By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE —January 30, 2001 Sullivan West/Jeffersonville-Youngsville won a battle of long-distance shooting versus Fallsburg Friday night.
The SW/J-Y and Fallsburg squads combined to swish 13 three-point shots in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV contest. The Trojans netted seven three-pointers to the Comets’ six en route to a 55-44 victory.
Of course, both teams also scored numerous baskets within the 19-foot, nine-inch arc, but many players had a difficult time passing the ball or dribbling inside once they had an open look from outside the arc.
Back-to-back threes by Gregg Semenetz and Justin Pinkel helped SW/JY (10–3, 5–1 Division IV) race out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. But Fallsburg (6–4, 1–3 Division IV), thanks in part to the trey, closed the gap to 14-10 at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of play.
And a successful three-pointer by Darren Kenney at the 4:50 mark of the second period gave the Comets their first lead of the evening, 22-21. But threes by Jon Fanning and Pinkel in the last minute of the quarter gave the Trojans a 33-27 lead going into the locker room.
In the second half, SW/J-Y held the lead throughout en route to the tough Division IV win.
“That last basket of the half put them up by six and gave them the momentum,” Fallsburg coach Paul Marsden said.
Marsden added that “not playing in over a week hurt us.”
The lack of games due to the weather and Regents exams held last week along with injuries to starters Dennis Arscott and Steve Nikolados hampered the Comets. But Marsden was not using those facts as excuses.
“We did the best we could tonight,” he commented. “The J-Y players were better tonight. J-Y played an excellent game.”
SW/J-Y co-coaches Rick Ellison and Bob Menges noted that the contributions made by Trojan players at key moments contributed to the victory.
“(Justin) Pinkel carried us in the first half,” Menges said of the junior guard who scored all 13 of his points before halftime. “Jon Tanous had some big baskets in the third quarter and Mike Ahnstrom had a couple of nice inside buckets at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth.”
Though pleased with their squad’s quick start in the opening period, Ellison and Menges knew that the Trojans would have to play a full 32 minutes to earn the win.
“We knew they wouldn’t quit,” Ellison said of the Comets. “With their quickness, they are never out of a ballgame.”
The Trojans also executed two key principles of basketball — defense and rebounding — very well.
“Our goal at halftime was to hold them to 16 points in the second half,” Menges said. “They got 17, so we did a nice job there. And we rebounded well tonight.”
In addition to Pinkel’s aforementioned 13 points, which included three three-pointers, Tanous also reached double figures for the Trojans. He netted a pair of threes and finished with a game-high 14 points.
Gregg Semenetz added nine points for SW/J-Y.
Fallsburg’s offense was paced by Charles Hinton, who recorded 11 points on the night, and Charles Robinson, who added 10 points. Hinton scored six of his 11 points via the three-point shot. Kenney added six points on a pair of tri-factors.