GETTING READY FOR SECTIONAL PLAY

  GRAHAMSVILLE--Two Sullivan County varsity girls basketball teams in competition against each other Thursday night at Grahamsville clearly showed why they have won Section IX playoff berths.
  The Tri-Valley  Lady Bears ended regular season competition with a win and a loss Wednesday and Thursday of last week and enter Section IX Class C sectional play tonight at  6 p.m. on their home court against the Bombers of Pine Plains.
  Last Wednersday in league play Tri-Valley easily defeated Tuxedo  61-46  at home but Thursday at home in a non-league contest the Eldred Yellowjackets displayed why they posses a 15-3 overall record and top-seed in Section IX class D basketball by edging the Bears 55-51. 
  The Eldred-Tri-Valley game tunred out to be a classic battle with the Yellowjackets jumping out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and pushed a 16-point lead to 23-6 at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter.
  The first quarter of play saw many errant passes by Tri-Valley who committed 20 turnovers in the first half of play with Eldred displaying a tough defense only allowing Danielle Shafarsky and Sara Dertinger to score two points each in the first eight minutes of play.
  Eldred continued their scoring prowess in the second quarter outscoring Tri-Valley 21-18 to take a halftime lead of 37-22.
  Outstanding individual play throughout this game was displayed by Eldred's point-guard Jordan Lepes who poured in  29 points and hit for 12 out of 16 foul shots. Lepes scored nine points in the first quarter, eight points in the second quarter, five in the third and seven in the fourth.
  The second half of play for the Bears showed marked improvement  as they outscored Eldred 14-9 in the third quarter and 15-9 in the fourth quarter to make the final eight minutes of play very interesting.
  Trailing by 10 entering the start of the fourth quarter Bears senior point guard Caroline Martin, who was heavily pressured by Eldred defense throughout this game, scored two foul shots and shortly after at the 7:07 mark added two more foul shots cutting Eldred's lead down to 48-43 with a little over five minutes left on the clock.
  With 3:47 showing on the clock and Eldred leading 48-44 Tri-Valley's Ashley Johnson was fouled and sank two free throws lowering Eldred's lead down to 48-46.
  Eldred's Kelsey Collins sank a two-pointer pushing Eldred's lead back to four points (50-46) and with the Bears down by six at the 2:57 mark Tri-Valley called a timeout.
  Eldred's Lepes in the final minutes of play sank three clutch foul shots as Eldred hung on for the victory.
  The Yellowjackets enter Section IX Class D sectionals Wednesday March 3 at Sullivan County Community College at 5 p.m. against Livingston Manor. The winner will become the Section IX champion.
  Lepes led Eldred with 29 points and Kelsey Collins added 12.
  Shafarsky led Tri-Valley with 17,  Dertinger added 13 and Ashley Johnson had 10.
  Eldred's overall record with this win is 15-3 and undefeated in league play 6-0. Tri-Valley finishes with an overall  record of  10-8 and 6-2 in league play.
  Tri-Valley committed a total of 32 turnovers while Eldred had 26.
  Eldred coach Ryan Jasper in post-game remarks said, I knew the tempo was going to pickup and we weathered the storm but this game could have gone either way.
  Jasper in commenting on his high scoring point guard Jodan Lepes said, "you don't see a kid that talented very often." Lepes is credited with excellent ball handling and her quickness to the rim.
  The Eldred coach when asked about the fourth quarter surge by Tri-Valley said, "nothing surprises me the way these kids (Tri-Valley) compete and  because of Jason this is the reason why they are good every single year."
  Jasper noted that Tri-Valley started slow this year, "but it wouldn't surprise me if they won the section the way Jason gets these kids fired up."
  Tri-Valley coach Jason Closs noted "what it came down to is we just gave them a little too much and we did a lot of things in that first half to make it very difficult upon ourselves."
  Closs commented on the first half turnovers saying, " against a good team you can't have that number of turnovers and a lot of those were because we were forcing passes."
  "In the second half we cleaned up a lot of that and we got a lot more rebounds," Closs said.
  In gaining the home court advantage in the first sectional game Closs indicated that playing on a court the team is familiar with helps and also the home crowd and support and not having to travel are all beneficial to Tri-Valley.
  The Tri-Valley 61-46 win against Tuxedo Wednesday saw the Bears strike early outscoring Tuxedo in the first quarter 16-6 and 15-10 in the second quarter off the indivudeal scoring efforts of Sara Dertinger with 8 and 9 points by Caroline Martin.
  Martin lit it up in the second half with 9 points to finish with a game high 22 points.
  Tri-Valley outscored Tuxedo 17-16 in the third quarter and with many of the bench players seeing action in the fourth quarter Tuxedo won that quarter 14-13.
  Martin led the scoring with 22 followed by Sandra Alemany with 10 and eight points each from Ashley Johnson, Danielle Shafarsky and Sara Dertinger.
  Alison Toscano had 13 points for Tuxedo and Sheryl Martin had 10.
  Tri-Valley had 18 turnovers to Tuxedo's 16.
  Tuxedo coach Dave Powers was not available for comment.
  Coach Closs with the team recording their sixth league win following their loss earlier in the week to Chester  said, "our team bounces back very well although their disappointed with a loss  they kind of put it behind them and go back to work."
  Closs while commenting on the Tuxedo team praised Alison Toscano saying "she is just fantastic as she is able to shoot the three-pointer, post up and pretty much can play defense against anyone and she just creates problems."

