wheel. In the third quarter, the talented guard poured in 12 points that included his second three-pointer. His effort enabled the Dawgs to keep pace with the Raiders. Downey canned his fourth three to spark the Raiders, but a Cappiello floater gave the Dawgs a 50-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Dawgs came out on fire in the final frame, and ripped off an 8-0 run by implementing the Menges-Kelly plan to box out and limit the Raiders to one shot and out. Getting into what Cappiello later described as “effective transition defense,” the Dawgs were further enabled by the aforementioned contributions of Spruill and the energy of mending Brad Reimer.

Johnson’s limited presence ended when he fouled out of the game. The Raiders were limited to a quartet of field goals and a trio of foul shots, while the Bulldogs got scores from eight players, including eight each from Hahn and Cappiello. The latter knocked down six of eight from the free throw line as O’Neill was forced to foul to try and slow the Bulldogs’ runaway express.

The home crowd rose to their feet to cheer on Kevin Pinkel, who canned one-of-two free throws. Justin Armstrong, Reimer, Ackermann and Kienan Garn notched points in the final frame.

Overall, the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0 OCIAA) shot 14-of-26 from the free throw line. The Raiders (2-1, 0-1 OCIAA) were six-for-11 from the stripe.

Crowe, whose team came in at 2-0 following early season wins over Goshen and Chester, summed things up this way. “We didn’t do a good enough job on Hahn. That was the difference in the ballgame. I knew that coming in. We had to keep switching men on him because we got in foul trouble.”

Crowe said his team missed a lot of scoring chances in the first half. “We need to keep our composure offensively. When we got down by five points, we lost that composure.

Menges put his final spin on his team’s winning effort. “Things changed when we decided to play defense and started boxing out. They’re a talented team who can run up and down the floor. We needed to stop that and get better control of the boards.”

Asked what he was most pleased with, Menges responded, “To see the young kids grow up and take control of a game in the fourth quarter and not play scared. They played more aggressively, not tentatively.”

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