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The Poughkeepsie Pioneers defeated the Our Lady of Lourdes Warriors, 69-59, at home on Tuesday, Dec. 16 in front of full house of cheering fans, families and administration, and extended their undefeated record to 4-0.
“Momentum,” is the word Pioneer point guard Elijah McLaurin used when describing his team’s second-half surge to win the game.
McLaurin, helped get the momentum started, icing a three-pointer from center court off a pass from center Brandon James to tie the score at 31at the half after Poughkeepsie opened with a sluggish effort against a bigger Lourdes team. McLaurin finished the game with 12 points.
Other top scorers for Poughkeepsie included Dayvon Whitaker with 20 points, Nate Gause with 16 and James with 12 points. James, a senior and three-year varsity member who was scouted by a college recruiter following the game, said his team’s defense stepped up the second half.
“Young players stepped up,” James said, referring to McLaurin, a sophomore, among others.
When asked when or what advice was given by their head coach, Brian Laffin, McLaurin said it was during the first half when the coach stressed that the team needed to pick up its scoring.
Laffin said it’s always a “physical game” when Poughkeepsie and Lourdes play each other, and added that it’s a “great rivalry.” Laffin said the difference between the first half and second half was defensive formation.
“They (Warriors) switched their defense up when they went to a zone,” Laffin said.
Although Poughkeepsie went down 11-5 early, they managed to grab the lead, 18-16, at the end of the quarter, with Whitaker scoring nine of his team’s 18 points. But the lead wouldn’t last, as the Warriors controlled the tempo of the game in the second quarter, jumping out to a 27-22 lead and a 31-28 margin before McLaurin’s three-pointer sent the game to halftime.
Second-half comeback
Less than a minute into the third quarter, the Pioneers scored first, getting a bucket from Terrell Carr, who finished the game with six points. He was assisted by McLaurin. But the Warriors fought back, and foul trouble became a factor to contend with, as both teams struggled somewhat at the free-throw line. The Pioneers finished six of 14 from the foul line, while the Warriors completed 14 of 21 attempts. Fans could be heard chanting, “Fazio,” as Lourdes’ Eric Fazio headed to the stripe, where he finished the game completing two of five free-throw attempts for his team. He scored 13 points overall.
“We knew Eric (Fazio) was an excellent athlete, and he played real hard,” Laffin said.
Midway through the quarter, Warrior Tom Jordan had a pass intercepted by Gause, who raced back for a layup that put the Pioneers ahead, 39-35.
The third quarter ended with a bit of controversy, as Gause made a shot which initially counted but was later ruled as coming after the buzzer had sounded. But the Pioneers got their revenge, as the fourth quarter opened with Gause putting back a James shot to put the team up 51-47.
The Pioneers put on a quick scoring spurt, but the Warriors were able to stay with them, trailing by three at 60-57 with just three minutes left in regulation. Whitaker then knocked down another three-pointer, his second of the night, to make the score 63-57.
Fazio tried to come right back, driving to the rim and getting fouled, but he missed both of his free-throw attempts, and Poughkeepsie was able to pressure the ball and play lockdown defense over the final minutes to secure the win.
Following the game, Lourdes head coach Jim Santoro reflected on his team’s loss.
“We allowed them to get rebounds,” he said. Santoro added there were three areas his team needed to address in order to win, but didn’t. He said breaking the Pioneers’ press, controlling the tempo and rebounding were the areas needed for success. He also said he believed the score would be in favor of his team had they played at home.
Lourdes players agreed with the coach’s assessment.
“We executed well, but their (Poughkeepsie’s) press was hard to break,” Jordan said.