THREE PICTURES, ONE FROM THE TV-TUXEDO GAME AND 2 FROM THE TV-ELDRED GAME

 

 

                                                        

Tri-Valley's senior point guard Caroline Martin (32) shoots for two of her game high 22 points over Tuxedo's Amanda Agostini (10) in the Bears 61-46 win Wednesday night.

                                                      

                                                   

                                      

                                              

Eldred's scoring ace Jordan Lepes (22) prepares a pass over Tri-Valley's Sandra Alemany (25) in  Eldred's 55-51 win Thursday at Grahamsville. Lepes finished the night with 29 points.

 

                                                          

                                     
Tri-Valley's Danielle Shafarsky (20) shoots for two of her game high 17 points in Thursday's 55-51 loss to Eldred.

                                                                                                                           

       

TRI-VALLEY'S SPANISH EXCHANGE STUDENT

   GRAHAMSVILLE--"When she gets a step on anyone and she's allowed to get to that rim she can finish very well," Tri-Valley Central School girls varsity basketball coach Jason Closs commented recently about Spanish exchange student and varsity basketball player Sandra Alemany Benayas' play on this years team.
  Sandra, a native of Castellon de la Plana, in the province of Valencia, Spain, arrived in August of last year to spend her 10-months (the 2014-2015 school year) with her host family Gary and Maribel Ter Bush and their three children Tyler, Maria and Diana.
  Coach Closs when asked to comment about the 15-year-old sophomore noted, "when I saw Sandra play the first time I knew she could help us this year."
  "Her length alone at 5'10" was a need for us and I think the differing styles of play from Spain to America has been an adjustment  for Sandra, but over the last three months she has adopted nicely and has contributed a great deal to our team," Closs said.
  In a personal interview with Sandra she noted that her parents names are Lola and Paco and that she has two sisters, Belen (21) and Cristina (20), both studying in college.
  Sandra completed her 9th grade in Spain at the IES Penyagolosa high school where she has been playing basketball since the age of 11 in a Youth League (Club Nou Basket Femeni de Castello.)  
  At the Youth League she was considered to be at the "Cadet Level" which is the level for grades 9th and 10th and is the equivalent of Junior Varsity here in the United States.
  When asked how she likes school at Tri-Valley and what difference the school here is compared to her school in Spain, Sandra said, "I like it at Tri-Valley as the students have been friendly and supportive and the school here is easier than in Spain."
  As to Sandra's thoughts about basketball competition here in the United States she feels "the game is more physical, there is more contact than what I'm use to and the game is faster, but, I'm enjoying this level of competition and experience."
  When asked about her competitive level on this years varsity team Sandra said, "I'm giving my best and improving.
  In asking her about her overall living and basketball experience in Grahamsville the soft spoken and somewhat shy Spanish student said, "I'm enjoying every aspect of my cultural experience and was happy to have been part of the cross country team in the fall which helped me get in shape for basketball." Sandra added. "I worked hard for the try-outs before the basketball season started and was very happy to make it on the varsity team."
  Sandra said she has no negative thoughts about her experience here in Grahamsville but she does miss her family and friends.
  When asked about leaving her host family at the end of the school year Sandra said, "its weird because I want to go back but I don't want to go back.....its confusing."
  Arrangements for Sandra to come and go to school at Tri-Valley were  under the guidance of CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) organization that organizes and sponsors international high school students to attend school and live with American host families.
  CIEE is a nonprofit organization and the families of the exchange student pay for travel costs and other required fees.
  A game that Sondra will most likely never forget took place several weeks ago in Tuxedo where with nine-seconds left on the clock and a tie score of 39-39 looking like overtime play she received a pass on the foul line and drove to the basket for a runner that swished the nets and a two-point 41-30 Tri-Valley victory.
  Coach Closs in commenting on Sandra's winning shot said, "if you give her space she can finish at the rim with either hand and people really haven't gotten to see her great ability."
  When talking with the Tri-Valley coach about Sandra he noted, "she has been a great addition to the team this season and as individuals I believe we can learn a great deal from the people we have contact with everyday."
  "From day one I have admired the quiet strength of Sandra and the fact that she came to a new country, a new school, made new friends and did well both in academics and athletics.....this says a great deal about who she is as person," Closs added.
  "My hope for Sandra is that when she returns to Spain she takes with her some of the lessons learned, friendships made and the many memories of her experience," and "today with social media you will never be that far away," varsity coach Closs pointed out.
  With sectional play coming up shortly Coach Closs concluded by saying, "as with all my players, I look forward to hearing about Sandra doing some great things in the future as she has all the abilities to be exceptional."


