Somers Heads into Big Week with two Blowouts

After going to Brewster on Wednesday January 3 and putting on a 63-22 hurt on the Bears, the Tuskers hosted Saunders on Saturday morning and could have been thrown by the early morning rise. But Somers came out with their trunks swinging and didn’t miss a beat.

The Tuskers scored the first ten points and went onto defeat the Blue Devils by a score of 75-50.

A three by Nate Cohen got Somers on the board and then the Tuskers worked the triangle. Brady Leitner found Mac Sullivan in the middle, and the attention drawn, the center hit Jacob Hauser for the layup.

Leading 5-0, Hauser and Cohen worked both ends next. Each getting steals, the dirty work put Cohen on the line for one and also yielded a coast to coast layup for the guard.

Up to match his backcourt mate, Leitner shifted continents. Sullivan ripped the defensive board, spotted Leitner streaking, and the guard euro-stepped a layup for ten straight.

Five minutes in, Saunders finally woke up in response. Jordan Russ stepped back and dropped a triple.

No problem, Somers played small ball. Leitner shoveled into Hauser, and he went glass for a 12-3 lead.

A conventional three point play for Justin Andrade kept pace but not for long. Leitner leapt high for the steal, and after missing the layup, Cohen finished.

Getting the tip in, the guard got things started again to regain a ten point lead. Cohen ran down the defensive rebound in the corner, connected with Leitner across half court, and he caught Andrew Violante in stride with 2:35 left in the first.

In counter, Russ drove into the paint. The ball popping up and in, Somers got the next bounce. Phil Santore picked up a loose ball, hit Leitner, and his fast break layup made it 19-8.

Not ready to clock out, Andrade employed the larceny this time. He got the steal, drove the length and converted another conventional three point play.

Darius Mitchell added two more on a jumper, and a six point deficit didn’t look so bad for the visitors. But Somers made sure their opponents didn’t get the wrong idea going into halftime. Leitner received in the corner, and his triple sent the Tuskers into the locker room with a 22-13 lead.

Not interrupted by the down time, Leitner picked up where he left off. He took a kick out from Chris Spano, and lofting from downtown, Somers led 25-13.

6:20 left in the third, the teams kept the game in the 12 point range. For Somers, Violante got two from the line on his steal and fast break, and Santore popped a jumper and Russ got inside twice to match the Tusker output.

Unfortunately for Saunders, there was no more keeping up, and it was mostly Cohen who served the home cooking. He hit two threes, fed Violante on the break, made a great pass over the top into Sullivan and went coast to coast for a 42-21 halftime lead.

The writing on the wall, Cohen bolded the print in the third. He hit two more threes, and a 54-26 lead essentially completed the tale.

Now 12-5 on the season, the road ahead is still pretty bumpy, according to James Loughran. “We are entering one of the biggest and toughest weeks of the season,” the coach assured.

Byram Hills and Yorktown, a league championship is on the docket with a 4-1 record. Even so, Loughran believes the boys are ahead of the game no matter what. “I give these guys a lot of credit because at the beginning of the year everyone counted them out,” he concluded. “Losing three great starters from last year, we’ve had our ups and downs. But now they are finding themselves, and hopefully, we can keep this going.”