By Lori Brown
FALLSBURG — February 9, 2010 — The Fallsburg Comets hosted the Tuxedo Tornadoes on Friday night in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V basketball game.
Entering the game, both teams had recorded eight victories so far this season. The winner would clinch a spot in the upcoming Section IX Class C Tournament, while the losing team would have to try to earn a sectional berth by winning another game.
Fallsburg, which endured a winless 2008-2009 season, prevailed, 56-42, to secure its trip to sectionals.
The Comets’ Danny Seletsky dominated on offense during the first quarter by scoring eight points. But Tuxedo (8-7, 3-3 Division V) took a 10-8 advantage when Zander Leu scored a basket with only 23 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Fallsburg (9-7, 3-3 Div. V) had a great second period by scoring 15 points and holding the Tornadoes to five points. Tuxedo’s Peter Prall scored a bucket early on and teammate Corey Zukoski swished a 3-point shot with only 46 seconds left in the half.
Fallsburg’s Dustin Foertsch helped his team by netting eight points, including a pair of 3-point shots, in the quarter. As a result, the Comets had a 23-15 lead at halftime.
Fallsburg outscored Tuxedo by a 16-9 margin in the third quarter to build its lead. With only 10 seconds left in the quarter, Foertsch swished a 3-pointer to give his team a 39-24 advantage entering the last eight minutes of the contest.
Despite outscoring the Comets 18-17 during the fourth period, Tuxedo could not overcome the lead that Fallsburg had taken earlier.
Seletsky led Fallsburg with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Nine of his rebounds were on the defensive end of the court.
Foertsch finished with 13 points and teammate Michael Robinson recorded 13 rebounds (six offensive and seven defensive).
“We are psyched to get into sectionals,” Fallsburg Coach Pete Dworetsky said. “We had an 0 and 20 season last year.
“It was a great team effort,” he added. “Two kids came up from J.V., Jimmy Bertholf and Rakkir Watson. They did a great job tonight and had great minutes. We handled pressure well and we did not turn the ball over. Michael Robinson and Danny Seletsky were huge in the post.”
Dworetsky added that he “didn’t count them [Tuxedo] out, I know they can shoot.”
“We played great team defense shutting them down,” he concluded.
Joe Perez paced Tuxedo with 10 points and Zukoski had nine points.
“Tonight was a psychological thing,” Tuxedo Coach Marco Margotta said. “We didn’t shoot well.
“Our defense is consistent, but if we don’t score points, we don’t win,” he added. “We only scored 15 points in the first half. They are a little more aggressive than us.”
The Comets’ are scheduled to return to the court on Thursday night, when the team will host the Tri-Valley Bears at 7 p.m. in a Div. V game. It will also be Fallsburg’s senior recognition night.
Tuxedo will play S.S. Seward tonight and Chester later this week in Div. V games.