Somers Can’t Overcome Early Mistakes in Loss to Byram Hills

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On Tuesday January 21, Somers welcomed Byram Hills, and the Tuskers definitely had a lot to contend with. Height, shooting and speedy guard play were all on the docket but the undoing began early and came largely of the home team’s own hands.

After Chris Spano opened the scoring with a baseline drive, the Bobcats didn’t blink and went on a 20-2 run. A series of turnovers and other miscues made for too much early separation, and there was no making up the ground in the 69-50 loss.

A day that began with Chris Amenedo and Ben Wolf. A triple and an elbow jumper secured the Bobcat lead for good, which then had Somers starting to lend a hand.

Nico Quinones got caught in the corner and his pass back was perfectly read by Amenedo. Put on the gallop, the guard bounced passed ahead to Max Miller, and he scored the layup.

7-2, Byram did their own dirty work too. Ben O’Brien went up with a corner jumper, but big Zach Efobi’s timing was all ball, and his team was on the break again. This time Amenedo got behind and took the long pass ahead for a 9-2 lead.

In at 4:54, the Bobcats were about to show they knew a little about the circus too. Timeout first and then another turnover, Amenedo and Brody Ceisler were the ring masters. As Ceisler held the ball in front of the Somers bench, Amenedo cut around the defense on the other side and greeted the alley-oop for another deuce.

A tip of the hat well earned, Somers got real generous in return. Two trips up the court, the Tuskers threw it away twice and uncontested layups followed for Miller and Amenedo.

Timeout again, Somers failed to get the results they wanted. O’Brien missed from downtown, and back the other way, Ceisler didn’t.

18 straight, Somers finally put the stop on. Phil Santore made a determined spin through the paint for a layup, but Somers was still in a giving mood. Amenedo beat the Somers defense on a long pass for two more and then Kevin Kendall got free on the inbound under his own basket for a 22-4 lead.

Too easy, Santore still refused to oblige. He lined up three feet behind the arc and closed the quarter at 22-7.

That had Spano opening the second the same as the first. He drove baseline and got under for a reverse layup.

Unfortunately, Byram Hills followed the same script too. Wolf hit twice from downtown, and Amenedo converted a steal into more solo work on the break.

30-10, Somers refused to quit and proceeded to give the Bobcats some of their own medicine. First, Kareef Martin’s drive to the baseline drew a double, and his kick across had Arman Rao draining the three.

Up in arms, Somers forced turnovers the next two times down and then O’Brien’s defensive rebound put Rao in position to hit the daily double. In front of the Byram bench, he let fly and cut the lead to 14.

4:48 left in the half, the crowd definitely got a rise, but Byram didn’t take long to put the Tusker faithful back in their seats. Efobi’s defensive rebound put Miller on the break for one at the line, and another Somers turnover turned into three more from Kendall

No quit, Spano exemplified grit. With Martin’s shot off the mark, the Somers center out battled two Bobcat bigs and then stuck it right back at them with the follow.

And one, the 34-19 game was still in reach, and Quinones' steal had the Tuskers believing when Santore launched from three.

In and out, Byram had little empathy and racked up another steal and fast break basket.

Somers doubled down anyway. With 37 seconds left in the half, Byram elected to hold for one but the Tuskers had other ideas.

A cross court pass had Santore step in with the steal for a layup, and maybe a bit out of step on the way back, the Bobcats saw Leo Keimig impose a little Deja Vu. He made the poke, got the ball to Santore, and the layup closed the half at 36-23.

Onto the third, Santore stayed hot. Two possessions and two straight threes, but Byam's first two tries were too easy. Unguarded inbounds to Ceisler and Amenedo, only a two point dent was put into the lead. Not enough, Byram scored the next eight and piled on from there to victory.