PHOTOS FOR THIS STORY

                                                    

Host family and coaches photo with Sandra Alemany Benayas includes, front row left to right, Assistant Varsity Coach Jerry Stevens, Tyler Ter Bush, Diana Ter Bush, Sandra and Varsity Coach Jason Closs. Second row left to right, Maribel, Gary and Maria Ter Bush.

                                                              

Sandra posses good dribbling skills.                          

                                                        

                                     
A shot Sandra will cherish forever was her game winning shot with nine-seconds left on the clock and a tie score of 39-39 looking like overtime play as she tossed in a runner that swished the nets and a two-point 41-39 victory several weeks ago at Tuxedo.

                                           
 

    

CHESTER EDGES TRI-VALLEY 48-46

CHESTER--The Chester Hambletonians varsity girls basketball team didn't have an easy time Monday night in winning the OCIAA Division V title as they hung on to edge defending league champion Tri-Valley 48-46.
  The dominating full-court press and defense used by the Bears in their 70-48 win over Chester last week at Grahamsville was easily broken by Chester as they wasted no time in taking a 14-6 first quarter lead off the 8 point scoring efforts of their outstanding forward Simone Ayers.
  Simone, one of the best players in Section IX easily showed her scoring ability as she swished the nets for a game high 20 points.
  Tri-Valley chipped away at the Chester lead in the second quarter outscoring the Hambletonians 11-6 to go into the locker room at halftime trailing by three 20-17.
  Kayla Butler came off the bench in the second quarter to lead the Bears with seven points off of three two-pointers and a foul shot.
  Chester responded to Tri-Valley's second quarter scoring by taking a 12-point lead at 4:06 of the third quarter off the scoring of eight points by Ayers. Chester outscored the Bears 18-14 in the third quarter for a 38-31 lead entering the final eight minutes of play.
  At the 7:25 mark of the fourth quarter Tri-Valley's ace senior guard Caroline Martin was tagged with her fourth personal foul and sophomore forward Sandra Alemany shortly after received her third foul giving Chester the advantage as they upped their lead to 44-33 at the 4:42 mark.
  With 3:57 left on the clock Tri-Valley mounted a comeback attempt with clutch scoring of two three pointers by Martin, four points off two pointers by Danielle Shafarsky, three points by Sara Dertinger and two points by Alemany.
  Trailing 48-43  with 8.1 seconds left on the clock Martin sank a clutch three-pointer putting the Bears down by two, 48-46,  but as errant Tri-Valley pass ended the Bears hope of a tie score that would have forced overtime play.
  Martin led Tri-Valley scoring with 14 points followed by Shafarsky with 12 and 7 by Butler.
  Ayers led the Hambletonians with 20, Kathryn Jankelunas had 15 and Amanda Almodovar contributed with 10 assists and six steals for Chester 12-6, 7-1 OCIAA.
  The loss dropped Tri-Valley to 6-2 in OCIAA league play.
  Tri-Valley committed 18 turnovers to Chester's 20.
  Chester coach Peter Rickard acknowledged in the post-game interview that his team "broke the press the greatest we we have done all year against anybody."
  "But give them (Tri-Valley) credit," Rickard said when asked about leading the Bears by 12 and 9 points at several junctions of the game."
  Rickard said his team took Tri-Valley " way out of rhythm and we stayed in our diamond and one defense and we'll take the win and the division."
  Chester won the division two years ago but have never won a Section IX championship.
  Tri-Valley coach Jason Closs when asked about this defeat said, "the first half we got into foul trouble with three starters with two but I was fairly pleased going into the  half only down by three."
  "In the second half we slowly battled back but you just can't spot that team 11 or 12 points that late in the game and we let girls get behind us at times but still had a chance to win at the end," Closs added.
  The sectional playoff schedule with this loss was yet determined for Tri-Valley who had one league game to play against Tuxedo Wednesday and a non-league game Thursday against Eldred attached photos

