Utica Academy of Science beats Little Falls in CSC-I basketball showdown

LITTLE FALLS – The first-ever basketball meeting of varsity squads from Little Falls and the Utica Academy of Science was everything it was built up to be Tuesday and the teams will do it again Monday in Frankfort.

Utica Academy of Science’s eighth-ranked Atoms edged Little Falls’ 13th-ranked Mounties 60-59 in a Center State Conference Division I showdown between the top two of Section III’s six state-ranked Class B boys teams. Freshman Donelious King Jr made one of two free throws with five seconds left to give the Atoms a four-point lead. Little Falls sophomore Colten Frederick gave the game its final margin with a three-point shot at the buzzer.

“We did a good job battling back,” said coach Bryan Shepardson whose Mounties had trailed by eight points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. “They play hard. That was just an extremely good high school basketball game.”

The Atoms had taken the lead with the final five points of the third quarter. Three-point baskets by King and Jazier Brown in the opening minute of the fourth gave Utica Academy of Science its largest lead, 46-38.

Little Falls quickly cut its deficit back to two points with a pair of three-pointers of its own in the next minute but the Mounties were never able pull even. The Atoms extended the lead back to 59-51 on another three by King with 1:04 on the clock before Little Falls got two free throws from Logan Frederick and a Rikki Smith three-pointer with 6.7 seconds to go.

Following a timeout, Little Falls fouled King to stop the clock and put Utica Academy of Science in the double bonus. The Atoms had missed the first shots of their final two one-and-ones earlier in the game’s final minute and King’s first shot was also a miss. King hit his second shot to make the score 60-56.

Little Falls had the ball knocked out of bounds and inbounded again with one second left to play. Smith passed to Colten Frederick in the corner for the final basket that left the Mounties one point short.

Donald Grant Jr led the Atoms with a game-high 18 points, including 15 in the second half. King scored seven of his 10 in the fourth quarter while Tyrique Taylor had 12 points.

Smith led Little Falls with 14 points. Colten Frederick finished with 13 and Logan Frederick scored 11.

“Rikki made some big plays,” Shepardson said, “and Gavin (Trumbull) hit some big shots off the bench.”

Trumbull scored eight points with five coming in the first half. Brayton Langdon had the first two baskets of the game for the Mounties off offensive rebounds while the teams were establishing their pace of play.

The game was close from start to finish. The margin was never wider than three points in a first quarter that ended with the teams tied at 12. Little Falls made a 9-2 run late in the second quarter and led by seven points at halftime. A basket by Smith to start the third quarter gave the Mounties the game’s largest lead at 31-22.

The Atoms tied the game at 35 and bridged the third quarter into the fourth with an 18-5 stretch that spanned seven minutes and put the visitors up by eight.

Monday’s game will be Little Falls’ first basketball visit to the gym Utica Academy of Science has added onto the school’s home base at the former West Frankfort Elementary School.

More: Little Falls defeats Herkimer as high school basketball fans return to gym

More: High school boys basketball scores and top performers from the area, winter 2021-22

New to Class B

The Mounties and Atoms have been on a collision course ever since both were bumped up to Class B for the 2020-21 academic year. Their paths did not cross during the abbreviated Herkimer County season in the spring.

The Center State Conference’s 2021-22 alignment brought the schools together for the first time in Division I, its Class B division. Little Falls had previously played in Division II while the Utica Academy of Science had played in Division III since joining the league.

The Atoms opened their gym in the spring after having previously played home games at Herkimer College, Mohawk Valley Community College and the Accelerate Sports Complex.

A Crowded Class

Looking ahead to the postseason, Little Falls and Utica Academy of Science are part of a deep Class B crop in Section III. The New York State Sportswriters Association released its weekly state rankings Tuesday and had six Section III schools among its top 19 in Class B. Lowville Academy, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Chittenango occupy the three spots immediately after Little Falls, and Central Valley Academy is No. 19. General Brown, Marcellus, Phoenix, Skaneateles and Westhill all received honorable mention beyond the 25 ranked teams.

Utica Academy of Science was ranked No. 1 for one week before suffering its only loss against Section II Tamarac at a holiday showcase tournament in Rome. Tamarac became the fifth No. 1 in five weeks Tuesday after Binghamton’s Seton Catholic High School suffered its first defeat in Section IV.

Lowville Academy (11-0) is one of five ranked unbeatens. Chittenango (11-1) joins Utica Academy of Science (10-1) with one loss, as does Skaneateles (10-1) which beat Westhill (8-3) Tuesday.

Little Falls (10-2), Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (8-2), Central Valley Academy (10-2) and Phoenix (10-2) have two losses while General Brown (7-3) and Marcellus (8-3) have three.

UTICA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 60, LITTLE FALLS 59

UTICA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE (10-1, 5-0 CSC-I) – Donelious King Jr 3 1-3 10; Jazier Brown 2 0-0 6; Jermaine Gaither 1 2-2 4; Tyrique Taylor 6 0-0 12; Donald Grant Jr 7 4-5 18; Wol Machteng 2 0-1 4; Stephen Brown 2 0-0 4; Devon Ski Williams 1 0-0 2; Najalique Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 7-11 60.

LITTLE FALLS (10-2, 4-1 CSC-I) – Gavin Trumbull 3 1-1 8; Xavier Dunn 0 0-0 0; Logan Frederick 3 4-4 11; Colten Frederick 6 0-0 13; John Shepardson 2 2-4 7; Rikki Smith 4 4-6 14; Brayton Langdon 3 0-1 6; Tanner Jaquay 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 11-16 59.

Utica Academy of Science 12 10 18 20 – 60

Little Falls 12 17 9 21 – 59

Three-pointers – Utica Academy of Science 5 (King 3, Brown 2); Little Falls 6 (Smith 2, C.Frederick 1, L.Frederick 1, Shepardson 1, Trumbull 1). JV – Utica Academy of Science 63, Little Falls 52.

Notes: Utica Academy of Science is No. 8 and Little Falls No. 13 this week in New York State Sportswriters Association’s Class B rankings; the teams meet again Monday at the former West Frankfort Elementary School.

Next up: Little Falls plays at home again Saturday against Frankfort-Schuyler, a team the Mounties have beaten twice previously this season; game times have been changed with junior varsity playing at 12:30 p.m. and varsity to follow. The next Utica Academy of Science game is Saturday at Westhill.

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Utica Academy of Science beats Little Falls in CSC-I boys basketball