Basketball Teams Open with Losses

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Boys Video Clips v Brewster

Slideshow v Fox Lane

Girls vs Pelham

On Monday December 16, John Jay played host to Pelham at the high school, and the game began on the back and forth. But height, long range shooting and the ability to get to the rim created separation and not in the way John Jay hoped for.

A put back by Taylor Green, a strong post up by Valendena Arakas and then a spin move through the paint by the freshman made it an 11-6 first quarter advantage and led to an easy 54-32 victory for the Pelicans.

Nonetheless, the game started with a Colleen Sheehy triple from the corner but was one upped by the Wolves. Amanda Riolo hit Jaime Bartley-Cohen inside for a layup, and after pulling down the rebound on the other end, Bartley-Cohen got the ball ahead for a Jane Brennan fast break layup.

But big was about to turn the tide. Arakas pulled down the miss this time and muscled the put back, which would set up John Jay’s last lead. Jordan Kauftheil hit Bartley-Cohen above the arc, and she sidestepped the defense to the rack for a 6-5 game.

Six straight giving Pelham the five point second quarter lead didn’t immediately spell the end, though. Charlotte Omin dropped a three, and the 12-9 score still had John Jay on track.

Unfortunately, Emma Namba was driving the train that officially began the derailment. Two hard traverses through the paint yielded six points, and while Omin rained another triple, 16 more in a row followed.

The game broken open by a score of 34-13, the second half went in search of positives for the Wolves. The first was Bartley-Cohen. She put in a fast break basket on the pass ahead by Natalie Ellrodt and pulled down four third quarter rebounds.

Onto the fourth, Jane Brennan went coast to coast for a fast break layup, and Omin made close in look easy too. On the baseline, the sophomore pulled up short and got a rise out of the John Jay crowd with her swish.

The same goes for Abby Armour’s similar number on the baseline. One made foul shot resulting, the senior was then true with a three, and to close the day, the youngest player on the roster made a case for the future. Gianna Pelosi scored a layup on the fast break and hit from downtown to send everyone home with a smile.

Crowd Shots

On Tuesday December 3, John Jay took the court at home and invited Brewster in to open the season. A 26-16 third quarter lead for Brewster had John Jay playing very obliging hosts. But the Wolves refused to be pushovers, and in for the duration, the teams exchanged mini runs that eventually settled the day.

The last one going to Brewster, the Bears scored the final five and left with a 40-38 victory.

The game also began the same way. Billy Pappas pressured John Jay into a turnover that freed William Dignan for a triple and more defense put Joell Drue ahead of the field for a fast break layup.

5-0, John Jay took their turn, and triangulation was the name of the game. First, Will Rickel got the rebound, weaved through the transition defense and fed Will Civetta. On the run, the guard bounce passed to Colin Bishop and the center completed the textbook fast break. Two on the board, good passing kept the Wolves on the move.

Sam Rickel passed into Marc Fein in the paint, and adding Bishop on the baseline, the artwork was a thing of beauty. Fein spotted his big man on the cut, and with traffic still to beat, Bishop went underneath for the reverse layup.

Fein wasn’t done facilitating either. This time on defense, he got a block on Luke Cunningham, and back the other way on the break, Bishop ended up on the line. Going one for two, Bishop was back at it after Sam Rickel and Mathias Baez turned the full court press into an errant pass ahead. Bishop got their first and converted the layup with two Bears on his heels.

Closing the first quarter scoring at 7-6, John Jay again worked the triumvirate to open the second. This time William Green put a bounce pass into Fein, and drawing a crowd, the junior’s bouncer into Bishop let the center go head-on off the glass.

No separation forthcoming, the teams went back and forth. Dignan drilled a three to tie the score, Fein laid in Alexander Palacio’s inbound, and after Drue hit a three and Pappas swung through the paint for a layup. Brendan Corelli’s three tied the game at 14

Timeout called, Brewster returned, and their guards put the ball on the floor to close the half. Pappas started high and got all the way to the rim, and Dignan dropped a jumper when Corelli’s attempt at a steal fell short.

18-14 at the half, a turnaround jumper by Bishop seemed to stop another short run until Brewster started to let fly. Dignan spotted up on Drue’s pass back, and then the shooter returned the favor by driving baseline and freeing up Drue.

Next, the duo got Pappas involved. Drue tore down the defensive rebound, quickly hit Dignan ahead, and he found Pappas behind the defense for the fast break layup.

