Class A Hoops Notebook: No.8 Somers Takes Bark out of Wolves in Opening Round Win; Tuskers Hoping to Knock off No.1 Byram, Advance to Class A Quarters; Peekskill Advances, Panas Does Not
Someone was going to have to step up for No.8 seed Somers High if visiting No.9 Gorton, or anyone else in the Section 1 Class A basketball tournament, was going in with the attitude “anyone but Decker is going to beat me”. And it became glaringly evident throughout the host Tuskers’ 62-46 opening-round victory last Friday night over the Wolves that junior G Matt Moros was going to be that guy.
Moros dropped a career-high 20 points and All-LHVBCA first-teamer John Decker added 15 as the Tuskers advanced to the Class A quarterfinals for the first time since 1995 where they’ll visit top-seeded Byram Hills today (Tuesday) in an effort to get back to the Westchester County center for the first time since 1992.
“I can’t wait, man, it’s gonna be a show,” said Decker, who delivered timely swoops despite a wave of Wolves with each trip.
Somers (14-5) took a five-point lead into the half before dispatching of Gorton with a stifling defensive effort. The Wolves were missing layups and free throws in the first half, and the Tuskers were far from sharp with the Tuskers taking a slim lead into the break. In the second half, the Wolves still focused on Decker, despite the fact Moros had been torching them, so Moros just kept it up.
“Obviously everyone in the section knows John and now that it’s playoff time teams are going to key on him even more,” Moros said. “As much as the spotlight has been on John this season he isn’t the type of player that always needs it, so that allows the rest of the team to step up when he is having a tough time. I knew they had gritty guards and that I needed a tough performance for us to get the win. I came out hard from start to finish and things just clicked the whole game. Coaches had us very prepared and we took care of business on both ends of the floor.”
The second half was all Somers, leading to the Tuskers first playoff win since 1995; when, as a 14th-seed, the Tuskers shocked rival No.3 Kennedy Catholic before losing to Dave Roche and Fox Lane in the second round. State-ranked (No.2), top-seeded Byram Hills (18-1), which survived a thrilling 65-65 overtime win against No.16 Beacon, stands between the Tuskers and their first County Center berth since Derek Hyra, Willy Dietrich and Co. reached the sectional finals in 1992. Should the Tuskers pull the upset, the winner of No. 5 Peekskill vs. No. 4 Albertus Magnus would lie in wait at the Mecca of Section 1 hoops.
The other side of the bracket would include the survivor of No.6 Tappan Zee vs. No.3 Poughkeepsie or No. 10 Pelham vs. No. 2 Eastchester winner. Many Section 1 fans are expecting the winner of state-ranked (No.18) Poughkeepsie and defending champion TZ to be there in the end. Whether or not Somers emerges from the other side of the bracket or not, first-year Tusker boss Chris DiCinitio and trusty assistant Darryl Atkinson’s Tuskers have inched closer to the County Center than any other Somers team has since 1995.
Not bad for a year’s worth of work.
CLASS A ROUNDUP
The 2012 Class A semifinalist PEEKSKILL RED DEVILS (14-5) have been waiting for a surly effort from Musheed Muhammad, and they got just that in a 70-67 win over No.12 Pearl River. The 6’5” Muhammad, who finished with 13 rebounds and 16 points, was a force in the paint. Trailing by eight, the Red Devils went on an up-tempo 11-0 run to close out the third quarter with a 54-51 lead. It went down to the wire at 60-all before Peekskill went all Peekskill on the Pirates. Sniper Jay Cabell (16 points), Muhammad, speedy G Chavis Pigott (12 each) and rangy Laron Holt (12 and seven boards) were strongest down the stretch. The Red Devils answered the bell at home. Now they have to do it again in the road in a cozy CYO-style gymnasium across the river against the defending Class B champions, with a lights-out shooter named Jack Sullivan, who dropped 26 on Panas.
We said all along the No.12 WALTER PANAS was going to be a tough out and Coach Shawn Sullivan’s Panthers proved to be just that in a 70-66 loss to No.4 host Albertus Magnus in a Class A first round game last Friday. Falcon hotshot Sullivan scored 26 points, including 19 in the first half. The Falcons rallied from a double-digit deficit, afforded to Panas by swingman Vaughn Dweck, who dropped five 3-pointers and scored 19 of his 32 points in the first eight minutes. Junior point guard Tim McCauley scored 16 points, including a triple that trimmed the Panther deficit to one with just over a minute remaining. Falcon Matt Dale added 10 points and went 4 for 4 at the line in the final minute when the Panthers were forced to foul. The Falcons were set to host No. 5 Peekskill at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday when Sullivan would have a go at Peekskill’s vaunted defense.
“Jack Sullivan is awesome,” Panas boss Sullivan said. “He’s the best guard/player we have seen in years. He killed us in the first half. Once we starting moving guys around to double him he found the open man every time. Dweck had his best offensive game of his career in his biggest game. I am very proud of the improvement the boys made throughout the season. It just seemed like a play here or there all season hurt us. Overall, this was a good season.”
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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