PHOTO FROM MONDAY'S GAME





                                                      

Tri-Valley senior point guard Caroline Martin (32) goes to the hoop to score two of her game high 14 points in the Bears 48-46 loss to Chester Monday night.                                    
                                  

Tri-Valley's Danielle Shafarsky (20) shoots over Chester's Maura Benedict (15) in the Bears 48-46 loss Monday at Chester.


OTHER PHOTOS

                                                      

                                             

                                                                    

                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                

TRI-VALLEY EDGES SULLIVAN WEST

                                 

  GRAHAMSVILLE--Senior's night activities at Tri-Valley honored players and cheerleaders Wednesday night  and added just enough extra spark to push the Bears to a 67-60 victory over Sullivan West in a OCIAA Division V game.
  Prior to the start of the last home for Tri-Valley the annual honoring of seniors on both the varsity boys team and senior cheerleaders took place at center court.
  Sullivan West coach Bruce Nober in his post game remarks noted that "Tri-Valley just outplayed us as they came out with a lot of energy-- obviously it was their senior night  and homecoming and at times they wanted the win a little bit more then we did."
  "They made some tough shots, were more aggressive, took  the ball to the rim and they rebounded," Nober added.
  The first quarter of play showed how evenly the two teams were matched up with Tri-Valley taking a 11-4 lead with under three minutes to play but Sullivan West closed with effective scoring to end the quarter down by only three points, 16-13.
  Sullivan West outscored Tri-Valley in the second quarter 19-15 to end the half trailing 35-28.
  Tri-Valley outscored the Bulldogs 17-13 in the third quarter but Sullivan West came back strong in the fourth quarter to outscore the Bears 19-15.
  Defensively Tri-Valley forced Sullivan West to make 17 turnovers to the Bears 7.
  Sullivan West hit the nets well with their three-point shooting  scoring on 8 trays to the Bears 6.
  Key players for both teams included Zach Nilsen with 18 points and Justin Swarthout with 17 for Tri-Valley and Jiron Kevii with 20, Ronj Padu with 12, Mark Castro with 11 and Noah Bauer with 11 for Sullivan West.
  Bauer and Kevii each had three trays for Sullivan West .
  Tri-Valley took a 13 point lead at  the half way point of the fourth quarter and were able to fight off a charge by Sullivan West to win by 6.
  The win for Tri-Valley boosts their overall record to 11-6 and 4-3 in OCIAA league play. Sullivan West drops to 9-7 overall and 2-5 in league play.
  Tri-Valley coach Kyle Humphrey in his comments about the win said, " incredible senior night, great effort from those eight guys and I think this is the way I've been looking for us to play the entire year."
  Humphrey added, "tonight we had energy, effort, enthusiasm, guys on the ground and shots are what they are tonight we made them and some nights we don't but effort and energy were right on point  tonight."
  When asked about the upcoming game with S.S. Seward tonight at Florida Humphrey added, "we take our best game to the best team in the league that's what we do and I'm excited as our guys are finding themselves right at the right time and our motion offense is now very crisp and I'm very confident what we can do on Friday."


