By Rob Potter
FALLSBURG — December 11, 2001 – In the opening minutes of last Friday’s non-league boys’ basketball game, the host Fallsburg Comets and Deposit Lumberjackets traded baskets.
Each squad also made some mistakes, as they tried to figure out an unfamiliar opponent and how the game would flow.
But Fallsburg (3-0) found its shooting touch late in that quarter and moved out to a double digit lead.
The Comets extended that lead throughout the remaining three quarters of the game, posting a 69-45 victory.
After a 6-6 tie midway through those first eight minutes of play, Fallsburg went on a 13-3 scoring run.
Keying that run was guard Jon Hinton, who swished a pair of three-point bombs about 45 seconds apart and added a pair of free throws. Teammate Zaquan Hilliard capped the run by nailing a three-pointer of his own a split second before the buzzer sounded, giving Fallsburg a 19-9 advantage entering the second period.
The Comets continued to shoot well and take advantage of Lumberjack turnovers in the second quarter. Fallsburg headed to the locker room with a 36-23 lead.
In the third period, the Comets calmly extended their lead. Senior forward Brooks Whitaker hit a pair of three pointers in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the quarter as Fallsburg grabbed a commanding 56-35 lead heading into to the final quarter.
“We have been shooting very well this season,” Fallsburg Coach Paul Marsden said. “We’ve shot about 51 percent and that’s scary.”
Marsden noted that his squad usually shoots at a lower percentage for the first few games of a season, but he’s not complaining too much.
“We’re shooting the ball well and its just not one person,” he said. “It seems like every game someone else is stepping up and shooting well.”
Whitaker led the Comets’ scoring parade versus the Lumberjacks. He finished the game with 17 points, nine of which came on sucessful shots beyond the three-point arc.
Hilliard netted 15 points and Lionel White and Hinton added nine and eight points, respectively.
“Brooks [Whitaker] did a nice job tonight,” Marsden said. “Actually, everyone did a nice job. It was a good team effort and everyone played well.”
Leading Deposit (2-3), a Section IV school, in the scoring column was Ben Natale, who netted 12 points. Teammate Dan Tarbox added eight points.
Deposit Coach Terry Raymond noted that Fallsburg’s three-point accuracy was a key to the contest.
“They certainly shot better than we did,” Raymond said. “They were able to make those three point shots, which certainly didn’t help our cause.”
The coach also noted that he thought the Comets had a good overall team.
“They’re pretty quick and have a lot of tools,” Raymond said. “I don’t know what the competition is like down here, but it seems like they should do pretty well this season.”