Basketball

Happy berth day

Manor Lady Wildcats lock up sectional berth with division win over Eldred

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Basketball brings months of grueling practices, late-night bus rides, fatigue and its fair share of aches and pains. But many athletes who take to the hardwood every winter will tell you it’s all worth it for the sheer joy of playing the game.

That joy is greatly enhanced by success, measured in terms of improvement both during the season and from the previous year. By that standard, Eldred, which has four more wins than it did a year ago, has much to be proud of, especially for a young team with much to learn.

For Livingston Manor, though, the measure of success is about sectionals. With its commanding 56-32 home win over Eldred on February 5, Manor ( 9-8, 4-4 OCIAA) punched its ticket back to the Class D sectionals by virtue of its seven wins against Class D schools.

From here out, the Lady Wildcats will be playing to improve their seeding. With undefeated John A. Coleman Catholic guaranteed the top seed and Chapel Field’s virtual lock for the number-two slot, Manor will vie against Roscoe and The Family School in the remaining hierarchy. The four- and five-seeded winner will play Coleman in the semifinals, while the three seed will play Chapel Field.

Last year, Manor defeated The Family School 51-47 in the Class D quarterfinals before being ousted by Coleman 57-40 in the semifinals. Coleman then lost to state runner-up S.S. Seward 59-50 in the final.

Seward is on a one-year hiatus up in Class C this year so Coleman hopes to take the crown in the Lady Spartans’ absence. But all the other teams, including Manor, are serious contenders to derail the Lady Statesmen in what will undoubtedly be an uphill battle.

Manor deployed an aggressive defense in its final meeting with Eldred, a team they beat 45-14 on December 6. Struggling to get the ball up the floor against Manor’s press, Eldred committed 16 first-half turnovers, though Manor’s early recklessness with the ball resulted in 11 change of possessions by the Lady Wildcats. That is something coach Kevin Clifford will continue to work on as his team tunes up for post-season.

Eldred hung tough in the first quarter, trailing 14-9 at the end of the period. Senior Gabby Westfall contributed four of her team-high nine points in the opening frame and Megan Kean canned the first of a trio of threes.

Kean, the daughter of coach Frank Kean, returned to the court this year following two episodes of having broken her leg. Kean missed last season but was determined to give it a try this year. Given the Kean family work ethic, this came as no surprise.

In the early going of this Division VI fray, Manor was led by freshman Marissa Diescher’s six points. The standout athlete, one of Manor’s soccer players who helped bring the school its first Section Nine title this past fall, will soon be blowing away batters with her stunning softball pitching. But for now, she’s one of Manor’s lethal weapons, a threat from both the inside and a slasher who can take it to the rack. Diescher would net 16 points by night’s end and orchestrate nine steals.

But it was Natalia Cruz who did the most damage, especially from the second quarter on. Cruz scored a game-high 23 points and benefited from a spate of steals, some of which she authored.

As Clifford pointed out later, “This was the most true assists we’ve had all year. In other games, we’d get assists from an easy pass but tonight we were really looking for each other, especially on the break,” he said.

Manor led 29-18 by halftime, fueled by a 12-point quarter from Cruz.

Four of Eldred’s nine points in the second quarter came from junior guard Sam Allesandra, who netted one of Eldred’s five three pointers on the night.

Manor turned up the heat in the third quarter and much to coach Kean’s dismay, his players started to stand around and watch as the Lady Wildcats ripped off a 15-0 run in the period. The shutout left Eldred looking at a 44-18 Manor lead after three periods.

Six each from Cruz and Diescher paced the attack, precipitated in great part by Manor’s staunch defense.

Eldred woke up in the fourth quarter as the Lady Yellowjackets outscored Manor 14-12 but it was too little and too late to alter the outcome. Two three pointers from Kean and one from Sara Bisland were a major part of the scoring flurry. Westfall provided the other five points.

Eldred 5-10 (0-5 OCIAA) canned four of eight from the free-throw line. Manor shot an unimpressive six for 19.

Kean lamented his team’s lack of effort in the second half. “We started out fine but we did nothing in the third quarter,” he said. “They were just too quick for us but we’ll keep working on it.”

Clifford felt his team did well against Eldred’s triangle-and-two defense. He is looking forward to the return of Angela Trotti, who was hurt during the Tuxedo game. Manor hopes to get its offense firing on all cylinders as the playoffs roll around. Defensively, their agenda is to keep the heat on their opponents, which can fuel their break and lead to transition points.

Manor lost its rematch with Roscoe on February 6. The two teams had already played twice this season. Manor won the first one 61-47, but lost to the Lady Blue Devils the night after Coleman blitzed the Lady Wildcats.

In that game with Roscoe, Manor fought back from a 17-point deficit, but Diescher fouled out and they came up short 49-45. Manor followed up last week’s loss to Roscoe with a 58-30 win over Fallsburg. They lost to Chapel Field at home on February 11 and traveled to S.S. Seward on February 13.

Eldred defeated The Family School on February 11 in a league fray and traveled to Seward on February 12 for a non-league tilt.

The Lady Yellowjackets’ season finale will be a home league game against Roscoe on February 14.

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