Park 67, Amherst 61
After about as much hype as an early season matchup in December can bring, neighborhood rivals, Amherst & Park finally squared off on the court to headline Friday night of the 2015 ADPRO Public/Private Challenge. With the Pioneers entering the game as New York State's topped ranked team in Class A and Amherst not far behind in the 13th slot in the state, the game was significant for that reason alone.
But the story lines went well beyond.
There's the geographical rivalry to consider - the two schools are exactly .56 miles apart. There's the public vs. private school factor, which is always a hot topic when it comes to sports and competition. And then there's the personal story line. After playing his sophomore season at Amherst, Jordan Nwora transferred to Park the following season, won a Federation Championship, and earned First Team All-Centercourt honors along the way.
After an opening quarter that ended in a draw, the Tigers grabbed a lead with a 9-2 run in the second quarter, then finished the half strong to take a 34-29 lead into the break. Amherst added to its lead in the third and dealt the Pioneers their first double figure deficit of the season. With 2:49 left in the third quarter, TC Brown dropped a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 50-40 lead, prompting a Park timeout.
"All we said was, this is a close game, there's no reason to get panicky," Park coach Michael Battaglia said. "We went back into our trap and turned them over a couple times."
Though the Pioneers quickly switched back to man, the brief pressure had cut the deficit to six heading into the final stanza. Once there, Park surged ahead with a scoring outburst that is indicative of its offensive firepower, and the reason they are so dangerous. Ten straight points - a bucket from Noah Hutchins, back-to-back treys from Kyle Harris & Nwora, and then another score from Nwora, and Park had the lead, 56-52.
A three-point play from Brown got Amherst back within a point at the midway point of the fourth quarter. Hunter Anderson got the lead back to three for Park, before a pivotal moment after the game went under two minutes to play. Brown forced a turnover on his former teammate, Nwora at half court and took the ball the other way for the breakaway score to make it a one-point game. But Nwora chased down the play and rose up to prevent the score. Seconds later at the other end, Nwora canned a 3-pointer to give his squad the winning cushion - a 63-57 lead with 1:38 to play.
“When it comes to TC, it’s personal between him and me," Nwora said. "We’ve known each other for so long, I couldn’t just let him have a wide open layup. I had to have that one.”
Anderson sealed the game at the line for Park, sinking four attempts late, part of a perfect 13/13 performance from the stripe, en route to a game-high 28 point outing. He added six rebounds in the win.
"It's always nice to beat good teams," Battaglia said afterward.
Park has had some tight contests early on, particularly with Falls and Starpoint, but Amherst was the first team to take such a lead in the second half, and have a sizable crowd on hand in support. But to the Pioneers' credit, they made the extra run and turned it on in the clutch.
"We're used to playing in these big games," said Battaglia. "We went to New York City and won a catholic state championship, played two games in the Federation Tournament, played Middle College, Niagara Falls, Starpoint, Health Sciences - we haven't had anything easy."
Despite struggling with just four points in the first half, Nwora finished with 17 points in the game, adding nine rebounds and four blocks.
"What he let them do to him pretty much the whole the first half was take bad shots," Battaglia said. "He listened at halftime, he hit the glass, they had a hard time keeping him off, and he made a higher percentage of shots in the second half. People don't give Jordan enough credit for his effort - he wants to win badly and he plays hard."
Kyle Harris finished the game with 14 points for Park, while freshman point guard Noah Hutchins had eight points and six assists.
I had to ask the obvious question following such an anticipated showdown with the story lines surrounding it. Did this one mean a little more?
"I told them before this game, this was just a regular game, and they knew I was full of it" Battaglia said. "They didn't believe me and they were right."
Point Totals
Park: Hunter Anderson 28, Jordan Nwora 17, Kyle Harris 14, Noah Hutchins 8,
Amherst: Nathan Woldu 18, TC Brown 14, Amadi Ikpeze 11, Nick Foster 6, Da'Shawn Hines 6, Jaylin Rose 4, Richard Kay 2
*******
St. Francis 56, Depew 41
The Red Raiders raced out to a 12-0 start in less than five minutes, and never allowed the Wildcats within single digits the rest of the way. Bo Sireika scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first half for St. Francis, who led 28-6 at the break. The Red Raiders got scoring from nine different players on the evening.
Chad Biersbach heated up in the second half for Depew, scoring 25 of his game-high 26 points over the final two quarters.
Point Totals
St. Francis: Bo Sireika 18, Connor Cummings 9, Owen Woyshner 8, Julian Cunningham 6, Michael Casciano 6, Josh Palmer 4
Depew: Chad Biersbach 26, Jakob Grant 6, Jacob Mlodozeniec 4, Tyler Biersbach 3, Austin Pilley 2
*******
Niagara Catholic 57, Newfane 43
The Patriots took a nine point lead after one quarter and maintained that lead heading into halftime, 27-18. Max Weber and Connor Hill combined for 12 points over 12 minutes in the second half as Newfane pulled to within three points midway through the fourth quarter. However, a 15-4 finish from Niagara Catholic, led by nine points from Imean Davis, dashed the Panthers' hopes. The Patriots never trailed in the contest.
Point Totals
Niagara Catholic: Zach Socha 20, Imean Davis 13, Elijah Griggs 12, Jaceary Menes 8
Newfane: Max Weber 16, Connor Hill 11, Chad Gilson 6, Nick Schultz 4
-centercourt
Comments