By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — January 9, 2001 – A shot in the last minute of the game propelled Tri-Valley into the finals of the Sullivan County Community College Holiday Tournament.
Senior Durk Pearston hit a jump shot with only 34 ticks left on the clock to give the Bears a dramatic 48-47 victory over Liberty on December 29.
(That contest, as well as the other semifinal which pitted Fallsburg versus the Family School, were played on the final Friday night of the year 2000. The championship and consolation games were slated to be played the following day, Saturday, December 30, but were postponed because of the heavy snowfall that hit the region that day. The games, however, were able to be played this past Saturday, January 6.)
Pearston, who netted 10 points in the contest, and teammates Josh Lowitz (who scored 15 points) and Kyle Humphrey (13 points) paced the Tri-Valley offense in the contest.
In the Fallsburg/Family School matchup, Fallsburg’s Don Frasier led his team to a 53-47 win over the Falcons. Frasier scored 11 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Comet teammates Charles Hinton and Jon Hinton each added 10 points in the win.
Sean Hogan and Scott Tennyson each netted 10 points for the Family School.
Girls’ First Round
The Tri-Valley Lady Bears benefitted from a outstanding individual performance from senior center Megan Sheeley in a 42-39 opening round win over Liberty.
Sheeley finished the contest with nine points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals — nearly a triple-double. Teammates Amanda Krom and Heather Bachmann added 13 and 10 points respectively.
Christine Waryha led the Liberty offense with nine points.
In the other opening round contest, the Family School bested Fallsburg by a 32-30 margin.
Lady Falcon teammates Nicole Gale, Kelly Gorham and Jessica Spinella each netted six points in the win.

Sara Ingber was the Lady Comets’ leading scorer with 12 points.
Boys’ Consolation Game
The second quarter was the story in the Family School’s 55-41 victory over Liberty in Saturday’s consolation game of the SCCC Holiday Tournament.
In that period, the Family School took advantage of several Liberty turnovers — and a few steals of their own — to quickly erase the one-point lead the Indians had at the beginning of the quarter and build a sizeable advantage of its own. A three-point shot by Ryley Eckersley with 30 seconds left in the stanza gave the Falcons a comfortable 28-11 lead going into the locker room.
Further complicating matters for the Indians was the fact that none of their players could put the ball through the net in that second quarter. The Family School outscored Liberty 18-0 in those eight minutes.
Pacing the Falcon offense were Sean Hogan, who recorded 20 points, Eckersley, who netted 17 points and Evan Yakata, who added nine points. Eckersley hit a trio of three-point shots and Hogan swished a pair of the long-distance baskets.
Liberty’s leading scorers were Travis Emery (16 points) and Chris Winters (10 points).
Girls’ Consolation Game
Liberty claimed third place with a dominating 59-18 defeat of Fallsburg Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Indians used their press to force several Lady Comet turnovers that in turn led to easy hoops in the first half. The defensive performance allowed Liberty to grab a 26-10 halftime lead.
The third quarter featured more of the same as Liberty posted a 44-15 lead at the end of those eight minutes.
Liberty’s Andrea TerBush scored a game-high 17 points and teammate Christine Waryha added 14. Lisa DeStefano and Kristy Falkenmeyer each netted nine points for the Lady Indians.