Byram Hills Uses a Fourth-Quarter Run to Defeat the Garnets
The Bobcats did it again on Friday night, going on an 11-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter in a three-minute burst that broke open a close game with visiting Rye and led to a lopsided 79-55 victory. For Byram Hills, the win was its second in 48 hours over the Garnets and improved its overall record this season to 14-1.
over three Rye players in Friday’s Bobcat victory. Photo By Andy Jacobs
“It’s nice,” said Bobcats coach Ted Repa after watching his talented team run away and hide at the beginning of the final quarter. “I think the key is getting stops and getting out in transition. When you get some easy buckets, then it opens up the 3s and then it takes care of itself.”
The Garnets found themselves trailing by 15 points in the second quarter before closing the half on an 8-3 spurt to climb within 38-28. But Jeff Lynch, who had scored 28 points in Wednesday’s 73-57 win down at Rye, collected back-to-back buckets a couple of minutes into the third period to extend the Bobcats’ advantage to 14 points.
Still, when Rye’s Mike Garafalo hit on a 3-pointer with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Bobcat lead had been trimmed to just five points. A pair of free throws by Byram forward Chad Friedberg with 1:38 left in the period gave the Bobcats a 52-45 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Any thoughts the Garnets had of getting revenge for their loss two days earlier disappeared soon after the teams stepped back on the court for the final eight minutes. Andrew Groll started the big burst with a layup and Ryan Golden, who led the Bobcats with 22 points, soon followed with a conventional 3-point play. Brian Skelly made one of two foul shots and then Friedberg scored on a put-back.
The last three points of the Bobcat run came from an unlikely source, junior guard Mike Giacomo, who connected on a trey from the top of the key that stretched the Byram Hills lead to 63-45. Giacomo was just getting started though. He soon took a pass from Lynch, who had 11 assists, and buried another 3-pointer, this time from the left corner.
“It’s funny,” said Repa. “When Groll got his fourth foul, we went small and it ended up to our advantage because Mike Giacomo had a breakout fourth quarter. We’ve been waiting for it. It’s tough to find time on the court because our team is very good. But he came in there and he just showed us what he shows us in practice. He played the way we know he’s capable of, and if he does that it makes us even harder to guard.”
Giacomo added two fastbreak layups and one free throw later in the quarter, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the final period. Byram outscored the Garnets 27-10 in the fourth quarter, so by the time the final buzzer sounded nearly half of the large Bobcat student section had already exited the gymnasium.
Before scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, the Bobcats had used another 11-0 run to seize a big lead in the first period. The teams were tied at 7-7 midway through the quarter when Groll began the spurt with a layup. Golden, who had 16 of his points in the opening half thanks mostly to four 3-pointers, followed with another layup. He ended the big run with his second trey of the quarter.
Rye moved within 21-17 early in the second quarter before Golden countered with another 3-pointer and Lynch drove down the lane for a basket. A fastbreak layup by Golden stretched the Byram Hills lead to 31-19. Consecutive baskets by Friedberg and Giacomo soon opened up the largest margin of the half, 15 points.
Lynch connected on a pull-up 3-pointer from straightaway late in the half before Garnet standout forward Max Twyman, who had a game-high 23 points, closed the quarter with a trey that moved Rye within 10 points at intermission. Lynch had seven of his points in the first half, but spent most of the second setting up open teammates.
“He just plays a complete game,” said Repa. “Both him and Ryan Golden, whatever the team needs, they figure it out and they give it to us. Golden was a scorer in the first half and then he was tremendous on the boards in the second half and great on outlet passes, which led to easy buckets.”
Still unbeaten in the section this season, the Bobcats are primed for a big run at another title later this month, but Repa knows there’s still some fine tuning to do.
“We looked like we were close to blowing it out in the first half,” he said. “And then a couple of breakdowns here and there. That’s what you have to eliminate. If this team wants another Gold Ball, that’s what they need to eliminate.”
As the regular season winds down with games early this week against Greeley and Harrison and then a Saturday matchup against Harborfields, the Bobcats seem poised to get back to the County Center for another shot at a sectional championship.
“Everybody looks good to me,” said Repa about his players’ health. “So I’m happy with where we are. As long as we stay healthy, I’ve been saying it all year, I feel really good about our chances.”
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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