PHOTOS FROM WEDNESDAY'S GAME

                                                         

Tri-Valley's Zach Nilsen (11) scores two of his game high 18 points as Sullivan West's Jiron Kevii (12) attempts to block the shot in the Bears 67-60 win Wednesday at Grahamsville.
                                    

                                                            

Tri-Valley's Justin Swarthout (12) soars to the hoop over Sullivan West's Linzii Koradis (24) and Ronj Padu (20) in the Bears 67-60 win Wednesday at Grahamsville. 

 

 

OTHER GAME PHOTOS

 

                                                           

 

 

 

                                                                 

                                                               

                                       
                                                         

 
                                                                                

                                                                             

                                                                                       

BIG WIN FOR TRI-VALLEY LADY BEARS

                                           

GRAHAMSVILLE--The use of an effective full-court press, a dominating defense, control of rebounds and a sharp offensive punch all contributed to a big win Tuesday night in Grahamsville as the Tri-Valley Lady Bears won a big OCIAA league win over Chester 70-48.
  The Hambletonians came into this game sporting a 10-5 record and a Division V OCIAA league leading record of 5-0, one win better then Tri-Valley who entered this contest 4-1 in league play.
  Tri-Valley's one league loss came against S.S. Seward who lost to Chester by four points several weeks ago.
  The Division V OCIAA race for the league championship also tightened up Tuesday night with Tuxedo's 46-31 win over S.S. Seward at the famous small band-box Tuxedo gym.
  This win for the Lady Bears could be from what they learned in their last game against powerhouse Division A Cornwall who defeated Tri-Valley 75-40 February 14 using what Tri-Valley demonstrated in Tuesday's victory.
  Chester came into this game sporting one of the best players in Sectio0n IX, Simone Ayers who even with this loss demonstrated her scoring ability posting 24 points.
  Chester took a quick 2-0 lead  in the opening minutes of the first quarter but Tri-Valley tied the score at 2-2 as  the Bears turned up the heat and raced out to a 12-4 lead at the 4:07 mark.
  Tri-Valley went on to outscore Chester 23-11 in the first quarter but Chester came back to outscore the Bears 13-12 in the second quarter with Tri-Valley leading at half time 35-24.
  Tri-Valley at the half-way mark of the  third quarter took a 14-point  43-29 lead as they coasted to a third quarter 16-point advantage of 56-40.
  The Bears outscored Chester 21-16 in the third quarter and 14-8 in the fourth quarter.
  The big offensive punch for Tri-Valley was provided by senior guard Caroline Martin who crashed the nets for three trays and nine two-pointers totaling 27 points. She had seven points in the first quarter, six points in the second, 11 in the third and three in the fourth.
  The senior point guard also displayed a tough defense  while staying out of foul trouble whick has plagued her in the past.
  Chester's Simone Ayers with 24 total points hit for nine points in the first quarter, six in the second and nine in the third.
  Tri-Valley's Sara Dertinger contributed 13 points and Ashley Johnson  11 points in this win.
  Chester committed 28 turnovers to Tri-Valley's 17.
  Even with this loss Chester coach Peter Rickard was upbeat in the post-game interview saying "I thought we played well, we broke their press, we missed up on a couple of rebounds which I didn't think was going to happen but they have to come to us now (Tri-Valley travels to Chester Monday February 23.)
  "We scored more then I thought we were going to and I give them credit and Martin played well," Rickard noted.
  Rickard acknowledged that Chester is now in a tie with Tri-Valley for the league lead and the rematch at Chester could decide the league championship but both teams have to play Tuxedo and anything could happen there.
  Tri-Valley coach Jason Closs noted, "we were able to bring pressure for 30 minutes tonight and at times we got beat deep but we got a lot of turnovers and deflections and a lot of offense out of that."
  Closs pointed out that he was "pleased the way the girls played and we rebounded well especially in the second half even when giving up five to six inches in height with Alissa Ramos and Simone Ayers  in there for Chester."
  "I was very pleased for the most part with our composure at the end and the way we played against their 1-3-1 zone," Closs added.
  Tri-Valley is now 10-6 overall and 5-1 in league play. Chester falls to 8-6 and 5-1.
  Tri-Valley plays Chapel Field at home tonight at 5:30, Tuxedo Saturday at home at 1:30  before traveling to Chester Monday night. 
 
