By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — February 2, 2010 — The Roscoe Lady Blue Devils and Chester Hambletonians recorded victories in varsity basketball games on Friday night at Roscoe Central School.
The Roscoe Lady Blue Devils defeated the Chester Lady Hambletonians, 41-35, and the Chester Hambletonians topped the Roscoe Blue Devils, 65-57.
But the players, coaches and fans from both the Chester and Roscoe school districts worked together to donate approximately $1,000 to the American Cancer Society in a Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser.
The admission fees paid by the fans served as donations to the American Cancer Society. In addition, fans had the opportunity to make a separate donation in honor of a loved one who is a cancer survivor or a loved one who passed away from cancer. Those names were written on cards and displayed in the lobby right outside the gym.
Jackie France, a 21-year cancer survivor who works at Roscoe Central School, announced those names to the crowd at halftime of the girls’ game. During the introduction of the starting lineups for the boys’ game, it was announced that six of the Chester players and Coach Jon Marsilio had relatives who battled cancer.
Lady Blue Devils rally for a victory
After trailing 13-10 at the end of the first quarter and 18-17 at halftime, Roscoe came back in the second half to record a six-point win.
The Lady Blue Devils outscored Chester 13-4 in the third period. Roscoe (4-8) extended its lead to as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Roscoe took the lead for good when Taylor DeVantier scored under the basket just 39 seconds into the third quarter to make it a 19-18 game.
After Chester’s Mardelle Jean scored to cut the Lady Blue Devils’ lead to 21-20 with 5:10 remaining in the stanza, DeVantier made a jump shot and a 3-point shot on consecutive possessions to extend her team’s advantage to 25-20.
At the 1:02 mark, Chester’s Jessica Lise scored on an offensive rebound to make it a 25-22 game.
But Paige Clancy swished a 3-pointer and Andrea Griebel made a jump shot to give the Lady Blue Devils a 30-22 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Clancy led Roscoe with a game-high 13 points, while DeVantier finished with 11 points.
Amanda Huggins had eight points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Blue Devils.
“I was very pleased with the way we played tonight,” Roscoe Coach Becky Ahart said. “We played together and we played good team basketball.”
Emily Brosnan and Stephanie Clifford each scored nine points to lead the Lady Hambletonians’ offense. Teammate Juliet Leight added six points.
“It was a great game,” Chester Coach Peter Rickard said. “Both teams were aggressive and played well.”
Quick start helps Chester register a victory
In the boys’ game, Chester jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes and held a 21-11 advantage at the end of the first period.
Josh Feldman made a pair of free throws and a 3-point shot to help the Hambletonians take their 8-0 advantage.
Chester (7-7) enjoyed a 44-24 lead at the intermission, but had to withstand a comeback attempt by the Blue Devils in the second half.
Roscoe (1-13) outscored the Hambletonians 16-14 in the third quarter and 17-7 in the fourth period.
Displaying the never quit attitude he and all of his teammates shared, Roscoe’s Mark Baker made a basket with just two seconds remaining in the contest.
Ryan Bovain paced Chester with 15 points, while Feldman had 10 points and Nick Thomas added seven points.
Marsilio noted that getting off to a good start in the early going was important for his team.
“We like to play an uptempo game and were able to get some good looks at the basket,” he said. “We scored 21 points in the first quarter, which is the most points we have scored in the first quarter this season.”
Marsilio was not too surprised the Blue Devils kept hustling and doing their best for the entire game.
“Roscoe has a great team and they played very well,” he said. “Coach [Fred] Ahart is a great coach.
Adam Hendrix led Roscoe with a game-high 20 points and had four assists. Nate Brock added 18 points for the Blue Devils and Jesse Huggins had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Fred Ahart noted that at halftime he talked with his team about making adjustments for the third and fourth quarters.
“We were down 20 at the half and came back to make it an eight-point game,” the veteran coach said. “Our press forced some turnovers in the second half. Another key was that we played at a better pace. I thought we played much better than we did in the first half.
“Chester deserves credit,” Ahart added. “In the first half they came out and took a big lead.”
Ahart also thanked everyone who helped raise so much money for the American Cancer Society through the Coaches vs. Cancer event.
“I want to recognize two people in particular, Becky Ahart and Jackie France, for being instrumental in helping to organize this event tonight.”
When she announced the total amount of money raised during halftime of the boys’ game, France expressed her gratitude to everyone in attendance.
“I thank all of you for making this possible,” she said.