By Ted Waddell
JEFFERSONVILLE — March 2, 2001 – There was a sense of tradition mixed with sadness in the air during Tuesday’s boys Class D quarterfinal game between the Trojans of Sullivan West/Jeffersonville-Youngsville (15–5) and the Statesmen from John A. Coleman (8–12), a Catholic school near Kingston.
For the third-seeded locals, who prevailed 66-51, it was the last time they’d take to the home court under the Trojans banner, as next season, hoopsters from all three recently merged schools (J-Y, Delaware Valley and Narrowsburg) will play on a consolidated team as Sullivan West.
And for the sixth-seeded Statesmen, it marked the end of an era, as faced with budget cuts, the school is slated to close before next year.
With their win, the Trojans advanced to a semifinal against second-seeded S.S. Seward at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh last night. Results were unavailable.
In a hotly contested match on Tuesday, the score was tied 15-15 at the end of the opening quarter, but the Trojans took a 34-21 halftime lead into the locker room after outscoring their opponents 19-6 in the second.
Both teams again scored 15 points each in the third period, and the final quarter was again evenly matched, as the Trojans outgunned the Statesmen 17-15.
For SW/J-Y, it was all Jon Tanous in the first half, as he scored 17 of his game leading 24 points before the break. In the second half, the Trojans big man, 6-foot-61/2 center Mike Ahnstrom, controlled the boards on the way to scoring 23 points in the game.
Double digit men for the Statesmen: Kyle Filli (17) and Dave Matturro (12).
At the free throw line: SW/J-Y: 9/17 (53 percent), Coleman: 13/21 (62 percent).
“They’re a good basketball team,” said Corey Chambers, coach of the Statesmen. “They’re big, they’re tough and they play good defense. They hustle the ball all over the place.”
According to Chambers, his team played what he called an “EZ Pass” defense.
“It was like on the thruway,” he said. “We slowed them down on the way up to the toll, but we couldn’t get anybody in the booth to stop them.
“My team gave it their all tonight,” he added.
For Trojans co-coaches Rick Ellison and Bob Menges, the game was summed up in a single word: Intensity.
“I thought our intensity level was outstanding,” said Ellison. “It’s something we’ve been lacking in our last few games.
“The kids knew what was on the line,” he added. “It was a sectional game, and it was the last game they would play as Jeff-Youngsville… a lot of these kids’ fathers and grandfathers, a lot of their aunts and uncles played ball here.”
According to Menges, once the Trojans were up by 10, they were in pretty good shape. But as the Statesmen turned up the heat in the closing minutes in an effort to force mistakes, he wasn’t thrilled as Coleman scored a few last minute baskets.
“In the fourth period, when the ball got into Tanous’s hands, good things happened,” said Menges. “He either made the shot or found our big guy (Ahnstrom) who finalized the shot.”
“We made some clutch baskets, we got the ball to the right spots and we rebounded very effectively tonight,” added Menges. “We didn’t give them many second chances.”