By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — February 5, 2010 — Chapel Field and Livingston Manor played an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI basketball twinbill on Wednesday night in the Manor.
In the first game, the Manor Lady Wildcats defeated the Chapel Field Lady Lions, 39-30. Later in the evening, the Chapel Field Lions rallied in the fourth quarter for a 61-52 win over the Manor Wildcats.
Defense helps Lady Wildcats post the victory
After trailing 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and 20-18 at halftime, Manor limited Chapel Field to just 12 points in the second half.
Chapel Field’s Janelle Gros scored six points in the first period to help her team take its eight-point advantage. She scored another basket early in the second quarter to give the Lady Lions their biggest lead at 16-4.
But Manor (8-4, 4-1) calmly chipped away at its deficit. With 1:47 remaining until halftime, Maggi Calo made a 3-point shot to bring the Lady Wildcats within a basket at 18-16. Twenty-four seconds later, Marissa Diescher scored the tying basket.
Gros answered with a basket in the lane to give Chapel Field (8-5, 2-3 Div. VI) the lead at the intermission.
In the opening minute of the third quarter, Manor junior forward Christine Babich made a baseline jump shot to knot the score at 20-20 and teammate Monay Allen drove down the lane and scored a basket to give the Lady Wildcats the lead for good.
Diescher finished the game with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Calo had seven points and Allen added four points.
“We were able to play uptempo pressure defense for long stretches in the second half,” Manor Coach Kevin Clifford said. “We had a complete team effort on defense. It was a great team win in general, especially on defense.”
Gros paced Chapel Field with 16 points. Grace Hodges and Chloe Solomon added eight points and four points, respectively, for the Lady Lions.
“Defensively, they shut us down,” Chapel Field Coach Mike Bonagura said. “We only scored 10 points in the second half. We had some shots, but they were off.”
Lions rally for a victory
In the boys’ game, Manor grabbed a 10-4 lead in the first quarter.
The Wildcats extended their advantage to 14-6 early in the second period when Brandon Smith scored inside the lane on assist by senior guard Troy Edwards.
Manor (2-10, 2-3 Div. VI) held a 25-23 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the score was tied three times and each team took the lead.
With 7:16 left in the fourth period, Kenny Fisk scored to give the Wildcats a 50-45 advantage.
But Chapel Field (9-5, 4-1 Div. VI) went on a 16-0 scoring run during the next six minutes. Consecutive 3-point shots by Jesse Capalbo and Danny Menendez gave the Lions a 51-50 advantage with 6:17 left in the game. Capalbo swished another 3-pointer in the run to help his team record the nine-point win.
Capalbo made a total of four shots from beyond the 19-foot, 9-inch arc in recording a game-high 32 points. Menendez finished with 14 points and Dustin Vellenga had six points.
“I wasn’t comfortable until the last couple of minutes,” Chapel Field Coach Joe Canazon said. “Manor plays very hard and they did a great job.
“Our shots started to fall in the fourth quarter and theirs didn’t, otherwise it would have been a different outcome.”
Smith led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Troy Correa had 12 points. Edwards, who made two 3-point shots, and Fisk each finished with 10 points.
“We outplayed them for three quarters,” Manor Coach Charlie Hicks said. “We have had other games like this where we play very well for three-and-a-half quarters but have one bad half-of-a quarter.
“But my guys play hard,” he added. “I can’t fault their effort. They always go out and compete on the court.”