By Ted Waddell
FALLSBURG — December 27, 2005 – It isn’t over until it’s over.
At halftime of Thursday night’s boys’ non-league basketball game between the host Fallsburg Comets and the Falcons of The Family Foundation School, it looked like the home team hoopsters were headed for a win, as they took a three-point lead (34-31) into the locker room.
When the Falcons were down by nine in the third period, it seemed as if a Comets’ win was a sure thing.
But then the Falcons started hitting their shots and the Comets ran out of gas, due in part to back-to-back games and a couple of their best players (David Anthony and Chris Gates) failing to clear the double-digit scoring plateau.
In the first frame, The Family School (5-0) edged Fallsburg 18-17, but in the second period the home team rallied to outscore the opposition by four (17-13).
The Falcons squeaked by Fallsburg (2-5) by one point in the third period (16-15), but as they started to run out of gas they gave up a lot of turnovers, opening the door for The Family School to clip the “Comets Tail” 22-12 in the final quarter on the way to a 69-61 victory.
Double-digit scorers for The Family School included Will Gahan, who had a team-high 14 points, and the trio of Tom Gould, Shervin Nassi and Andrew Van Riper – all of whom netted 11 points.
Fallsburg’s Ian Roosa poured in a game-high 20 points and Darius Buckner added 14 points.
The teams were virtually equal at the free-throw line as The Family School went 12-of-22 (55 percent) and Fallsburg was 11-of-21 (52 percent).
“It was a really hard fought battle,” said Fallsburg Coach Paul Marsden. “Our mental errors caused turnovers in the fourth quarter, and that really hurt us.
“It seemed like they had God on their side,” he added. “Everything they threw up [at the basket] went in.”
Family School Coach Ted Towsley said that the Comets’ press threw off the Falcons’ game in the first half, but then his players started to run their press-breaker the way he (Towsley) had taught them in practice.
“We made a lot of stupid turnovers, but stopped doing that sometime in the third period,” Towsley added. “We switched to a zone [defense] and that cut down on the fouling… we’re not reaching, jumping or getting overextended.”
Towsley said that once his hoopsters shut down the Comets transition game and began making their shots, “we started playing basketball.”
“Getting a win here is fantastic, because their fans are incredible,” said Towsley of the Fallsburg parents and students.