 
  PHOTOS FROM TUESDAY'S GAME

 

                                                        

 

Tri-Valley senior point guard Caroline Martin (32) shoots over Chester's Hunter Seabrook (24) scoring two of her game high 27 points in the Lady Bears 70-48 win Tuesday night at Grahamsville.
                                   
                                                         

Tri-Valley's Sandra Alemany (25) drives to the basket in the Lady Bears 70-48 win Tuesday night at Grahamsville. 

 

 

OTHER PHOTOS

 

                                                                  

                                                                     

                                                                                

                                                                            

                                                                                    

                                                                                  

TRI-VALLEY PLAYS A REAL POWERHOUSE

GRAHAMSVILLE--The section IX Class A Cornwall Lady Dragon powerhouse basketball team trekked through a snowstorm Saturday which didn't cool them off as they clearly demonstrated why they are state ranked by posting a 75-40 win over Class C  Tri-Valley.
  In postgame remarks Tri-Valley Coach Jason Closs described the team his Bears had just played against, saying "we faced a good athletic team that will pay dividends for us as I don't think we will play another team that can apply that type of pressure."
  The pressure included a strong full-court press which resulted in many errant Tri-Valley passes,  43 turnovers and a number of easy baskets for the Lady Dragons.
  Tri-Valley offered their best offensive punch in the first eight minutes of play staying with the first place OCIAA Class A team leading them 9-4 at the 5:43 mark and 12-6 at the 4:48 mark off a three-pointer by senior guard Caroline Martin.
  Cornwall came back strong after the Martin score and tied the game at 12-12 as the clock ticked down to 2:44. The  Lady Dragons went on to take  a 18-12 first quarter lead.
  The Lady Dragons outscored Tri-Valley 22-14 in the second quarter, 18-8 in the third quarter and 17-6 in the fourth quarter.
  The Bears the prior night suffered their first league loss at Florida as S.S.Seward took control in the fourth quarter to edge Tri-Valley 56-51. Erika Straub scored 19 points for Seward and Caroline Martin had 17 points for Tri-Valley who with this loss slipped to a 7-5 overall  and 4-1 in OCIAA league play.
  Coach Closs in commenting on the Cornwall loss noted, "we did make mistakes but the key to a game like this is to learn from those mistakes."
  "Cornwall is a team that has won 12 straight division titles and in the last eight years has not lost a division (Class A)  game and that's the type of program we are looking to build," Closs said.
   The Tri-Valley coach strongly noted that "I would rather play a team that's going to give us their best then to play a team that we can just run all over because there are a lot of things we learned today."
  Closs added, "one thing is that we are not giving up and we don't go away and no one hung their head and they realized who they were up against and that's life."
  Cornwall coach Chris Miller said "our pressure made a difference as we go 10 deep and he (Closs) doesn't and we go 10 deep every game and that's to our benefit and that's  why we play the way we do."
  Miller gave praise to Tri-Valley saying, "they played extremely hard and I think this will help them for sectionals." He concluded by saying " Coach Closs is a smart coach by playing us and getting ready for sectional play."
  With the win Cornwall goes to 12-3 overall and 5-0 in OCIAA league play. Tri-Valley drops to 7-6 overall and 4-1 in league play.
  Sandra Alemany contined her aggressive style of play by leading Tri-Valley with 16 points followed by Danielle Shafarsky with 10.
  Sam Incognoli scored 13 points for Cornwall followed by 12 points each by Alison Thorpe and Jackie Hogan with 12 points apiece.
  Tri-Valley gets back into league play tonight at home against Chester, plays Chapel Field at home Friday and Tuxedo in league play at home  in a 1:30 game Saturday.

