By Ted Waddell
FALLSBURG — In their first regular season game of the 2009-2010 season, the host Fallsburg Comets posted a 75-49 win on Thursday night over The Family Foundation School Falcons in a non-league basketball game.
The Comets handily outpaced the opposition in the first two quarters by margins of 18-7 and 14-6, respectively.
Fallsburg (1-0) managed to edge the Falcons in the final two periods of the game. But The Family School (0-3) played better in the second half, narrowing the scoring gap to 24-18 in the third quarter and 19-18 in the fourth quarter.
Fallsburg Coach Pete Dworetsky was pleased to begin this season with a victory.
“It was a good win for the guys, especially after the season we had last year,” said Dworetsky, noting that the Comets finished last season with an 0-20 record.
With seven seniors and five sophomores on the 2009-2010 Fallsburg roster, the Comets’ leader noted that “we have a whole new group playing together.”
Dworetsky’s take on posting a ‘W’ after going without one last season?
“They played together, worked really well trying to find the best open shot,” Dworetsky said. “They played as a team.
“The guys who weren’t putting up points were gabbing rebounds… every guy has a role to play and they recognize each other’s talents.”
Three players from each team scored in double figures.
Fallsburg’s Dustin Foertsch scored a game-high 25 points, including five 3-pointers.
Russell Corley and Danny Seletsky added 15 points apiece for the Comets.
Isaac Moore paced the Falcons’ offense with 18 points. Jens Jensen-Reinke scored 11 points and J.T. Helmke netted 10 points.
The Family School fared better at the free-throw line, however. The Falcons converted 7 of 9 (78 percent), while the Comets made 8 of 15 (53 percent) of their foul shots.
“We knew they were going to press us and they did,” Family School Coach Ted Towsley said. “I though we did a good job of breaking their press, and for the most part I’m not unhappy with the game.”
In a tip of the hat to the Comets’ coaching staff and players, Towsley said, “They came out with a game plan and they executed it pretty well… they beat us tonight.”
Towsley credited the performance of Jensen-Reinke and Helmke in particular.
Towsley noted that Helmke “played well and didn’t try to do everything himself.
“We have to fix some mental lapses, but it’s early in the season,” Towsley added.