High school sports: Defense keys victories for Heuvelton, Lisbon Boys

Jan. 28—HEUVELTON — The opening minutes of Thursday's NAC West Boys Basketball game was anything but smooth for the Heuvelton Central as it hosted Edwards-Knox.

Both teams were coming off big wins on Monday where the Bulldogs (7-1, 10-2) handed Harrisville its first divsion loss and reversed their only setback and E-K (4-11, 2-7) had downed Lisbon for its second straight victory after an 0-6 start.

The Cougars showed their athleticism and desire coming up with four steals but the Bulldogs showed their signature defensive recovery and scored the first eight points of the game. The Cougars showed their resilience scoring 14 points in the second quarter but the Bulldogs (6-1 NAC West) used consistent man to man defense, solid team defensive rebounding and rapid ball movement on offense to forge 39-16 second half, record a 67-34 win and their 10th straight victory.

The Bulldog reserves sustained the momentum on both ends of the floor and exchange student Daniel Lange and lifted the crowd hitting his first 3-pointer of the season in the fourth quarter.

"We were coming an outstanding game at Harrisville and we just didn't take care of the ball early. But our defense was solid again. Our man to man was good and when we played zone we did a good job," said Heuvelton Coach Josh McAllister.

"In the second half we settled down all around. E-K is a good team with length and good shooters."

Nate Mashaw tallied 25 points with six rebounds and several deflections for the Bulldogs and buried five 3-pointers working off excellent cross court skip passes by Tristan Lovely who scored eight points with six rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Chris Ashlaw put together a bookend type of floor game with 11 points, three rebounds, five steals and four assists. Jed Crayford delivered seven points with five rebounds, Cole Rickett tallied four points with six rebounds, Jared Young and Gavin Phillips scored two points apiece and Lucas Thornhill added three rebounds and three steals.

E-K shared the the ball well but struggled to finish against the Bulldog defensive challenges. Mason White scored nine points, Kale Harper and Ethan Stalker (2 3s) each netted eight and Dylan Wood finished with six. Jared Lottie and Andrew Franklin added two points and one one point.

"We had some good chances in the first half which we didn 't convert and in the second half I think we lost of focus. Heuvelton is a very good defensive team," said E-K Coach Mark Scott.

Heuvelton is ranked 15th in the NYS Class D rankings where Harrisville, which bested Hermon-DeKalb 52-37 on Thursday, stands eighth NAC East leader Chateaugay is fourth.

Lisbon (7-8, 5-4) downed Hammond (1-14, 1-8) 65-37 and Norwood-Norfolk (2-9, 2-6) shaded Morristown (5-4, 4-3) 43-40.

Harrisville 52 — H-D 37: Tanner Sullivan buried two 3-pointers scoring 10 of his 16 points to spark a 20-7 start as the Pirates (9-1 NAC Wes), playing their third game in three days, bounced back from consecutive losses to Heuvelton and nonleague opponent Sacketts Harbor.

Will Taylor buried four 3-pointers in a 12-point effort and Tucker Kelly (10), Degan Carr (6) and Nolan Sullivan (8) rounded out a balanced winning offense. Adam Lynch turned in a game-high 19-point performance with eight points in the second quarter where the Demons gained a 12-7 advantage. Jacob Coller tallied seven points followed by Andrew Matthews and Dave White with four and Jacob Spencer with three.

"We played better tonight. The D is there, offensively we need to improve," said Harrisville Coach Brian Coloney.

N-N 43 — Morristown 40: The Flyers matched a 13-2 start and a 17-12 second half advantage to gain their first NAC West win of the season which led by Matt Richards with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals and Ryan Emlaw with 11 points. Dominic Fiacco added eight points.

The Flyers used constant double teams to limit the scoring of the Rockets' Aaron Woodcock (6 steals) to three points in the second after he scored Morristown's first 16 points and 23 in the first half. Tristin Simmons and and Ethan Graveline (5 rebounds) each scored six points and Seth Witherhead added two.

Lisbon 65 — Hammond 37: The Golden Knights used their defensive pressure to trigger one of their best scoring nights of the season led by Cooper Rutherford who tallied 15 of his game-high 21 points in the first half.

Noah Martin and Storm Walker combined for 14 and 13 points in the low blocks and Cooper Davison continued his steady offensive production with eight points. Rounding out the scoring were: Connor Flack (2), Miles Gendebien (2), Simon Murray (3) and Matt Kinney (2).

"We played like a team tonight. It was good to see players propelling other players on the team. We played unselfish and played better D," said Lisbon Coach Bob Jordan .

Logan Jones led Hammond with 17 points and Kam Toland and Dominic Perretta each added five. Tom Studzinski added three and Terin Rosenbarker chipped in two.

Chateaugay 61 — SRF 31: Walker Martin supplied 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals for Chateaugay (15-1, 10-0). Ethan Cook tallied 11 points for Chateaugay, Jake Johnston provided 10 frebounds, five assists and four steals and Tyson Beaudin added nine points, five rebounds and three steals. Nathan Mayville led the Saints (1-10, 1-8) with 13 points.