By Ted Waddell
MONTICELLO — February 20, 2004 – Go figure.
You’re ahead 12-6 at the end of the first quarter, and you lose by 13 points.
Well, that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night when the host Monticello Panthers boys’ varsity basketball squad scratched its way to a six-point lead in the opening stanza, only to see the Green Dragons of Cornwall outscore them in the final three periods on the way to a 51-38 victory in the OCIAA Division II contest.
Cornwall (13-3, 2-1 OCIAA) outscored Monticello (8-9, 2-2 OCIAA) by a 16-7 margin in the second quarter, 14-8 in the third and 15-11 in the fourth.
For Cornwall, Leslie Simmons was the top scorer with 28 points. Bertram McDowell also reached double figures, netting 12 points.
Monticello’s Brad Cooper racked up 10 points for the evening in a game that had Panthers’ Coach Dick O’Neill jumping up and down in frustration along the sideline.
Cornwall went 6-of-10 (60 percent) at the free-throw line, while Monticello was 7-of-14 (50 percent).