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 PHOTOS FROM SATURDAY'S GAME

                                                         

Tri-Valley's leading scorer with 16 points Sandra Alemany (25) scores over Cornwall's Sam Reed in Saturday's 75-40 loss to the Green Dragons at Grahamsville.
                                                
                                                             

Cornwall's leading scorer with 13 points, Sam Incognoli, attempts to drive past Tri-Valley's Caroline Martin (32) and Danielle Shafarsky (20) in the Green Dragons 75-40 win
Saturday at Grahamsville. 
 
                                                          

                                                           

                                       
                                                               

   
                                                                             

 

                                                                              

                                                                               

                                                                  
                                                                          

WIN PUTS TRI-VALLEY IN SECTIONALS

               
                                                            
              

  GRAHAMSVILLE-The storyline coming out of this OCIAA Division V girls varsity basketball game Tuesday night is that Tri-Valley's win  has given them a berth in the sectionals and  gives them the opportunity to defend their Section IX title.
  The loss for Sullivan West  officially eliminated them from this years sectional play.
  Tri-Valley's 46-20 win over Sullivan West gives the Bears a 4-0 league record and an overall record of 7-4 as Sullivan West falls to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in OCIAA league play.
  Weather permitting Tri-Valley was scheduled to play S.S.Seward at Florida last night and plays host to Orange County Class A power Cornwall Saturday at Grahmsville in a 12:30 early afternoon game.
  Tri-Valley took control of the game in the first quarter by outscoring  the Bulldogs 15-4 and continued to lead at halftime 22-11.
  Danielle Shafarsky led the first quarter scoring with five points off a three-pointer from the left front side of the three-point line.
  In the third quarter Tri-Valley's defense completely shutdown the Bulldogs outscoring Sullivan West 18-0 as Shafarsky continued her offensive attack with 10 points off five two-pointers.
  At this point of the game Tri-Valley Coach Jason Closs made sure all of his bench players saw playing time.
  Sullivan West outscored the Bears 9-6 in the final eight minutes of play.
  Shafarsky led Tri-Valley's scoring with 15 points folowed by Ashley Johnson and Caroline Martin with five points each.
  Danielle Brockner had five points for Sullivan West followed by Brianna Bryant and Bella Vent with four points each.
  Tri-Valley had 25 turnovers to Sullivan West's 20.
  Sullivan West Coach Pat Donavan in post game remarks said, "we frustrated them Saturday and they frustrated us tonight."
  "Jason does a heck of a job with them and they are a great team and he gets those girls to work and we got frustrated and it bothered us tonight," Donavan added.
  Coach Closs noted, "we moved the ball better tonight and we were much more unselfish on the break and it was a good team win tonight."
  Closs in commenting about Shafarsky's scoring effort noted, "she can shoot and lots of times from the short corner when she takes her time and gets her shot up she can shoot as good as anybody from that spot." 

 

PHOTOS FROM TUESDAY'S GAME

 

 

                                       

                                                             

                            

                                                                                                  
Tri-Valley's Danielle Shafarsky (20) scores two of her team leading 15-points as Sullivan West's Danielle Brockner (14) attempts a block in the Bears 46-20 win Tuesday night at Grahamsville.
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In a battle of No. 14's, Tri-Valley's Kayla Butler shoots over Sullivan West's Danielle Brockner in the Bears 46-20 win Tuesday at Grahamsville.

                                            
 

TV WEEKEND BASKETBALL

                     

