By Ted Waddell
HANCOCK — February 10, 2006 – If you wanted to define Tuesday night’s boys’ basketball Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI game between the host Family Foundation School Falcons and the Wildcats of Livingston Manor, the operative word would be “physical.”
On the way to a 59-54 victory, the Falcons took a slim three-point halftime lead (26-23).
At the end of the third period, The Family School (12-4, 4-2 Division VI) was up by nine, 44-35.
And then things got exciting and physical.
With 6:22 left in the fourth quarter, Manor (4-11, 2-4 Div. VI) shaved the Falcons’ lead to 46-42.
But about two minutes later, the home team was back up by five points at 47-42.
At 2:25, The Family School was back on track until Manor’s Mike Perry nailed a 3-pointer. Perry’s successful long-distance basket cut the Falcons’ advantage to 53-47.
In the closing minutes, The Family School’s Will Gahan continued showing the crowd he was a bull under the boards. At the 1:18 mark Gahan seemingly leapt halfway across the court to slap away a sure shot by a Wildcat, deflecting a critical bucket.
The last 60 seconds were marked by a series of intentional fouls as the opposing coaches attempted to preserve precious time on the clock and open up a window of opportunity for their squad to score some needed points.
With 10.9 seconds remaining, the Falcons connected twice on a 1-and-1 situation. But with 3.3 seconds left, Manor finessed a 3-pointer to cut the Falcons’ lead to 57-54.
With 2.4 seconds displayed on the scoreboard clock, the Falcons converted one shot on another 1-and-1 at the free-throw line to close out their 58-54 victory.
Double-digit scorers for The Family School included Will Gahan (19 points) and Andrew Van Riper (13 points).
For Manor, Mike Perry scored 19 points and Ethan McCann added 15 points.
“I thought it was very physical, very fast paced,” Manor Coach Charlie Hicks said. “We just made too many critical mistakes when it counted the most down the home stretch.”
“We didn’t play our best game, but Will Gahan did a great job blocking the ball for us, and he did a great job on the offensive end,” Family School Coach Ted Towsley said.
“We came out really tight tonight, and weren't able to get into our rhythm until the third quarter… we started running away and they made a comeback, their 3-point shooters were unbelievable,” Towsley added. “Every time we play Manor, it’s always a great game. We give each other everything we have.”