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Randy Gilmore’s walk-off three pointer gives Fallsburg an electric league win over Sullivan West

By RICHARD A. ROSS

FALLSBURG, NY — Tick, tick, tick, tick, BOOM!

With one second left in a crucial league game against Sullivan West that had already been tied four times in the fourth quarter and had undergone 13 lead changes, Fallsburg’s Randy Gilmore did what he had done at the buzzer at the end of the first half: he hit an arcing three pointer to give his team the lead, this time for good.

His clutch shot, made possible by a timely pass from Jason Corley, was his fifth three-pointer of the night. The shot, which closed out a stunning finishing sequence of events, unleashed pure mayhem in the Comets’ gym and extended his team’s dimming hopes for a berth in the Class B sectionals, now just a couple of weeks away.

In a stellar game played between two teams that came in winless in Division IV, this game was huge and the flying circus of three-point shots made it even more dramatic.

Many coaches will tell you that the inclusion of the three-point shot in high school basketball ruined the game as kids fell in love with the long-range bomb. Others will tell you the three enhanced it.

It certainly changed it, that’s for sure. From a fan’s perspective, the trey is electrifying and this game had 35 attempts from downtown to keep them stoked. Fallsburg made nine of 19 to Sullivan West’s eight of 16. That final one by Gilmore spelled the difference.

But this game had so much more than long-range firing. It had flash, glitter, grit and pizzazz, which displayed high school basketball at its best.

Sullivan West’s Brad Reimer had the best game of his career, posting a game-high 31 points, including four from downtown, as he answered the challenge thrown down by Gilmore and Comets’ leading scorer Darius Buckner.

Speaking of throw downs, Buckner, arguably one of the best athletes in Section Nine, had a trio of dunks that sent the crowd into a tizzy. He scored 27 points, owned one of the Comets’ threes and accounted for 12 rebounds. Gilmore had 10 boards as bodies from both teams went airborne all night long.

Having lost four league games of its eight on the schedule to date, and coming in at 5-9 overall, Fallsburg was literally hovering on the brink of extinction and Sullivan West was in a position to hasten their demise. In past years, Sullivan West has been a daunting foe, besting the Comets at every turn at home and in the Comet’s universe.

The last time, the two teams met a year ago in January, Sullivan West’s 2007 team demolished the Comets 74-36 in Lake Huntington, so you can imagine how sweet this win was for Fallsburg coach Pete Dworetsky.

“We battled hard. We knew it was do or die and we worked this game one possession at a time,” he said, admitting that several missed put backs and a tendency to set the team’s offense too far out might have well tipped the game in Sullivan West’s favor. But Dworetsky knows how much this means to his seniors who have worked hard.

Sullivan West (7-7, 0-3 OCIAA) was hungry for a win too and they played like it. Fully aware of Fallsburg’s athleticism, coach Cliff Kelly knew Gilmore and Buckner would be a challenge to defend man-to-man, but he elected to try it and see how it went. Watching the Comets roar out to an 11-3 early lead quickly convinced him that a two-three zone might be a better idea.

Over the course of the night, Fallsburg’s quickness and deft shooting worked well against that strategy as well. Sullivan West had its chances to pull this one out and they nearly did it. After Buckner tied the game at 62-all with the first of his two free throws, Kelly decided to freeze him while he called a play to cover the possibilities.

“If he missed, we needed to get the rebound and we were going to come up the floor and see if we had the numbers. If we didn’t have the numbers, we’d call a time out and set up a play. If he hit it, we wanted to get it inbounds and follow the same strategy.” Kelly said. Buckner did miss, but Gilmore got the rebound and somehow missed an easy put back. Then, athletic Buckner pulled down another board and as he dribbled to get a look, he was fouled by Armstrong.

The non-shooting foul gave the Comets the ball with 16 seconds left. Gilmore couldn’t get a good look and sent it in to Corley, who alertly found Gilmore, who had streaked along the left arc where he caught the pass and buried the game winner at the buzzer.

You couldn’t make this stuff up.

