|
The Poughkeepsie High School boys basketball team had opponents seeing blue during last week’s Dutchess County Coaches Association Christmas Tournament.
The Pioneers defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt 77-70 on Dec. 30 to capture their fourth consecutive tournament title. Tournament MVP Antonio Williams was sublime in the post for Poughkeepsie, pouring in 34 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Williams had quite a duel with Roosevelt’s Shareef Taylor, who scored 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. The results left the teams with identical 6-1 records. Joining Taylor and Williams on the All-Tournament team were Poughkeepsie’s Duane Clarke and Taquan Webb, as well as Roosevelt’s Connor Hart.
Pioneers cruise in quarterfinals
After winning a 58-49 decision over a game Arlington squad in the opening-round game on Dec. 27, the Pioneers took on the Patriots of John Jay.
From the opening tip, the undersized Patriots came out to play against Poughkeepsie. Jay’s Kyle Berk converted an outlet pass into an easy lay-up for the first points of the game. Seconds later, Patriot Stephen Calabrese forced a turnover, which led Berk to feed Joe Lombardi for a short jumper and Jay had a 4-0 lead.
Poughkeepsie’s Williams asserted his presence on the inside, muscling his way to the basket to put the Pioneers on the board. After Jay’s Lombardi hit a mid-range jumper to give the Patriots a 6-4 lead, Poughkeepsie showed why they are the class of the county.
Brandon James elevated to tip-in a missed shot before point guard Webb produced a three-point play with a lay-up and foul to give Poughkeepsie a 14-11 lead. Poughkeepsie was strong all night on the offensive glass. Williams got good inside position to follow a miss and give Poughkeepsie a 17-12 lead. Conversely, John Jay was unable to make good on its second-chance attempts. The Patriots missed three straight attempts after offensive rebounds to end the first quarter with Poughkeepsie up 19-12.
Poughkeepsie’s Darryl Charles Jr. dominated action as the second quarter began, scoring seven of the first nine Pioneer points. A putback by Charles Jr. increased Poughkeepsie’s lead to 28-16. Lombardi responded with a jumper, but Webb was fouled on a whirling lay-up to increase the Poughkeepsie lead to 30-18 at 3:55 of the second quarter. Berk drew a foul and hit one of two shots, but that was the final score of the half for John Jay.
Williams showed off an assortment of inside moves and Moquan Dickens scored on a drive and Poughkeepsie held a commanding 41-19 halftime lead.
Coming out of halftime, the Pioneers simply picked up where they left off. Dickens stole the ball from Jay point guard Calabrese at mid-court and proceeded in for an easy two. Jay’s Damien Kaps hit one of two foul shots before Williams converted a turnaround jumper in the lane and a bank shot. Poughkeepsie’s Victor Muniz was fouled on a soaring ally-oop play and sank both foul shots to give Poughkeepsie a 53-21 lead.
Kaps temporarily stopped the bleeding for Jay with a lay-up and foul to cut the lead to 55-25. It was only a temporary reprieve. Clarke hit a driving reverse shot and Tyrell Carr sank a jumper to give the Pioneers a 59-25 lead at the end of three quarters.
Lombardi stood out for Jay in the fourth quarter, scoring seven points. Some of Poughkeepsie’s bench players got to show their chops in fourth, with Anthony Lacatavia driving the lane for two and sinking a three-pointer and Carr scoring four more points.
The final score was 72-40. Poughkeepsie was led by Williams with 18 points and Charles Jr. with 11 points. Lombardi led John Jay with 18 points in defeat.
Afterward, Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said defense was the key to his team’s success.
“I thought we did a good job on the defensive end tonight. When we play defense, we’re very good and when we don’t, it’s up in the air. Jay came out with great energy and we had to make sure we could establish ourselves,” Laffin said.
Arlington comes out strong
After the Admirals dropped a tough decision to Poughkeepsie in the opening round, the team was primed to come back against Beacon on Dec. 28. The Admirals did so with a physical game, highlighted by generous lashings of pressure defense. Opening the game, Arlington guard Andrew Ziemins took the ball to the rim, drawing the foul and sinking two free throws. At the opposite end of the court, Beacon’s Rob Alvarez beat three defenders for a short jumper.
Ziemins poured in an 18-foot jump shot to put Arlington up by a 6-4 score. The teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter. Beacon’s Alex Smith hit a three-pointer, only to be matched by Ziemins at the other end. At the end of the quarter, Arlington held an 18-14 lead.
Ziemins had his long-distance stroke going as the second quarter began, hitting back-to-back threes to give Arlington a 26-16 lead with 5:30 left in the quarter. The Admirals displayed hustle in spades: Dylan Britton snared an air ball and went to the glass for 32-18 lead. Arlington was on a roll and could not be stopped in the later part of the quarter. Britton and guard Eric Nielson hit 15-foot jumpers and guard Sam Loussedes scored a lay-up to give Arlington a 43-23 halftime lead.
Beacon showed some fight coming out of halftime. Quaseem Weems drove for a bucket before Smith dished off a nifty assist to Peter Green. Arlington’s Carlos Santos made a nice baseline cut for a lay-up and Louie Torres hit a reverse drive for the Admirals.
Santos also fought under the boards for a third-chance bucket to put Arlington up 51-30. The quarter ended with Britton hitting a pair of foul shots to give Arlington a 56-36 lead.
In the fourth, Arlington kept its big lead intact, helped in part by Vince Ross’ three-pointer and foul that bumped the margin to 62-36 Arlington with 5:27 left. The final score was 70-50 in the consolation bracket game. Ziemins had 20 points for Arlington.
Arlington coach Matt Hoyt was pleased with his team’s efforts, especially after a hard-fought game the previous night against Poughkeepsie.
“We had a tough game against Poughkeepsie and we played really hard. To come back with an afternoon game the next day, it’s always tough and it was a very good team effort.”
Hoyt added that his team was strong on the glass.
“Rebounding comes down to effort and we had that the last two nights,” said Hoyt.