A ten point game now, John Jay needed an answer, and Bishop was mostly it. Undeterred by the double team on the baseline, Bishop got the defense up with a fake and hit the short jumper. The string broken, Bishop followed Will Rickel’s coast to coast drive and dropped one from the line at 3:21.

Down five, Corelli contributed when he saw a lane to the rack and so did Sam Rickel’s pressure defense in the backcourt. An errant pass forced, Bishop had the pick and left the continent with a euro step layup to close the quarter at 26-23.

Onto the fourth, Dignan seemed to put out the fire with another triple, but John Jay was still simmering. Will Civetta answered right back with a three, and he wasn’t fazed by Simon Lane’s jumper on the way back. The Wolf stood open two feet behind the arc, and the perfect trajectory closed the Wolves in at 31-29.

6:17 to go, Civetta clapped in celebration, and the party wasn’t quite over. Will Rickel stole the inbound, and after the time out, Rickel put the ball in the paint for another Bishop turnaround jumper.

All tied, now Brewster needed answers, and Dignan had the cheatsheet. He received the inbound in the backcourt, went behind his back, and getting to the baseline, he hit a fall away jumper to regain the lead.

So the mastery left Bishop to match the Bear straight up. He received the ball inside from Fein and went up hard twice before landing on the line.

Two for two, the score was tied at 33, and Fein’s deflection on the inbound gave the ball back to the home team. Civetta missed his chance to take the lead on a three, but the tone was set.

On Brewster’s way back up court, Will Rickel picked off Dignan’s long pass, and Bishop got the chance to facilitate. He rolled left in the paint, fed to Fein, and he swished the short jumper.

35-33 with 4:23 remaining, there was still a long way to go, and this time Pappas provided the reminder. He drove to the basket on the left and sank two from the line at 3:37.

Tied up, a long miss by Dignan let the Wolves play three card monty again. After Bishop grabbed the rebound, Fein received a bounce pass from Civetta and dished to a cutting Bishop on the baseline. All alone, he went off the glass and completed the three point play at 2:18.

That was all for John Jay, though. Dignan hit a runner at 1:36, and after Civetta’s layup rolled off the rim, Brewster made the most of a miss that went off John Jay. Pappas rolled off the pick, and Dignan’s bounce pass put the guard in position to muscle up a layup.

47 seconds to go, Bishop missed a turnaround jumper, and following Drue’s one for two at the line, Fein missed an open three to seal Brewster’s victory.

Girls Fall Short versus Tappan Zee

On Monday December 2, the winter sports season opened and the girls basketball team got the call. Tappan Zee crossing the bridge, the Wolves saw the Dutchmen come out flying, and in the end, the visitors definitely stuck the ending.

After a 9-6 start, Tappan Zee proceeded to go on a 24-1 run and went home with an easy 54-31 victory.

The game began with miscues and missed shots, but Tappan Zee was the first to pick it up. Kristen Phelan nailed a three and then her steal led Adelyn Zayac on the break.

A 5-0 lead on the layup, John Jay did keep up momentarily. Sela Halaifonua went cross court to Jane Brennan for the Wolves’ first points, and after Zayac muscled a putback, Halaifonua went coast to coast for a 7-4 game.

Unfazed, Phelan answered with another steal. She went the distance for two more, and Jane Brennan only briefly paused the onslaught with her swing through the paint that netted a 9-6 game.

The proximity ending for good, Phelan began by going the distance. Twice she crashed through the paint for a double deuce and let fly above the arc for a 16-6 lead.

Unfortunately, Phelan was far from done. Her offensive rebound set up Kate Mulvihill for a layup and she then added a pair of triples to extend the lead to 19.

Another drive meant two more and the run finally ended when Jordan Kauftheil got a putback to close the half at 33-9.

The lead would grow to 43-10 in the third, but the Wolves still showed some flashes. Jaime Bartley-Cohen spotted Brennan on the cut for an easy layup, Kauftheil drove hard for two and Kauftheil and Charlotte Omin fought for a pair of rebounds that set Brennan up for a jumper.

Still 29 points away, the bench contributed some good minutes in the fourth also. Omin nailed a three at the outset, Abby Armour dropped a beautiful floater on the baseline and then pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds that set Omin up for another triple.

Good signs for sure, the girls have something to build off and have the chance again on Thursday versus Nyack.