By Ted Waddell
ROSCOE — December 5, 2003 – At the 1st Annual Blue Devils Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Roscoe, the home team had the opposition looking for charms to ward off the “Devils.”
By walloping the Eldred Yellowjackets, 61-43, the Roscoe Blue Devils earned a spot in the tourney’s championship game. That contest, pitting Roscoe versus The Family School, was scheduled for last night. (The Falcons defeated Livingston Manor in Tuesday night’s other first round game.)
The Blue Devils jumped out to a commanding 18-2 lead in the first period, although Eldred (0-1) fought back in the second quarter to outscore the home team by an 18-15 margin.
Scoring in the final periods was closer, but Roscoe (1-0) was able to extend its 33-20 halftime lead. The Blue Devils outscored the Yellowjackets 12-8 in the third quarter and 16-15 in the fourth.
Four players scored in double figures to lead the Blue Devils to the victory. They were: Justin Bowers (17), Troy Kirchner (14), Daniel DeVantier (11) and Vincent Carpinone (10).
For the Yellowjackets, Chris Ryman netted a game-high 21 points and Todd Walter added 11.
Roscoe fared better at the foul line, sinking 9-of-13 shots (69 percent) compared to 9-of-22 (41 percent) shooting by Eldred.
“I think we’re young and we’re going to be better next time we come back,” said Eldred Coach Doug Reiser, who is in his first year of guiding the Yellowjackets.
Fred Ahart, veteran coach of the Blue Devils’ squad – and a guy known for sometimes spending more time on the floor (or field) during a game than a lot of players – was all smiles with the win.
Despite being outsized, Ahart said his squad did a good job on the glass and had an effective running game.
“We ran the floor real well,” he said. “Eldred did a nice job of battling back after we had a big lead.”
Ahart credited the play of Rob Eggleton coming off the bench as a spark that ignited the Blue Devils’ rush to victory.
“It was a total team effort, but Rob added the spark,” he added.