Somers Prayers Not Answered in Heartbreaking Loss to Lakeland

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At the high school on Thursday January 16, Somers fell behind 29-17 in the second quarter and Lakeland was poised to run away. But the Tuskers fought back and took a 57-55 lead with five seconds remaining. Even better, a one handed heave by Nick Ferrante was clearly going to brick the backboard, and celebration was forthcoming. The only thing left was to wait for the geometry.

Unfortunately, the angle turned out to be perfect, and the three pointer sent Somers to a crushing defeat at the buzzer.

On the other hand, the shooting start for both teams was much more straightforward. Mike Lucia opened with a triple, and after Nico Quinones drove for a deuce, the Somers guard’s penetration opened up Leo Keimig for three. Not done from downtown, Quinones and Lucia matched up from far away, and the game stood tied at eight.

So Somers came inside. Above the arc, Ben O’Brien was mismatched on Lucia, and the center made like a guard. He drove, spun and hooked one in off the glass.

10-8, Somers was soon on the run. Chris Spano pulled down the defensive board, and with Phil Santore trailing the break, the guard faked Anthony Attanasio for an open three.

Timeout, the Lakeland reset worked well, and Attanasio quickly made up for his previous miscue. First his penetration freed Lucia up in the corner, and then he fed Oban Radar in the paint for a layup.

Now on the board, the Lakeland center showed he could stay away too. He trailed the play up court, and he perfectly stepped in another Attanasio dish at 3:12

Timeout for Somers, the respite had both teams misfiring until Timmy Monahan got into the passing lanes. He was stopped on a baseline drive, but the forward’s patience eventually found Spano for a layup.

The lead back for Somers, it didn’t last. With the help of turnovers, the Hornets went on a 13-0 run, and Radar provided ignition. He hit another three to end the first, dropped a follow to open the second, and after picking off a Quinones pass, he ran coast to coast for a dunk.

Monahan did counter by drawing another of his patented charges, but Lakeland made Somers pay for two more turnovers. First Ferrante hit from downtown, and then Sergio Hormazabal joined his teammate in the city to put Lakeland up 12.

Timeout again, Somers responded by turning the ball over with a Kareef Martin travel. No problem, the backup guard quickly made amends. He stole a cross court pass for a fast break, and the layup let Monahan take the cue.

The senior managed a steal right in front of the bleachers at 4:24, and back the other way, Martin was quick on the stick again. He spotted O’Brien underneath, and the open layup had Somers within eight.

Martin wasn’t done either. After O’Brien sank two from the line, the speedy guard launched from three and cut the lead to three.

3:02 remaining, Lucia answered right back, but so did Santore. His three made it 32-29, and Monahan kept it there by drawing another charge with 2:05 left in the half.

A perfectly run fast break between Radar, Attanasio and Aadi Sandhu paused Somers, but the Tuskers finished strong inside. Monahan muscled a follow, and with the clock about to expire, Spano sank one from the line on his attempted put back.

A two point game, Somers pulled even and got a little separation on the play of Keimig and O’Brien. The guard made two entry passes into his center for layups, and next, O’Brien did it himself when left open for a jumper.

In at 6:00, Keimig stayed on alert. He jumped on a loose ball and went the distance for a 41-37 lead.

Somers maintained the four score and good passing again showed the way. The Tuskers diligently worked the ball around the perimeter for a Spano layup, and coming off a pick, Keimig scored the layup on O’Brien’s look.

45-41, Spano did it at both ends to maintain the margin. After Radar snuck behind the defense on the baseline, Spano recovered with the block, and got ahead on the break for a 47-43 score.

But now it was Radar’s turn. He hit a three to close the third, and put down a follow to give his team a 49-47 lead at 7:30.

So Santore got himself to the line. Two made free throws tied the game, and Monahan kept the status quo by stepping in again. This time Radar received the stonewall.

Even so, Lakeland didn’t crumble. Two trips to the line and an amazing underhand layup through traffic by Lucia made for a 53-49 lead.

Somers wasn’t done, though. O’Brien hit a corner three, and a pull up with 3:00 minutes remaining.

Still down one, Somers got a gift by their own bench. Santore was fouled on the shot and sank three free throws for a 57-55 lead.

At 2:23, there the score stayed until the final possession. Lakeland was forced to foul with 29 seconds remaining and putting Santore on the liner was not optimal.

Unfortunately, the senior missed both, but Radar appeared to give right back. A dribble out of bounds on the pressure, possession remained for the Hornets.

4.9 seconds left, the inbound came back to a closely defended Ferrante, and the only thing open was a one handed prayer. Unkindly, the answer came from above, and Somers could only ponder the judgment in defeat.