BY ROB CENTORANI
STAFF WRITER
Not long after South Kortright’s boys defeated
New York Mills, 56-45, in a Class D state basketball
quarterfinal last season, Rams coach Bob
VanValkenburgh said this:
“That (Mills) team is young, they’re all young.
They’re going to be tough down the road, but that
will be somebody else’s problem.”
Well, not so much. In fact, it’s an unbeaten and
top-ranked problem the Rams will face at 2 p.m.
Saturday at Utica Proctor, where the teams will
meet in another Class D state quarterfinal.
“They have a lot of guys back and boy do they get
out and run,” said VanValkenburgh, who scouted
New York Mills’ 75-52 romp past Syracuse Academy
of Science in the Section Three title game last
Sunday. “They run like a team we haven’t seen
this year for sure. They looked tough.”
Of the 45 points the Marauders scored against
SK last season, 38 are back.
Conversely, SK (20-1) graduated 39 of the points
it scored in last season’s quarterfinal. Only the
game-high 17 points that Rashawn Herrington
contributed return for the Rams.
“At this point, obviously, we’re the underdogs
_ especially after watching them play,” Van-
Valkenburgh said of the rematch.
Mills is 22-0 and ranked first
in the state. It also has size
and speed, according to Van-
Valkenburgh and counterpart
Mike Adey.
“We have two really big kids
who can play basketball and
that’s a good advantage,” Adey
said. “We also have four quick
guards. Put them together and
we’re not going to be afraid to
run or play half-court. We can
play both ways and we’re looking
forward to a great game.”
Before the Marauders start
booking rooms for Glens Falls
_ the site of the state semifinals
and finals the following weekend
_ they will have knock off
the defending state champions,
who’ve won 46 of their last 47
games and are ranked second
in the state.
“Any team we play (in states)
is going to be tough,” SK senior
guard Tanner Metzko said after
the Rams’ 39-36 victory over
Davenport on Saturday at the
Broome County Arena. “We just
have to be ready.”
Point guard Metzko and forward
Charlie Darling played
in last season’s quarterfinal for
SK, but neither scored.
On offense, Herrington and
Metzko make up a potent 1-2
punch. Each can create his own
shot, which might be necessary
Saturday. The 6-foot-3 Darling
represents SK’s tallest player.
The Marauders will counter
Darling inside with 6-5 Fred
Russ and 6-8 Matt Welch. Mills
also has guards Jeremy Miller
and Edgardo Colon, who scored
14 and 12 points, respectively,
against SK last season.
Miller is a shifty left-hander
and Colon hit three threepointers
versus the Rams last
season.
“They run a lot better,” Van-
Valkenburgh said. “We have to
stop their break and we have
to concentrate on stopping
them inside. Their inside game
makes their outside game. But
they run as well as any team
I’ve seen in a long time.”
Heading into last season’s
game, VanValkenburgh said
the Rams had to contain Russ,
who transferred from Richfield
Springs midway through the
2008-09 campaign.
Mission accomplished as Russ
_ a 15-point-per-game scorer
last season, scored six points on
3-for-7 shooting from the floor.
But a year ago, the Rams had
two big bodies in Dan Many and
Kyle Hotaling, along with Darling
coming off the bench.
“He’s improved his game,”
VanValkenburgh said of Russ, a
junior who scored a game-high
22 points in the Section Three
final. “He gets to the foul line
and creates his own shot.”
The development of Welch
this season has made a big difference
for the Marauders,
Adey said.
“Last year, teams doubleteamed
Fred,” Adey said. “I
hope they do that this year.
That won’t work. Russ is a very
good passer. He seems to be the
same kind of kid as Herrington
in that he doesn’t care who
scores, as long as somebody
scores.”
Russ is averaging team highs
of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Welch contributes 11 points, six
rebounds and three blocks per
game, and Miller is at 12 points
and three rebounds per outing.
Colon and Matt Dziekan average
eight and seven points, respectively,
for the Marauders,
who have won 29 of their last 30
games. Their lone loss in that
stretch, of course, was against
SK last season.
The Rams likely will rely
heavily on Herrington, a 6-0
left-hander with talent to spare.
When he drives, if you haven’t
established defensive position
before he leaves his feet, you
pretty much have to hope he
misses.
“He may be the best allaround
athlete we’ve seen all
year,” Adey said of Herrington,
who averages 19.3 points.
He’s coming off an uneven
game last Saturday. Herrington
scored a game-high 17 points
but didn’t assert himself until
the fourth quarter, when
he scored 10 points to help SK
erase a nine-point deficit.
He also went 3-for-12 from the
free throw line, contributing to
a 7-for-20 showing by the Rams.
“We definitely have to work
on our foul shots,” Metzko said.
Suffice to say, SK will need
Herrington to be at his best for
32 minutes this time.
The same is true for Metzko,
a 5-10 senior. He had 15 points
against Davenport.
“Again, (Herrington is) a really
good player,” Adey said.
“Metzko is a nice player, too.
They’ve only lost one game, so
it’s more than (Herrington). We
don’t go into games thinking
about one kid. I thought they
have a nice team. He doesn’t
hog the ball. He gives it up.”
Metzko averages 11.9 points,
and Brandon Tuttle and Darling
are at 9.0 and 8.6 per game,
respectively.
“(Herrington and Metzko
are) going to have to have big
nights,” said VanValkenburgh,
who graduated four starters off
last season’s 26-0 squad that
beat Greenport, 47-43, in the
state final. “We’re going to have
to shoot the ball well. I have a
lot of confidence in them. The
kids have hung in there all
year.”
VanValkenburgh warned SK
fans to arrive early if they want
to get a seat. The Rams and
Marauders played in front of
a standing-room-only turnout
last season at Hartwick. Utica
Proctor does not seat as many
people as Hartwick.
“I told the kids’ parents to be
there by 1 (p.m.),” VanValkenburgh
said.
The winner of Saturday’s
game will play Section Six’s
Maple Grove or Section Five’s
Houghton Academy at 11:45
a.m. Friday at Glens Falls. The
state championship game is set
for 5:30 p.m. the following day.
Along with SK, Maple Grove
and Section 10’s Chateaugay
advanced to Glens Falls last
season and are still in this
year’s tournament. Last season,
Maple Grove lost to Greenport
in the semifinals and SK beat
Chateaugay, 48-38.
