By Ted Waddell
ELDRED — January 18, 2008 — It was a real foul fest.
Anyway you slice it, when two basketball teams combine to commit 49 fouls in a game, it translates to a lot of trips to the free-throw line.
In Tuesday’s night’s non-league game between the host Eldred Lady Yellowjackets and the Fallsburg Lady Comets, Eldred stepped up to the foul line a whopping 36 times while Fallsburg made 13 trips to the charity stripe.
Eldred went 19-of-36 (53 percent) at the free-throw line, while Fallsburg was 8-of-13 (62 percent).
The Lady Yellowjackets dominated the first two quarters, outpacing Fallsburg 16-9 and 16-2, respectively, to open up a 32-11 lead at halftime.
Eldred went on to register a 62-38 victory.
Eldred (3-8) outscored the Lady Comets 17-10 in the third period.
In the fourth quarter, however, Fallsburg (2-10) edged the Lady Yellowjackets by a 17-13 margin.
Eldred’s Sam Alessandra scored a team-high 12 points on four successful 3-point shots.
Meaghan Hazen and Gabby Westfall each added 11 points for the Lady Yellowjackets.
Sara Bisland netted seven points for Eldred. She tallied all of those points at the free-throw line, shooting a near perfect 7-of-8.
Shaina Swerdling paced the Fallsburg offense with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Erinn Gilmore recorded 10 points for the Lady Comets.
Fallsburg Coach Frank Godlewski declined to comment following the game.
“It was ugly, and the officials controlled it early in the game, but I think frustration set in when we had such a large lead,” Eldred Coach Frank Kean said. “That tends to get the game out of hand, but it was a good, hard-fought game on both sides.”
Kean’s take on his players’ progress this season?
“The girls have come a long way,” he commented. “It’s a different team now than when we started at the beginning of the season. What I wanted to see was progress, and we’re getting there.”
Kean also offered a few words about the Lady Comets.
“I think they came out playing a good, physical game,” he said. “If they’d learn to control themselves and just use their speed, I think they’d be a much more competitive team.
“I think they have a lot of talent there, I really do,” Kean added.