Posted Thursday, January 15, 2009 by Mike Johnston

Corning West turned in one of its best efforts of the season, but fell just short of Newark 65-62 in its opening game of the Josh Palmer Fund Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball Tournament held at Southside High School Saturday.

Austin Rose sank a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in regulation to pull the the Vikings within one point of the Reds, but after Ollie Smith netted two free throws for Newark, Caleb McCaig’s off-balanced 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game clanked harmlessly off the rim. West moves into the consolation bracket and will play Liverpool at 1 p.m. today.

“I was really pleased with our team effort. I was pleased with the way we competed today,” West head coach Mike Johnston said. “(Newark) is a good ball club.
“They were 21-0 last year and they got a majority of their guys back.”

It was a classic matchup from the opening tip as Newark controlled the offensive paint, while West countered with long-range jumpers from all angles. Midway through the opening quarter, McCaig connected on his third-straight 3-pointer to give the Vikings an 11-10 lead.

Newark closed the quarter strong as 6-6 post player Javon McCrea hit a pair of baskets to lead the Reds on an 8-4 run to grab an 18-13 lead. McCrea led Newark with 20 points on the day.

West’s worst minutes of the game came at the opening of the second quarter as Newark’s pesky defense forced a pair of turnovers that the Reds took advantage of to the tune of a 7-2 run to begin the period, giving Newark its largest lead of the game at eight points.

“We’ve got to take better care of the ball in crucial times,” Johnston said.

West pulled to within a point as McCaig nailed his fourth trey of the game and Nick Dobson hit a pair of field goals, but a Tyshun Stephens’ basket with two seconds left, gave the Reds a 31-28 advantage at halftime.

West continued to shine from long range in the third quarter as Ross Sidebottom, Rose and McCaig all hit 3-pointers as the Vikings grabbed two leads in the first three minutes. Newark countered with three consecutive baskets from Stephens, who finished with 17 points, as the Reds pulled away to a 52-44 lead entering the final quarter.

West battled back over the final eight minutes as Rose and Sidebottom hit 3-pointers, while Dobson scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the fourth. His final bucket got West within two of the lead with 1:14 remaining.

“I was really pleased with our team effort,” Johnston said. “McCaig shot the ball well early and Austin hit a couple of big 3s.”

Newark regained a four-point edge with 54 seconds left as  Davidlee Tack sank an eight-foot jumper, just before Rose’s 3-pointer closed the scoring for West.

“Late in the game we ran a set where I thought we would get at least two looks at a 3-pointer, but they put such great ball pressure on us that we got a look, but it wasn’t as clean a look as we wanted,” Johnston said.

Boys basketball
Jamestown 57, Liverpool 45
Jamestown’s Ben Cecchini scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half in a 57-45 win over Liverpool Saturday.
Teammates Rob Turner and Carlos Rivera scored 13 points apiece, while Jordan White netted 10.
Jesse Gates led Liverpool with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

EFA 70, Newfield (Long Island) 46
Elmira Free Academy got 31 points from Reggie Corley in its Coaches vs. Cancer win Saturday.
Corley scored 18 points in the first half and also pulled down 16 rebounds for a double-double to lead the Blue Devils.
Stephan Davis netted 20 points for Newfield.