Bobcats Stay Unbeaten With a Victory Over Port Chester
If the Byram Hills basketball team was deterred at all last Wednesday evening by the absence of its head coach and most of the usually large, boisterous student rooting section, it sure wasn’t apparent.
With Ryan Golden scoring 26 points and Jeff Lynch sparking a huge third-quarter blitz, the unbeaten Bobcats defeated visiting Port Chester 75-53 for their sixth consecutive victory this season.
In a matchup of two talented teams that had each come from behind to win in overtime 48 hours earlier, the Bobcats broke open what was a two-point contest at halftime. They outscored the Rams by a whopping 28-11 margin in the third quarter, getting 12 points from Lynch, their once-hobbled star guard who showed he’s not that far away from returning to top form.
“It was great,” said assistant coach Dave Mack after moving over one seat and directing the Bobcats to a big win in the absence of Ted Repa. “When you have a team like these guys, one through 12, who’ve got each other’s back and play as hard as they do, it’s fun and easy to coach them.”
Golden, who played what Mack called “a monster game,” had 10 of his points in the opening quarter and ended the period with a 3-pointer from the top of the key that tied the game at 14 apiece. Port Chester had built its largest advantage of the evening, five points, midway through the quarter following three successive layups from skilled southpaw center, Tim Brown, who finished with a team-high 25 points.
The lead changed hands seven times in the first half before a pair of free throws by Justin Pollack in the second quarter gave the Bobcats a 23-22 edge and they never trailed again. A 3-pointer by Golden from right of the key, followed soon by a free throw from Lynch, provided Byram Hills with its largest advantage of the half at 31-24. But the Rams then went on a 7-2 run and only trailed 33-31 at halftime.
Bobcat sophomore center Andrew Groll opened the third quarter with a jump hook in the lane and Lynch then began his scoring outburst by connecting on a 3-pointer from straightaway. The Rams never got closer than five points after that, and Byram’s lead swelled to 18 points late in the period after an 11-0 burst that started with a basket by Golden and ended with two free throws by Pollack.
“I think once we got all the starters back in the beginning of the second half, those that were in foul trouble really stepped up and we just started pushing the ball,” said Mack about the very productive third quarter, which ended with Byram Hills leading 61-42. “Got good rebounds and pushed. The kids took care of the rest.”
The Rams’ Tyrik Harris scored five quick points to start the fourth quarter, trimming the Byram lead to 14. But the Bobcats responded with a turnaround jumper by Lynch near the foul line and two straight buckets from Groll that built their advantage up to 20 points and assured there would be no Port Chester comeback.
Groll, the emerging young center who had scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in last Monday’s overtime win over Blind Brook, had his hands full trying to contain the Rams’ Brown, a crafty and nimble threat with strong post moves. According to Mack, the opportunity to face a player of Brown’s ability will surely speed up Groll’s development.
“Tim Brown, the kid from Port Chester, is a talented, strong kid,” he said. “He’s a great basketball player, and for Andrew Groll to step up and play hard it’s only going to help his growth.”
The Bobcats’ biggest lead of the night arrived with five seconds remaining as junior guard David Lachs made a 3-pointer out of the corner to conclude the game’s scoring and send Byram Hills into the holidays on a high note.
“Port Chester’s a well-coached team,” said Mack. “They have tough kids who play hard, and they played hard throughout the entire game. Even in the beginning of the fourth quarter, they started coming back. They’re a good basketball team.”
So too, obviously, is Byram Hills, now idle for the next two weeks until a January 4 meeting at Fox Lane. Repa will be back at the helm for that one and, by then, Lynch should surely be his old self again.
“Yeah, we’re hopeful,” said Mack. “We don’t play again until after the winter break, so him and Brian Skelly are both looking real good coming back to health. And that’s gonna be a key for us.”
No matter which seat Mack is sitting in on the Bobcats’ bench the rest of the way, he can only hope to witness more quarters like the one after halftime Wednesday night that destroyed the Rams.
“These kids, when they play as hard as they do,” he said, “it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
Andy is a sports editor at Examiner Media, covering seven high schools in the mid-Westchester region with a notebook and camera. He began there in the fall of 2007 following 15 years as a candid photographer for the largest school picture company in the tri-state area.
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