By Ted Waddell
ROSCOE — December 5, 2003 – In Tuesday’s opening round of the first-ever Roscoe Central School Blue Devils Basketball Tournament, the Falcons of The Family School Foundation shook off an early lead by the Livingston Manor Wildcats to stage a come-from-behind 65-59 victory.
Although Manor (0-1) outscored the Falcons 18-13 in the first quarter, The Family School (1-0) started to step it up on defense and perform better on offense towards the close of the half on the way to outscoring the Wildcats in the remaining periods of play.
As the final minutes of the second period ticked down on the clock, the Falcons tied it up 26-26.
Seconds before halftime, Tom Gould put The Family School up 28-26 with a steal and a quick bucket.
At the 6:15 mark in the fourth period, the Wildcats’ Anthony Larry made it a 50-50 ballgame by sinking a pair of shots from the free throw line.
However, a few moments later, with Manor up by three, Falcon forward Miles Farkas scored on a trio of dashes to the glass. Those baskets gave The Family School a three-point lead and the team held the advantage for the rest of the game.
Double digit scorers for the Falcons included Mike O’Brien (19 points), Farkas (17) and Paul Cassidy (12).
Two Wildcats reached double figures in the scorebooks. Patrick Branning recorded a team-high 18 points and Larry netted 16.
The Family School performed slightly better at the foul line, converting 7-of-16 free throws (44 percent) to Manor’s 7-of-20 (35 percent).
Manor Coach Charlie Hicks chalked up the loss to inexperience and a case of the jitters.
“We came out firing, but in the second half we went into a slump,” he said. “I was very impressed by our rebounding, but we need to work on our free throw shooting and turnovers.”
Family School Coach Pat Simmons said it was tough for the Falcons in the beginning, but they managed to hang on for the win.
“We got a little sloppy, throwing the ball around . . . but we fought back,” he said.
In last night’s championship game, The Family School was scheduled to meet the host Roscoe Blue Devils, who defeated the Eldred Yellowjackets in Tuesday night’s other opening round game. Prior to the title game, Manor was slated to battle Eldred in the consolation contest.