Elmira Southside boys continue to impress the area with a win over 17th ranked in New York State Class A Vestal 81-67. This is the 3rd time in less than 3 weeks that Elmira Southside has beat a top 20 ranked team in New York State Class A.
Vestal drops first STAC game
Elmira SS uses second-half runs to hold off Bears
By Kevin Stevens • • Staff Writer • January 14, 2009
ELMIRA - Vestal's unbeaten Southern Tier Athletic Conference basketball record went down with a thud Tuesday night, as senior guard Mike Backer's 27 points led Elmira Southside to an 81-67 victory
Not only were the Golden Bears outplayed most of the way, but they ran into a Southside bunch that converted 17 of 30 first-half field goal attempts on its way to a 43-35 advantage.
Too little defensive resistance on Vestal's part certainly contributed to the Green Hornets' collective hot hand. And twice in the second half when Vestal scrapped back to within a workable margin, assorted breakdowns - coupled with sound play on the hosts' part - widened the gap all over again.
Jeremy Baltz closed with 20 points and Mike Patterson 14 for the Golden Bears (10-2), who dropped to 6-1 in conference play.
"To sum up the night, a lot of what they got was very easy. We struggled, had to work really hard," Vestal coach Ryan Hayes said. "Most everything came nice and easy, free-flowing for them. For us, it was stuck in quicksand, struggling and working uphill."
Up the Bears climbed from an eight-point halftime hole to within 46-43 when Alex Mushalla hit one of two free throws midway through the third quarter. But then came seven consecutive Southside points.
The flurry began with a head-scratcher of a 19-foot shot banked successfully from near the top of the key by Brent McLaurin, continued with a baseline drive for two and a pull-up jump shot in transition by Backer, and concluded with a free throw by Isaac Yorro to make it 53-43 with 2:18 to play in the quarter.
Vestal closed the quarter on a positive note when Richie Sebuharara, wisely inserted into the game with 4.5 seconds to play and his team inbounding under Southside's basket, accepted the inbound pass and dashed the length of the floor for a layup that dropped in just as the buzzer sounded to make it 56-50.
A strong drive down the lane by Baltz pulled Vestal within 60-56 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. But as they'd done the quarter before, the Green Hornets came up with an answer - this one to all but wrap up the victory.
Baltz, fouled on the drive for his score, missed the subsequent free throw and Backer shot ahead of slowly retreating defenders for a layup attempt that was headed off by a foul. He made the first free throw, missed the second, but converted a layup seven seconds later off a Golden Bears turnover to make it 63-56.
Consecutive field goals on the interior by Southside's Brad Bellinger followed, and a pair of free throws by Backer widened the difference to 69-56 with 3:47 remaining.
Do the math: That was nine consecutive Southside points, and Vestal's deficit was 10 or greater thereafter.
"We didn't play any defense," Hayes said. "Sixty-seven should be enough for us to win all basketball games this year. We got beat on the glass by nine. ...
"One of our keys tonight was execution. A lot of times when you throw that word out there, kids think offensively. We talked about it at halftime, execution is knowing who you're guarding, know his strengths and his weaknesses and know how to get after him.
"I thought overall, our mental execution was very poor tonight."
Backer, Southside's scoring leader with about 17 points per game coming in, made good on 10 of 15 attempts from the field. Three of his successes went for 3-point goals in the first half. Six-foot-five Isaac Yorro closed with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
"They're a scary team, a big team, they're well-coached, they're a smart team," Southside coach Josh Fesetch said of Vestal. "We thought we'd be in for a real rough one tonight, and we were. But our kids were focused and they played very, very well tonight.
"We beat a really good basketball team. Our kids battled, so I was very happy."
Too little defensive resistance on Vestal's part certainly contributed to the Green Hornets' collective hot hand. And twice in the second half when Vestal scrapped back to within a workable margin, assorted breakdowns - coupled with sound play on the hosts' part - widened the gap all over again.
Jeremy Baltz closed with 20 points and Mike Patterson 14 for the Golden Bears (10-2), who dropped to 6-1 in conference play.
"To sum up the night, a lot of what they got was very easy. We struggled, had to work really hard," Vestal coach Ryan Hayes said. "Most everything came nice and easy, free-flowing for them. For us, it was stuck in quicksand, struggling and working uphill."
Up the Bears climbed from an eight-point halftime hole to within 46-43 when Alex Mushalla hit one of two free throws midway through the third quarter. But then came seven consecutive Southside points.
The flurry began with a head-scratcher of a 19-foot shot banked successfully from near the top of the key by Brent McLaurin, continued with a baseline drive for two and a pull-up jump shot in transition by Backer, and concluded with a free throw by Isaac Yorro to make it 53-43 with 2:18 to play in the quarter.
Vestal closed the quarter on a positive note when Richie Sebuharara, wisely inserted into the game with 4.5 seconds to play and his team inbounding under Southside's basket, accepted the inbound pass and dashed the length of the floor for a layup that dropped in just as the buzzer sounded to make it 56-50.
A strong drive down the lane by Baltz pulled Vestal within 60-56 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. But as they'd done the quarter before, the Green Hornets came up with an answer - this one to all but wrap up the victory.
Baltz, fouled on the drive for his score, missed the subsequent free throw and Backer shot ahead of slowly retreating defenders for a layup attempt that was headed off by a foul. He made the first free throw, missed the second, but converted a layup seven seconds later off a Golden Bears turnover to make it 63-56.
Consecutive field goals on the interior by Southside's Brad Bellinger followed, and a pair of free throws by Backer widened the difference to 69-56 with 3:47 remaining.
Do the math: That was nine consecutive Southside points, and Vestal's deficit was 10 or greater thereafter.
"We didn't play any defense," Hayes said. "Sixty-seven should be enough for us to win all basketball games this year. We got beat on the glass by nine. ...
"One of our keys tonight was execution. A lot of times when you throw that word out there, kids think offensively. We talked about it at halftime, execution is knowing who you're guarding, know his strengths and his weaknesses and know how to get after him.
"I thought overall, our mental execution was very poor tonight."
Backer, Southside's scoring leader with about 17 points per game coming in, made good on 10 of 15 attempts from the field. Three of his successes went for 3-point goals in the first half. Six-foot-five Isaac Yorro closed with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
"They're a scary team, a big team, they're well-coached, they're a smart team," Southside coach Josh Fesetch said of Vestal. "We thought we'd be in for a real rough one tonight, and we were. But our kids were focused and they played very, very well tonight.
"We beat a really good basketball team. Our kids battled, so I was very happy."
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