Basketball

Stayin’ alive

Sullivan West ousts Fallsburg from playoff contention and hopes for win over Burke to make the dance

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — They say that cats have nine lives, but the Dawgs of Sullivan West hope they have a spare one as well as they prepare to face Burke at home on February 14 in a do-or-die fray for a chance to get to the postseason.

The Bulldogs kept their sectional playoff hopes alive with an energetic 91-86 win over Fallsburg on February 11, in a game that was destined to knock the loser out of playoff contention. Sullivan West was paced by the career-high performance of Brad Reimer, who scored 35 points as he went 17-for-19 from the stripe, canned a pair of threes and went toe-to-toe with Fallsburg standout Darius Buckner.

Buckner scored 35 as well, reaching his own career zenith. He had four dunks and a pair of three pointers, but had to sit out valuable minutes in early foul trouble.

Teammate Colin Whittaker added four three pointers, as the Comets netted 10 from downtown. Fallsburg’s foul trouble led to an uncanny 39 Sullivan West free throws. The Bulldogs made 31 of them for 74 percent from the line. Fallsburg only got to the line for 11 and made six. Those five points were the difference in the game.

The game was extremely tight, with Fallsburg holding narrow leads of 24-23 and 45-44 at the end of the first and second quarter. The Bulldogs led 63-62 heading into the fourth quarter.

Sullivan West (9-10, 1-6 OCIAA) got 24 points from Chris Story and 15 from Jason Leewe as the Bulldogs used an effective pick and roll and backdoor cuts to get a multitude of points in the paint.

Fallsburg (6-11, 1-6 OCIAA) got 22 points from Randy Gilmore, 14 from Whittaker and 12 from Jason Corley in the losing effort.

Visit riverreportersports.com for a complete game story and an album of pictures.