Basketball

The show must go on

Tri-Valley downs Chester in league fray as rivalry is renewed with a new cast of characters

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — Great shows on Broadway continue for years on end. When the original cast leaves, others assume the starring roles. Casts may change but the show must go on.

In a similar vein, the Tri-Valley-Chester show, which had a rave-review run in 2006-07, retook center stage on December 11, following a weather cancellation that would have pitted the two teams against each other on the Hambletonians’ court on December 7.

Playing Chester away would have suited Tri-Valley coach Brian Tingley just fine, but following his team’s final-minute surge that yielded a 66-56 victory over one of its key league rivals, Tingley was just as happy to have played this one at home.

It may be very early in the season but the 2006-07 Coach of the Year is already thinking about getting a home game in the early round of the sectionals.

Premature thinking? No way.

Great coaches have vision and much of Tingley’s success stems not only from his fine game management, but also from his foresight and planning.

Tingley recently scouted Chester as they lost to Goshen and S.S. Seward. With both Chester and Tri-Valley putting new teams on the floor, Tingley looked for an edge that would give his team a crucial Class C win.

Such victories weigh heavily in the seeding of teams at sectional time, and the unpleasant prospect of traveling to a distant locale increased Tingley’s desire to notch this initial league “W.”

Thoughts of sectionals and Chester go hand in hand when one hearkens back to last season, when Tri-Valley was all that stood between Chester and a Section Nine final against Millbrook. That obstacle proved to be all too daunting for Chester as Tingley’s Bears added to their regular-season sweep of the orange and blue on February 28 with a dramatic 66-46 home semifinal win over the Hambletonians.

That night, the Bears made history by advancing to their first ever sectional final and improving their record to 20-1.

The noisy celebration in zany Bear Country with its legions of Grahamsville Crazies was a preview of Tri-Valley’s Section Nine final win over Millbrook and a regional semifinal win over Alexander Hamilton. The run ended in Old Westbury with a loss to Friends Academy.

With that defeat, standouts John Merchant, Fred Moore, Michael Kaplan, Kevin Delaney and William Elberth reluctantly exited the Bear clan, leaving Tingley and a few bench players with the weighty task of retooling for ’07-08.

Once Dustin and Ryan VanLieu transferred to Liberty, only Bo Murphy, Kevin and Sean Drown, Bruce Moore and Dave McDonald remained from the historic run.

Chester’s loss in the semifinals ended its fine 15-5 season. The Hambletonians’ only other defeats had come against O’Neill and Sullivan West. Chester seniors Max Laing, Guerino St. Pierre, Kevin Jones, Chris Labriola and Derek Sharp turned in their uniforms and, like Tri-Valley, Chester would be consigned to field a markedly different squad for the new season.

Chester came into this game still searching for its offensive identity. Now coached by Mike Kenniston, who took over for Jason Closs, Chester hoped to implement a quick transition game. To that end, they deployed a full-court press at the outset that resulted in a spate of Bears’ turnovers and fueled an early 10-2 lead by the Hambletonians. Tri-Valley opted to pass over the press rather than dribble through it at times. Balls were thrown too far down court and Chester was getting its way early.

Working on the press break had not been something Tri-Valley had concentrated on much thus far, but the Bears countered with a strategy of their own: attack the zone and get to the rim with a mind toward getting Chester’s bigs, including Joe Salthouse, in early foul trouble.

Mission accomplished.

Salthouse and company quickly amassed fouls and Tri-Valley assumed the inside advantage that would net them second- and third-chance opportunities. Tearing off an 8-0 run, the Bears pulled within one by the end of the first quarter.

In addition, Chester, which had benefited from its baseline penetration and back-door cuts early on, began to rely on less efficient perimeter shooting.

To its detriment, Chester began a pattern of attempting threes, most of which arced into the hands of the Bears. Tri-Valley’s zone defense kept Chester looking long, instead of looking in. By night’s end, that would be key in the Hambletonians’ downfall. Although Chester would pull within two points with only 1:12 to go in the game, they failed to execute in crucial half-court sets, opting instead for hurried long-range shots that sparked Tri-Valley’s final surge.

Chester led 13-12 after the first quarter, having gotten points from five of its players. Six of Tri-Valley’s first-quarter points came from game-high scorer Bo Murphy, who would net 27 by night’s end. Kenniston urged his players to crash the boards and get the rebounds needed to fuel an up-tempo style, but it was the Bears who came down with the majority of boards at both ends of the floor.

The teams traded leads early in the second quarter. Chester’s football standout Darren Mann showed his fine athleticism and leaping ability. Sophomore Ryan Crowe lit it up with six points in the frame. Chester assumed the lead, but the Bears crawled back with scoring from Murphy, McDonald and Sean Drown, who pulled down rebounds and scored in the paint. A Drown three pointer broke a 30-all tie and sent the Bears into halftime with a three-point edge.

Tri-Valley built its lead to seven by the end of the third quarter, holding a 52-45 margin despite three-point buckets from Chester juniors Justin Hernandez and Pat Perry. With Chester already over the foul limit, the Bears profited with six of ten from the stripe to augment their lead. Salthouse hit a three to close the gap to seven by quarter’s end. He just missed another at the buzzer.

Tri-Valley got an early fourth-quarter put back from Robert Favre to extend its lead to nine. Although Salthouse fouled out within two minutes, Tri-Valley wasn’t able to immediately capitalize on his exit. Oddly, it was Chester that began to get the rebounding edge and used a couple of bizarre four-point runs to keep it close. Murphy scored down low to give the Bears a 58-51 lead halfway through the quarter. Chester cut the lead to three with a put back by Hernandez and when Murphy fouled Mann over the top, Chester was in a position to cut it to one. Mann hit one of two but missed the turnaround jumper on the miss. Chester fouled underneath and Bruce Moore hit two key free throws to give the Bears some breathing room at 60-56.

Chester was still in it, but its shot selection in the waning moments left much to be desired.

Forced to foul, Chester sent Murphy to the line where he hit a pair. A bucket by Sean Drown put the game out of reach as the Bears held on for the win.

Kenniston said, “This is a new team and we’re still learning how to play together. The hardest part of that is to generate an effective offense but we’re going to keep improving in that regard. Our lack of effective rebounding put us in a negative position in terms of our transition game tonight.

Tingley knew that Chester would be a tough opponent. “I expect many of our games to be close this season,” he observed. He said that his team had accomplished the goal of driving to the hoop and drawing fouls. In addition, its effective zone defense lulled Chester into a perimeter game. “Meanwhile, we were looking in where we thought we had an advantage,” he said.

Murphy led all scorers with 27 points. Sean Drown added 19 for Tri-Valley, which was 9 for 19 from the free throw line. Mann and Salthouse each had 11 points for Chester, which was four for seven from the stripe.

Tri-Valley (3-1, 1-0 OCIAA) defeated Eldred 54-32 on December 13 in a non-league game and was set to host Roscoe on December 19. Chester (0-3, 0-1 OCIAA) traveled to Livingston Manor and then hosted Chapel Field on the same dates.

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