     The Tri-Valley boys and girls varsity basketball schedule this past weekend produced a 1-1 record for the boys while the girls continued their trek in sectional play with a 31-12 win over Sullivan West played as part of the 7th Annual Sullivan County BCANY Vs. Cancer Classic at Sullivan County Community College.
    At Grahamsville Friday night the Chester Hambletonians boys varsity continued this years league  dominance of Tri-Valley winning their second win over the Bears 68-53.
  Earlier in the season at Chester Tri-Valley lost by double figures.
  Friday night's game did not start out well for Tri-Valley as Chester opened a 16-2 first quarter lead before the Bears scored their fourth point at the 1:48 mark.
  The Hambletonians took a commanding first quarter lead of 21-7 and went into the locker room at halftime leading 36-20.
  Tri-Valley outscored Chester in the third quarter 14-11 but Chester increased their lead by netting a 21-19 lead in the final eight minutes of play.
  Chester coach Jon Maizillo in expressing his teams victory said "overall a good performance but a little sloppy at times."
  He added, " at times we try to get a little too fancy  and turn the ball over but I'm pleased with a good overall team offensive performance."
  Bears coach Kyle Humphrey following his teams third loss in a row (S.S. Seward, Fallsburgh, Chester) said, "I just have to have faith that they are basketball players and a couple of losses will not define our season."
  "The shots they we took tonight were the right shots to take and we have to continue to believe in those shots and believe in the confidence of those players shooting them," Coach Humphrey noted.
  Brandon Sadler led Chester in scoring with 23 points. Thomas Mungeer led Tri-Valley with 11 followed by Justin Swarthout with 10.
  Bright and early Saturday morning in the BCANY Vs. Cancer Classic the 9:30 game at Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) between Tri-Valley and Roscoe produced an entirely different outcome for the Bears as they lit up the scoreboard with an offensive attack that produced a 90-42 victory.
  Racing out to a 12-3 lead at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter Tri-Valley went on to take a first quarter lead of 33-9 off the scoring attack of Zack Nilsen's five  three-pointers and six points by Justin Swarthout and eight points by Shane Rennison.
  Tri-Valley continued their offensive prowess outscoring Roscoe in the second quarter 20-17, 19-8 in the third and 18-8 in the fourth quarter.
  Three Tri-Valley players scored in double figures led by Nilsen with 18 (6 three-pointers) , Rennison with 16 and Swarthout with 13.
  Collin Tallman scored 11 for Roscoe followed by 10 for Nick Hill.
  The Tri-Valley-Roscoe game was a non-league contest.
  Roscoe Coach Fred Ahart's post-game comment was "great shooting by Tri-Valley," while Coach Kyle Humphrey added "I feel the same way and I wanted that shooting night last night."
  In the Sullivan West Tri-Valley girls league game at  11 a.m. in the BCANY Vs. Cancer Classic  Sullivan West had difficulty penatrating the Bears defense with Tri-Valley shutting down the Bulldogs 7-0 in the first quarter and limiting Sullivan West to a total of 12 game points in the final 31-12 game score.
  Each team scored 6 points in the second quarter with Tri-Valley outscoring the Bulldogs 9-2 in the third quarter and 9-4 in the fourth quarter.
  Once again Tri-Valley was led in scoring by 5'10" sophomore Spanish exchange-student  Sandra Alemany who scored four two-pointers and a foul shot for 9 total points. Danielle Shafarsky added 7 points for the Bears.
  Carly Grishaber led Sullivan West with six points.
  Sullivan West committed 35 turnovers to Tri-Valley's 30.
  The win boosted Tri-Valley's overall record to 6-4 and 3-0 in OCIAA Division V league play while Sullivan West's overall record is 4-9.
  Even with the win Tri-Valley coach Jason Closs showed disappointment with the team losing three players to fouls and the fact that , "we wern't clicking today and we got out of here with a win but we definitely have to work on some things."
  "We have to do a better  job executing," Closs added.
  Tri-Valley was scheduled to play host to Florida last night weather permitting.
   Two college games followed high school play Saturday with the Lady Generals defeating Manhattan Community College 103-45 and SCCC men's team losing to Manhattan 93-91.


 SOME OF THE WEEKEND TRI-VALLEY HOOP PICTURES

 

                                                        

                                                              

                                                          

                                                       

 

                                                              

 

                                                                

 

Tri-Valley's Zach Nilsen (11) scores three of his 18 total points as Roscoe's Nick Hill (23) attempts a block in the Bears 90-42 win in the Saturday BCANY vs. Cancer Classic at SUNY Sullivan.

                                    

Tri-Valley's Shane Rennison (14) attempts a two-pointer in the Bears 90-42 win in Saturday's BCANY vs. Cancer Classic at SUNY Sullivan.

                                         

Tri-Valley's Sandra Alemany goes up for a two-pointer past three Sullivan West players in the Bears 31-12 win Saturday at the BCANY vs. Cancer Classic at SUNY Sullivan.

                                      

Tri-Valley's Ashley Johnson (12) shoots a two-pointer as Sullivan West's Chyenne Gabel (24) attempts a block in the Bears 31-12 win Saturday at the BCANY vs. Cancer Classic at SUNY Sullivan.