Oneonta boys hang with Seton for a half

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February 2, 2012

Saints run away with 58-40 victory

By Rob Centorani Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu Feb 02, 2012, 08:15 AM EST

BINGHAMTON _ Oneonta High's best chance for an upset came and went in the first half Wednesday.

The Yellowjackets' aggression on offense left Seton Catholic Central big man Cole Smothers on the bench for more than 10 minutes of the opening half, but OHS still trailed by two points heading into the third quarter.

John Armstrong then scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the third quarter to lead the Saints to a 58-40 Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys basketball victory.

"If you said we'd get their best big guy in foul trouble and hold them to 19 points (in the first half) ...," OHS coach Jerry Mackey said, lamenting a cold-shooting first half that saw his squad misfire on 15 of 22 shots from the field and 8 of 11 free throws.

A strong drive by Mike Calkins sent the 6-foot-7 Smothers to the bench for the remainder of the half with his second foul with 2:01 left in the first quarter. Oneonta trailed, 8-4, at the time and it stayed that way when Calkins missed both free throws, the first an air ball.

Twenty-three seconds later, the 6-4 Calkins drew another foul and this time went 1 of 2 from the line. By half's end, Calkins was 1-for-7 from the line.

"We missed (eight) free throws in the first half and that's (eight) points sitting on the board," Mackey said.

Another OHS weakness was exposed by the STAC East Division champion Saints (11-3, 10-0) _ that after the Mike-and-Bryce Show, Oneonta is limited on the offensive end.

Calkins and Bryce Wooden combined for all but one of Oneonta's first-half points. Wooden scored 11 of his game-high 16 points in the first half and Calkins had five of his 11 points before halftime. David Wright's free throw that tied the score at 17 with 1:27 left in the half marked the lone OHS point scored by someone other than Wooden and Calkins.

"I was happy with our intensity," said Wooden, who used his athleticism to get in the lane and then finished strong around the basket. "We came out intense. We were just going too fast on some execution plays and making turnovers here and there."

Mackey said finding a third source of offense will be key for the Yellowjackets heading into sectionals.

"The teams we need to beat, the Sus Valleys, the Norwiches, they have three and four guys who can get offense," said Mackey, who's 10-5 squad's four-game winning streak was snapped. "It's nice that we can run a lot of stuff through Mike and Bryce, and that's a huge advantage because they can go inside and outside, but we have some strengths and we have some things we need to work on."

That third guy appeared briefly early in the third quarter.

Senior Ryne Rivino hit a pair of three-pointers, both off passes from Wright. The first came from the right wing and cut Oneonta's deficit to 21-20 with 6:10 left in the quarter. The second, from the left baseline, brought the Yellowjackets to 24-23 with 5:17 left in the third.

But the Saints answered with a 13-4 run that all but ended things.

Armstrong started with a 14-foot wing jumper.

The Saints' Jarrell Reagan then was fouled in transition. He made the first free throw and missed the second. Smothers rebounded the miss, made the putback and was fouled. He then hit the free throw to make it 30-23 with 4:03 left in the quarter and ended a string of six SCC points in 17 seconds.

Calkins scored the next four points, the first on an inside move over Smothers and the second in transition. The latter pulled Oneonta to 30-27 with 2:35 left in the quarter.

But the Saints pushed the ball off of Calkins' made basket and Armstrong found himself free from the left side of the key. He hit the three-pointer to start a 7-0 Saints spurt.

"He made a big transition three," Mackey said of Armstrong. "That was a legitimate in rhythm, 20-something-foot jumper. You just tip your cap to him. What are you supposed to do?"

Smothers then scored inside with 1:33 left and Tom Torto hit a pair of free throws with 43.7 seconds left in the quarter to make it 37-27.

Torto, the Saints' best offensive player, scored 12 points, but OHS harassed him into 3-for-17 shooting from the floor.

It was still a 10-point game when Wooden hit a pair of free throws with 6 1/2 minutes left. The Saints then went on a 8-0 run that featured an elbow jumper by Smothers, two free throws apiece by Torto and John Martin and a fastbreak layup by Armstrong _ that making the score 50-32 with five minutes left.

"I told our guys before the game that you're going to see a different Oneonta team than you saw the first time," Saints coach Chris Sinicki said of his team's 59-46 win over Oneonta in the Anthony C. Drago Tournament. "They're not the same team you saw in November. They want to play slow. They want this game to finish 30-something to 40-something, they're going to keep in the half-court and grind it out. I said we have to get this thing a bit quicker."

Mackey and Wooden agreed the Yellowjackets will be a force for the Section Four Class B playoffs.

"We have the talent to make a run," Mackey said.

Added Wooden: "Our goal is a sectional title and we just have to keep working really hard in practice."

Seton CC 58, Oneonta 40

ONEONTA (10-5, 6-5): Dylan Jaklitsch 0-0 0-0 0, Jakob Mykytyn 1-1 0-0 2, Ryne Rivino 2-8 0-0 6, Bryce Wooden 6-12 4-8 16, David Wright 0-6 1-2 1, Thomas Slicer 0-0 0-0 0, Alec Picinich 1-3 0-1 2, Mike Calkins 5-14 1-7 11, Sean Getman 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchel Couch 0-1 2-2 2. TOTALS: 15-45 8-20 40.

SETON CATHOLIC CENTRAL (11-3, 10-0): Tom Torto 3-17 6-7 12, Patrick Gosney 4-7 2-2 10, John Martin 1-7 4-5 6, John Armstrong 6-12 0-0 15, Caleb Scepaniak 0-1 0-0 0, Cole Mallery 0-0 0-0 0, Javon Reagan 0-0 0-0 0, Jarrell Reagan 2-8 1-2 5, Mark Parrault 0-0 0-0 0, Tim Zeggart 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Hartrick 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Smothers 4-8 2-3 10. TOTALS: 20-60 15-19 58.

Oneonta ..... 5 12 12 11 _ 40

Seton CC ..... 10 9 18 21 _ 58

Three-point field goals: O 2 (Rivino 2); S 3 (Armstrong 3). JV score: SCC, 49-45.

Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.