(Timon vs. Fredonia at the Clarence Holiday Tournament)
The 19th Annual Clarence Holiday Tournament, presented by the Clarence Basketball Boosters, tipped yesterday. The tournament features the host school, Clarence, along with Iroquois, Timon, and Fredonia. The first round matchups saw #3 ranked WNY small school, Fredonia take on MMA large school Timon, followed by Iroquois of ECIC II facing Clarence of ECIC I.
Timon 58, Fredonia 45
The Hillbilles came in with an unblemished record (4-0), and had a 6-4 lead early in the first quarter against back-to-back Manhattan Cup finalist, Timon. However, the Tigers finished the opening stanza on an 11-0 run to take a 15-6 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Timon's pressure gave Fredonia trouble in the early going, which to some unsettled sets offensively and allowed the Tigers to build the early advantage that forced the Hillbillies to play catchup.
Fredonia had made it a four-point game at the break, but Timon quickly regained a double figure lead in the third quarter. The Hillbillies ended the third on a 14-4 run, led by nine points from John Piper, and managed to make it a one-point game, 39-38, with just eight minutes remaining.
A free throw from Fredonia's Eric Swoyer tied the game at 39 apiece to start the fourth quarter, before a 12-3 surge from the Tigers put the game away. A bucket from William Lamar got the run started, followed by a trey from Joe Harrison. Lamar also converted a three-point play during Timon's push to put the game away.
Fredonia was without junior standout Patrick Moore, who was suffering from the flu, while Timon's Tyler Ringwood was injured and did not dress.
Derick Simpson finished with a team-high 15 points, Quinton Lamar scored 14 points, and William Lamar added 12 points.
Piper scored a game-high 28 points to lead Fredonia.
Iroquois 67, Clarence 58
Clarence jumped out to a 6-2 lead and held an advantage once more after a 3-pointer from Hunter Harris made the score 9-8, but a 13-3 finish to the first quarter by Iroquois would prove to be too much for Clarence to overcome. The Chiefs got 11 points from an energetic Joe Bowen in the quarter to set the tone early.
Back-to-back scores late in the second quarter from the Red Devils' David Cumminskey brought his squad back to within three points, 25-22, but Clarence would never get any closer the rest of the way. Lucas Tait and Kyle Seifert both had strong finishes to the game for Iroquois, who did an excellent job executing their offense against the Red Devils, leading to high percentage shots.
Clarence trailed by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter, but strung together a spirited rally late and managed to pull within six points, trailing 55-49. Seifert was able to put an end to any thoughts of a comeback the Red Devils were having when he buried a '3' from the right side for Iroquois, giving them the nine-point advantage they would finish with.
Tait scored 20 points to lead Iroquois, Bowen scored 15 points, Seifert added 14 points, and Coyote Sokoloski chipped in 10 points.
David Cummiskey led the Red Devils with 16 points, while Matt Sadowy added nine points.
- A new tournament champion will be crowned tonight, as Clarence entered as the two-time defending champs.
- Fredonia entered as the only team in the tournament that returned players who had previously been selected to Clarence's All-Tournament team. Cam Voss made the All-Tournament last season, and John Piper was selected as a sophomore for Fredonia in December of 2012.
- Recent Tournament MVPs include: Bryan Jost (Clarence) 2013, Ryan Funk (Clarence) 2012, Conner Keenan (Will East) 2011, Tyler Funk (Clarence) 2010, and David Hill (Clarence) 2009.
- Another notable Tournament MVP from a few seasons back is now former Bills WR Mike Williams (Riverside) in 2005.
-centercourt
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