By Ted Waddell
LAKE HUNTINGTON — February 2, 2007 — The host Sullivan West Bulldogs bit the Lions of Chapel Field, 63-52, Wednesday night in a non-league basketball game.
The first and third quarters were big for SW (8-7) as it outpaced the opposition 22-13 and 16-9.
In the second period, Chapel Field (9-4) edged the home team by three points (14-11) and in the final frame outscored them by a bucket (16-14).
Double-digit scorers for the Bulldogs were Derek Hahn (23 points), Kevin Cappiello (19 points, including a trio of 3-point shots) and Alan Ackermann (11 points).
Scoring in double figures for Chapel Field were Jeremiah Markuson (16 points, including a couple of 3-pointers), Danny Menendez (15 points) and Jordan Christie (11 points).
SW was 14-of-22 (64 percent) at the free-throw line, while Chapel Field was 1-of-3 (33 percent).
Chapel Field Coach Joe Canazon said he knew it was going to be a tough game going in against the Bulldogs.
“They like to play hard up here,” he said. “They like to run, they’re big and they’re fast, and tough on the boards.”
Canazon singled out the performance of Danny Menendez, a freshman who stepped up to the plate when the Bulldogs were all over the Lions’ top players, Matt Poole and Zac Menendez.
“Danny was open, and he stepped up today,” Canazon said. “This was the biggest game of the year for him… we could have got blown out bad here, and it was a good thing he stepped up.”
After the game, SW Assistant Coach Bob Menges expressed a sense of frustration in that his team “wasn’t a little better at this point in time”, in the wake of coming off an 11-day layoff.
“It was tough for us,” Menges said. “We have to take care of the ball better because we’re not a high scoring team… possession is important.”
He said his squad let the opposition get past defensive zones and into paydirt territory, something they had been practicing to prevent.
“We let them get transition back into the paint,” said Menges of the Lions’ ability to penetrate into SW’s inner defensive perimeter.
“Most of their points were from inside the paint,” he added. “Chapel Field’s strength is getting to the rim, and Pooley, [Zac] Menendez and Christie are great penetrators.
Menges credited the effort of a trio of Bulldogs: Brad Reimer, whom he said “played well on both ends of the floor” and Hahn and Ackermann.
“They rebounded well tonight,” the veteran coach said of the two senior starters.