(Clarence senior Joe Oliveri leads the break at Williamsville East)
Following a tournament championship at Lockport and a 2-0 start, Williamsville East had people's attention to start the season. They certainly had the attention of Clarence coach Doug Ratka and his Red Devils, who returned some talent from the team that went to overtime in the quarterfinals with eventual Class AA finalist Jamestown. After torching the Flames in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, Clarence will be the latest team to have people talking.
River Reinhardt & Joe Oliveri each turned in a game-high 16 points to get Clarence off to a 1-0 start on the season after a visit to upstart Williamsville East with a 52-34 victory. The loss drops the Flames to 2-1.
The Red Devils are not a team that's going to intimidate opponents during warm-ups. To say the Red Devils lack size across the board might be an understatement for a Class AA school and an ECIC I team. As I sat there waiting for the game to start, I thought to myself - those guards are going to have to really play well, and that's exactly what Reinhardt and Oliveri did. The phrase "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of fight in the dog" came to mind as I watched things unfold. Those guys are tough, scrappy, and very competitive.
"Joe's a third year varsity player and he's really become a leader this year," Clarence coach Doug Ratka said of Oliveri. "He can shoot it, he can play, and that's what we expect out of him."
Oliveri scored five of his team's seven points in the opening frame, including his first of four 3-pointers spread out evenly over four quarters. Both teams came out in zone, leading to a methodical eight minutes to start, as each moved the ball looking to free up shooters on the perimeter. Neither had much success getting the ball inside, where finishing seemed even more difficult. Cal Shifflet and Sean Keenan knocked down consecutive treys to finish the quarter and get the Flames to an 8-7 advantage.
Some pressure and trapping by the Red Devils in the second quarter changed the pace of the contest and favored them and their speedy guards. A 3-pointer from Williamsville East's Patrick Ranallo late in the half interrupted what would have been an 8-0 run heading into intermission for Clarence, who built a 24-18 lead through two quarters of play.
"The press sped them up a little bit and they took some shots they didn't want to and that helps us underneath," Ratka said.
Reinhardt and Oliveri answered field goals by the Flames with 3-pointers to start the second half, leading to a 30-22 lead midway through the third quarter. Shifflet and Ranallo answered with scores for Williamsville East, before Connor Williams connected from downtown in the final minute to make it a one-point contest, 30-29. However, Brandon Ferris came off the bench to bury his second trey of the night for Clarence in the closing seconds of the stanza, giving his team a boost in momentum for the stretch run.
Oliveri opened the final frame with a long-range bust, Reinhardt converted a traditional three-point play, and then Jack Putney canned one from beyond the arc to make it a 42-32 game, which busted the zone defense of Williamsville East.
"We think we've got some shooters and that will make up for our lack of size," Ratka said.
A defensive switch by the Flames didn't slow the visitors, as a 9-0 run ensued with Reinhardt manipulating defenders and getting good penetration, allowing the Red Devils to put the game away.
"When they went man, you saw River take over," said Ratka.
"We like being a 2-3 team which works when you have the lead, Willaimsville East coach RJ Killinger said. "We went full court man but didn't really get any pressure or steals out of it. I credit River Reinhardt for them - he did a great job ball handling."
Putney finished the game with nine points for Clarence, while Ferris added eight points.
Williamsville East was led by Ranallo's team-high 11 points, with Shifflet finishing with 10 points.
Besides the impressions Clarence made with a sound defensive performance and convincing victory, my take away for the Flames was they may have needed to face that opponent and be dealt that result. Expectations begin to run high after a start to the season like they had, which is tough on a group that hasn't faced any like that. Williamsville East has the talent and leadership to win, they just need to learn how to win consistently.
Clarence 7 - 17 - 9 - 19 = 52
Will East 8 - 10 - 11 - 5 = 34
Point Totals
Clarence: River Reinhardt 16, Joe Oliveri 16, Jack Putney 9, Brandon Ferris 8, Mike O'Brien 2, Steve Kabayiza 1
Will East: Patrick Ranallo 11, Cal Shifflet 10, Connor Williams 6, Sean Keenan 3, Brian Comerford 2, Cameron Williams 1, Nicholas Kieffer 1
-centercourt
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