By Lori Brown
GRAHAMSVILLE — The visiting S.S. Seward Spartans heated up the court on Monday night when they took on the Tri-Valley Bears in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V basketball game.
The Spartans started the game off with tight defense as they posted a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Seward added to its lead for the rest of the evening, recording a 79-37 victory.
Steve McInerney and Kevin Krom scored all of T-V’s points in those opening eight minutes of play. McInerney landed four points early on and Krom sunk a 3-point shot with a minute left in the quarter.
Anthony Bailey, David Oliver and Scott Glowaczewski helped contribute to the Spartans’ lead. Glowaczewski sank a 3-pointer after rebounding a foul shot made by teammate Oliver.
Seward (14-1, 5-1 Division V) dominated the second quarter by scoring 31 points while holding the Bears to eight points.
T-V’s Cody Exner made a 3-pointer to start the period.  Seward then went on an 8-0 scoring run for the next four minutes before Krom scored a basket.
The Spartans controlled the rest of the quarter as they grabbed some key rebounds and recorded several steals to go on a 15-point run. T-V’s Greg Swarthout recorded a foul shot with a minute left on the clock.
But Oliver made a shot with only 0.3 seconds to go to give his team a 45-15 advantage at halftime.
Oliver had a big second quarter as he netted 17 points. He with a game-high 24 points to lead the Spartans to victory.
After Seward scored the first three points of the third period, the Bears went on a five- point run. Richard Johnson recorded a steal and a successful layup during that run. Peter DiMilia then made three out of four foul shots only 16 seconds apart.
The Spartans had a strong finish in the quarter as they tacked on six points to increase their lead to 64-30.
Seward extended its advantage during the fourth period by outscoring the Bears 15-8.
Krom started the last quarter with three points and teammate Tyler Terbush successfully converted two foul shots.
But Seward’s Michael Summit had a big quarter as he racked up six points. Teammate Anthony Bailey netted five points in the quarter.
“Early on Tri-Valley had very good energy,” Seward Coach Rob Gravelle said. “Offensively, I am happy with the kids as they work hard. All the kids practice hard and it was a good chance for the starting team next year to play.
“Rob Gorski, Shane Kinley and Scott Glowaczewski played good,” Gravelle added. “Anthony Bailey had a good game too, but he flies under the radar with the four senior starters.”
Glowaczewski scored 23 points, 12 of which were registered on four 3-pointers.
“We secured a spot in sectionals,” Gravelle said. “We are in one of the two top spots, Millbrook is the other [top] team.”
With the loss, T-V’s record fell to 3-8 overall and 1-3 in Div. V.
“Defensively, our best defender is Pete DiMilia,” T-V Coach Brian Tingley said. “But he got into foul trouble; we need Pete to stay on the court.
“They came in here and played hard,” Tingley said of the Spartans. “We can’t keep them off the boards. This is the best-ranked [area Class C] team and to be able to have a close 14-7 first quarter score was nice.”
Seward was ranked No. 6 among Class C boys’ basketball teams in the New York State Sportswriters Association poll released on Feb. 6.
“In order to make it to sectionals we have to beat Fallsburg, Eldred and Chester,” Tingley said of the Bears’ next three opponents, all of whom are also Div. V teams.
Unfortunately for Tingley and his players, Fallsburg prevailed, 60-57, when the teams played on Wednesday night in Grahamsville.
T-V will visit the Eldred Yellowjackets at 6:30 p.m. today and play at Chester on Monday night, Feb. 14.