By Rob Potter
DOWNSVILLE — January 4, 2011 — Due to a scheduling error, last week’s annual Downsville Central School Holiday Classic was not a four-team basketball tournament as it has been for the past several years.
Instead the tourney was changed to a round-robin format featuring the host Downsville Eagles, The Family School Falcons and the Roscoe Blue Devils. However, the tournament organizers were able to find other teams that could play non-league games at Downsville Central School so that each of the three tournament teams could play two games during their winter recess.
The first of those non-league games was played last Tuesday evening. The Family School defeated Schenevus, 63-41.
The second non-league contest was held last Wednesday evening between the Bainbridge-Guilford Bobcats and Roscoe Blue Devils.
Less than 25 seconds into the game, Jordan Smith made a 3-point shot to give B-G the lead. The Bobcats then continued to build upon their advantage for the rest of the game on their way to a 76-45 win.
About a minute after Smith’s long-range basket, Roscoe senior guard Adam Hendrix scored to make it a 3-2 game.
But the Bobcats closed out the quarter with a 15-9 scoring run to push their lead to 18-11.
At 7:20 of the second period, Hendrix made a steal and then scored a basket to bring the Blue Devils within three at 18-15.
However B-G responded with a 12-2 run to extend its advantage to 30-17 with 4:17 remaining in the period. Austin Baurele, who scored the last two baskets of the Bobcats’ run, added a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the period to help B-G (4-3) take a 41-26 advantage at halftime.
With 5:04 left in the third quarter, Smith made a short jumper to give the Bobcats a 20-point lead at 48-28.
B-G had a balanced scoring attack as four players finished in double figures. Baurele led the way with 21 points, including a trio of 3-point shots, while Ryan Porter finished with 20 points.
Connor Glassett and Steve Patten added 11 points and 10 points, respectively, for the Bobcats.
“Our defense wasn’t very good at times,” B-G Coach Ben Nelson said. “But our offense played very well and we got the win.
“You have to give credit to Roscoe’s number 10,” added Nelson, referring to Hendrix. “He was able to drive to the basket and make jump shots.”
Hendrix scored a game-high 24 points to pace the Blue Devils’ offense. Also reaching double figures for Roscoe (2-5) were Brad Dreher, who had 13 points, and Jordan Tallman, who scored 11 points.
“The inside game was key for Bainbridge-Guilford,” Roscoe Coach Fred Ahart said. “Austin Baurele is an outstanding big man. He was able to get several rebounds and helped Bainbridge-Guilford get a lot of second shots.
“Give Bainbridge-Guilford credit, they played well tonight,” Ahart added.
The veteran coach also praised the Blue Devils for their effort.
“I am very proud of my players,” Ahart said. “Certainly Adam Hendrix played very well and his teammates followed his lead. All of our guys hustled and played hard throughout the game.”