By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — January 9, 2004 – While a high school basketball game consists of four eight-minute periods, the performance of one or both teams in just one of those periods often determines the outcome of the contest.
Such was the case on Tuesday night in Livingston Manor.
The Family School Falcons were red-hot on offense in the opening quarter versus the Livingston Manor Wildcats in the OCIAA Division VI boys’ basketball game.
As a result of that quick start, The Family School (5-3, 1-0 OCIAA) went on to post an 81-58 win.
The Family School raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first three minutes. Paced by junior guard Mike O’Brien, who swished a pair of three-point shots, the Falcons held a 17-11 lead at the end of the quarter.
Although Manor (2-4, 0-1 OCIAA) closed the gap to 17-13 early in the second period, the Falcons continued their great shooting. The Family School steadily increased its advantage and a three-pointer by O’Brien with 3:40 displayed on the scoreboard clock gave the team a commanding 39-19 lead.
The Wildcats got their offense flowing more smoothly in the second half, but just could not overcome that early deficit.
O’Brien finished with a game-high 29 points and teammate Miles Farkas had 17 points. Paul Cassidy added 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Falcons and Richard Dame and Tom Gould each netted six points.
“Miles [Farkas] and Mike [O’Brien] are a great combination for us,” Family School Coach Pat Simmons said. “If a team tries to shut down Mike, we go to Miles; if they try to stop Miles, we go to Mike. I don’t think there are a lot of teams that can stop both of them.”
Simmons also praised Cassidy for his scoring and rebounding. The first-year coach also noted that senior guard Phil Vieira recorded his first points of the season in the victory. In fact, the players on the Falcons’ bench cheered loudly when Vieira scored in the fourth quarter.
Manor was led by senior forward Anthony Larry, who scored 15 points, and Marvin Bonilla, who netted nine. Three Wildcats – Patrick Branning, Timmy Bryant and Evan Bowers – each registered seven points on the evening.
“That is probably the worst first half we have played this season,” Manor Coach Charlie Hicks said. “Number 4 [O’Brien] really lit it up for them and they put us in a hole early.”
“We were off for three weeks and we came out a little flat,” Hicks added.