That this Fallsburg win would ultimately be decided by its seniors was foreshadowed early on. Buckner and Gilmore accounted for 19 of Fallsburg’s 23 points in the first quarter. Buckner had 10 of those, including his first jam made possible by a Corley steal. Sullivan West countered with 11 points from Reimer, including his first three pointer. Leewe and RJ Rosa contributed shots from downtown as well as Sullivan West closed within one at 19-18 following Reimer’s trey with 1:32 remaining.

Buckner’s third put back attempt of a miss and a shot by Dan Seletsky closed the quarter with a 4-0 Comets’ run.

But things were just heating up. The second quarter was wild and wooly as Sullivan West profited from its second and third successful lobs down low from Rosa to Reimer to grab its first lead of the game. That lead would change hands eight more times in the course of the next seven minutes as the teams traded blows. Justin Armstrong canned five of his eventual six points in the frame. Reimer had seven in the frame, including his second trey, which staked the Westies to a 34-32 lead as the quarter was about to expire.

But in an ominous foreshadowing of the game’s finale, Gilmore buried a three to give the fiery Comets a 35-34 lead at the break.

Reimer was fouled on a three-point attempt by Gilmore to start the third quarter, and he buried all three from the stripe to put the Dawgs back in the driver’s seat. But not for long.

Gilmore hit one from beyond the arc but the Bulldogs battled back as Kelly got great minutes from Artie Norden, who lunged for every loose ball. Norden would add four points to the Dawgs’ 12 of the quarter but Fallsburg put up 16 to take a 51-46 lead heading into the final frame. Ten of those came from Buckner. Threes from Mike Melko and Gilmore provided the rest.

While some people may have felt that this year’s Sullivan West team would struggle, that message never reached its players, who have shown flashes of brilliance this season. Within 59 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Dawgs erased the Comets’ lead with a great backdoor cut by Story from Rosa and a three from Jason Leewe for the first of four ties.

Whittaker answered with a three but a Reimer put back of an Armstrong miss closed it to one. A slicing pass from Corley to Gilmore gave the Comets a three-point margin again, but Reimer hit two from the stripe and it was down to one anew.

A three by Reimer gave the Dawgs a 58-56 lead with 4:28 to go, and this game was either teams’ for the taking.

A Gilmore three rattled out. A missed Reimer three netted Buckner a rebound but athletic Reimer, who is also one of the area’s best athletes, zoomed up the floor to intercept Buckner’s pass. Key turnovers by both teams ended with another Fallsburg steal and Buckner’s third jam to tie it up at 58-all.

Hardwood heaven, I tell you. The gym was juiced as Sullivan West turned it over, got it back, missed a shot and watched Buckner rebound and feed the ball to Gilmore, who hit a three from the top of the key.

Fallsburg 61, Sullivan West 58.

Reimer buries a three and it’s tied again!

Story was fouled on a put-back attempt and hit one of two to give the Dawgs a 62-61 lead. Following a miss by Whittaker, Buckner went up twice with misses and was fouled on the second. He hit the first to tie it at 62 and you know how it ended.

Gilmore was buried under a pile of fans and teammates. He came up in tears, not from the pain of the bodies that peeled off of him but from the sheer emotion of the win.

“My teammates put me in the position and I let it fly,” he said between gasps. Dworetsky credited his entire team’s effort. “Any one of those guys out there could have taken that last shot,” he noted, but oddsmakers would have bet a million to one that it would have been Gilmore or Buckner. The Dawgs did a good job of taking Buckner away on that last possession but somehow Gilmore slipped free.

“Give Fallsburg credit,” said Kelly. “They are fast and they went at it and did well against the zone,” he said. Hoarse and clearly disappointed, Kelly felt his team should have gotten to the line more. They were 10 for 15 from the stripe. Fallsburg was there far less frequently as they fired away from the perimeter. They went two for four. Kelly knew a win here would have been huge for his squad, which has five league games left on its schedule.

Next up, Sullivan West had another huge fight on its hands as the Bulldogs lost to win-hungry Liberty on January 31. Rematches with O’Neill, Fallsburg, Burke and Liberty will follow. O’Neill and Burke are already assured of sectional berths, but Liberty, Sullivan West and Fallsburg will go at each other to try and make it too.

March madness is coming but first and foremost it’s February frenzy.

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