Kapito's Edges Fallsburg

By Ted Waddell
MONTICELLO — March 21, 2000 -- Kapito Tires rolled over Fallsburg 83-82 in the hard fought Monticello Adult Recreation League basketball championship game.
The final was played Thursday night at the Monticello High School gymnasium.
In the semifinals the previous Monday night, Kapito edged H & R Block 50-49 and Fallsburg beat Ketcham Fencing 55-36.
Both finalists took to the floor with identical 7-1 records in regular season play: Fallsburg lost to Ketcham Fencing, while Kapito’s only loss was to Fallsburg.
With three seconds remaining on the game clock, Fallsburg’s Spencer Lewis went up for a 3-pointer that missed.
It was a game of ‘threes’ as the team from Kapito captured their third consecutive championship, and several players burned up the rim from the 3-point line: for Kapito, John Merchant racked up eight 3-pointers, while for Fallsburg, it was Keith Shaddock (6) and Rodney Rigg (4).
Two Kapito hoopsters attained double digits: John Merchant (36) and Rob Dawson (15). For Fallsburg: Keith Shaddock (26), Colin Rigg (16), Spencer Lewis (14) and Rodney Rigg (14).
Not coincidentally, a good chunk of the roster from both teams played on the Fallsburg, Liberty, and Monticello high school basketball squads.
“It was a real run-and-gun game,” said Betsy Conaty, Director of Parks and Recreation for the Village of Monticello. “I thought it was a great game.”
Michael Snowden, Kapito’s tri-captain, took a bit of literary license when he called the victory a “three-peat”.
“This was our toughest game by far,” added fellow tri-captain Tom Watson. “They shot their threes well, but John Merchant was on fire for us. He was hot from the outside in the first half, and in the second half kept us in the game with some crucial shots.”
Mike Bernstein, a ref who has earned his stripes by officiating high school and college games for 19 years, was one of a pair of refs working the Monticello Adult Rec League final.
“This particular game was as good as any NJCAA (junior college) Division III or even a couple of (NCAA) Division II games that I officiated this year,” he said. “They played hard and played strong with a tremendous amount of organization.
“This wasn’t street ball,” added Bernstein. “Most of the game was played at or above the rim.”
According to Bernstein, “This game speaks a lot for how far the Monticello Rec League has come in terms of talent and organization. I thinks it’s only going to get better.”