Basketball

Giant killers

Sullivan West wins fifth straight Billy Moran title with win over tough S.S. Seward

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Fierce competitive drive, fine athleticism and good sportsmanship defined the late Billy Moran’s life. The outstanding Delaware Valley athlete, for whom the annual Sullivan West basketball tournament is named, was a three-sport all star, an unselfish team player, a model student and a person of impeccable character.

Following his untimely death in 1981, Moran’s parents created a scholarship fund to honor students who mirrored their son’s most salient qualities. The annual Billy Moran Tip Off Classic basketball tournament serves as a fundraiser for that scholarship. This year, the girls’ portion of the tournament was postponed several times due to inclement weather.

Finally on February 21, Sullivan West and S.S. Seward got to play the championship game, marking each team’s final game of the regular season.

Last week, Sullivan West turned heads with its stunning Division IV win over previously undefeated Burke. On this night, they followed that with a 54-41 win over an excellent S.S. Seward team to capture the school’s fifth straight Billy Moran tournament title.

In light of such wins over the state’s second-ranked Class C Lady Spartans (18-2) and the fourth-ranked Class B Lady Eagles (18-1), it strikes this writer that many of the qualities that were associated with Moran now reside in the Lady Bulldogs, more than a generation after his untimely departure.

Winning the Billy Moran tournament has become somewhat of a tradition for Sullivan West (17-2), who had already handed the Lady Spartans their first defeat of the season back on January 28 to the tune of 54-48. That victory was part and parcel of a season-closing 10-game winning streak as coach Ron Bernhardt’s team upped its intensity and found its cohesiveness.

The wins against the Lady Spartans, coupled with the victory over mighty Burke, have rendered Sullivan West, currently ranked number 12 among New York State’s Class B schools, an even greater force to be reckoned with. The Lady Bulldogs’ peaking ascendancy comes at just the right time of year?the brink of the Section Nine tournament.

Prior to the January 28 game, Seward’s last defeat had come against Section Ten’s Hammond in the 2007 Class D state championship game with a heart-rending last-second three pointer. This year, Seward (18-2), the number one seed in Section Nine’s Class C field, attributes its only two losses to the Lady Bulldogs.

For coach Joe DiMattina and his host of fine players with their eyes fixed on a return to the state title game, these games against tough Sullivan West were excellent preparation for the coming wars, which must first be waged against the likes of Webutuck and either Millbrook or Tuxedo in the upcoming Section Nine tourney.

In the first meeting between Seward and Sullivan West, Seward senior standout Kathleen Folkl, Section Nine’s leader with a 21.2-points-per-game average, was seeking to garner her career 1000th point. She came in 29 points shy of the mark and scored 24. She reached the milestone in a subsequent win over Chapel Field.

Sullivan West’s defense did an even better job on Folkl this time out, limiting her to four buckets. The remainder of her team-high 17 points came from the free throw line, a place DiMattina felt she should have inhabited far more than she did.

Starting out in a zone, but quickly opting for a helping-man defense following a couple of early threes from Seward’s Brooke Burnside, the Lady Bulldogs slid help to confront anyone who touched the ball. Seward got few good looks at the basket and Sullivan West overcame its first game 29-28 shortcoming in rebounds by markedly controlling the glass.

“They out-rebounded us on the offensive glass until the end when we really needed it. They did a great job of making shots with time running down,” noted DiMattina, who felt his own team’s defense didn’t play well despite giving up only 54 points. “We need to get better,” said the coach, who fully understands what it takes to win at the next level. DiMattina coached the Lady Spartans to a state soccer title this past fall, and the nexus of his basketball team was a part of that triumph.

Prior to the game, Sullivan West seniors Sarah Lander and Jenn Pitz were honored. They presented flowers to their parents before putting on their game faces for the coming fray.

Like two heavyweight fighters in a title bout, Seward and Sullivan West came out trading punches. Folkl scored down low by finding a seam in the zone, but Lindsey Murphy answered back for the Dawgs. Murphy also replied to Burnside’s first three to tie it at five. But Burnside drilled another, right in front of Sullivan West’s bench to propel Seward back.

Bernhardt called a time out and adjusted his defense and Seward’s long-range threat came to a grinding halt. A bucket by Katrina Graby and a three from Pitz put the Dawgs in the lead again before Sarah Steele tied it up with a bucket for the Orange tide.

Graby picked up an early second foul, but Lander dished a crisp pass to a scoring Vicky Argueta to take the lead that Sullivan West would never relinquish.

They led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Lander, whose main contribution in this game would come from her defense and passing, hit a three to open the second quarter. Later in the period, Seward would get one from Alina Greiser that would account for three fifths of Seward’s five points in the period.

Sullivan West extended its lead to 26-17 at the half, due in part to forcing seven turnovers while committing only five of their own. More importantly, the emphatic play of Rachel Houghtaling, who was grabbing rebounds, wresting the ball from Seward players and diving for every loose ball, was key in affording her team the burgeoning advantage.

Like the previous encounter, Houghtaling would lead her team in rebounding. This time out, she grabbed 14 boards and was credited with seven assists. She also scored nine points. All of that taken together made her the undisputed choice as the tournament’s MVP.

Pitz, who scored 16 points on the night, along Folkl and Vivien Greiser, would join Houghtaling on the All-Tournament team.

Sullivan West led 35-24 after three quarters, limiting powerful Seward to seven points in the period, three of which came from a downtown shot from Greiser. The athletic junior was doing a good job of penetrating the paint, but she was often met by a wall of bodies that blocked her access to the rim.

Seward’s sense of urgency on defense limited Sullivan West to nine points in the third quarter. Two of those came from a catch and shoot banked off the glass by Houghtaling as the shot clock was about to expire.

The home crowd, practicing their newfound love of the wave, enjoyed it immensely.

Sullivan West outscored Seward 19-17 in the fourth quarter with 12 of those points coming at the free throw line. Pitz netted nine of them.

Sullivan West shot 16 of 24 from the line. Seward netted 10 of 14.

The Lady Bulldogs were helped by Murphy’s second three pointer of the night. Folkl scored 10 of her 17 points in the final frame. Seven of those were scored from the stripe.

For the sectional seeding of both teams, turn to page 31.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of Moran final photos.