By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — December 12, 2000 – The Sullivan West/Narrowsburg Indians gave it all they could in Thursday night’s championship game of the seventh annual J-Y Tip-Off Tournament.
But the Indians could not overcome the absence of starting forward Bruce Nober and outstanding games by Sullivan West/Jeffersonville-Youngsville’s Mike Ahnstrom, Matt Parks and Alex Van Loon. That trio of Trojans helped SW/J-Y defeat SW/Narrowsburg 72-58 and claim the Tip-Off tourney title.
Van Loon scored 12 of his team-best 18 points in the third quarter, when the Trojans transformed a six-point halftime lead into a 55-40 advantage going into the final eight minutes. He and Ahnstrom made good use of their height advantage over the SW/Narrowsburg (3–2) inside players to score several easy baskets and put back offensive rebounds.
And when those twin towers weren’t scoring, Parks picked up the offense with his outside shooting. He swished three three-point shots in the contest and finished with 17 points.
“He has such a soft shot and a great touch (on the ball),” SW/J-Y co-coach Rick Ellison said of Parks, who was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Co-coach Bob Menges noted that being able to have both Ahnstrom and Van Loon in the line-up at the same time was a key factor in the victory.
“They were able to grab a lot of rebounds,” Menges said. “They helped us control the boards and limit Narrowsburg to one shot. And the offense they gave us was a bonus.”
While the majority of the SW/J-Y (2–0) scoring came from inside the lane, a great deal of the SW/Narrowsburg points came from beyond the three-point arc. Chad Powell netted four three-pointers, Ken Emeigh swished a trio of threes and Evan Kraack hit a long-range bomb.
Powell scored a team-high 18 points, Emeigh finished with 17 points and Kraack netted 15 on the evening.
Although SW/Narrowsburg coach Cliff Kelly speculated that the game “would have been different with Nober,” he was pleased with how his team competed.
“We showed a lot of hustle tonight and didn’t quit,” he said. “We’ll be back. Hopefully, we will meet them again in sectionals.”
Kelly added that he was hopeful Nober, who has an ankle injury and was walking with crutches Thursday night, would return for the Indians’ game this Friday versus Tuxedo.
Menges and Ellison also thought that SW/J-Y and SW/Narrowsburg may meet at the end of the season.
“Maybe we’ll see them in sectionals,” Ellison said. “Even if we don’t, we have always enjoyed playing Narrowsburg. The games with them were always close and competitive. They featured good, hard, clean basketball.”
Consolation Game
In the evening’s consolation game, Chapel Field (1–2) outscored Roscoe (0–2) by a 21-15 margin in the third quarter en route to a 66-54 victory.
Chapel Field continued to outscore Roscoe in the early minutes of the fourth quarter as well. Midway through the period, Dorian Mullings hit a three-pointer to give the Lions a commanding 57-42 lead. But the Blue Devils responded with an 8-0 run in the next two-and-a-half minutes.
A three-pointer by Jeff Bury, another by Shawn Hendrickson and a long two-point jumper by Bury cut the lead to 61-50 with 1:57 remaining in the game. But Roscoe couldn’t get any closer down the stretch.
“That third quarter was the key,” Roscoe coach Fred Ahart commented. “To Chapel Field’s credit they turned a close game into a nine-point lead. And we had a lot of early turnovers (in the first half) that they converted on their end of the floor.”
Ahart added that he was pleased with how his squad “battled back.”
“We fought hard and were in the game until the last minutes,” he said.
Brian Bury led all Blue Devil scorers with 17 points. Brandon Cheek added 15 points and Hendrickson had nine points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Mullings and teammate Chris Vellenga each netted a game-high 22 points in leading Chapel Field to the win.
“Our offense really came together tonight,” Chapel Field coach Bill Spanjer, Jr. said. “And Dorian and Chris are guys we need to step up and perform. They are seniors and we will really depend on them this season.”