North routs OP, repeats at Dick Harvey Tip-off
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's Josh Barrett beats Kenmore West's Tim Cammarata to the hoop during the Spartans' 55-50 first round win in the Dick Harvey Tip-off Tournament last Friday at Kenmore West. North beat Lafayette, 66-55, in Saturday's final. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Williamsville North boys basketball team is off to a 3-0 start but coach Chuck Swierski has mixed emotions about his team's start.

"We're 3-0 so I shouldn't complain but we can always be better," said Swierski.

The Spartans opened its season with a convincing road win at Orchard Park last Monday and repeated as Dick Harvey Tip-off Tournament champions last weekend at Kenmore West.

The Spartans couldn't have started out any better against the Quakers, which beat North in both meetings last year. The Spartans won every quarter and its point total increased as the game went on. North went up, 16-13, after the first quarter, 33-22, at halftime, and 51-35, after the third quarter.

North used a full court man-to-man pressure throughout the entire game and forced 19 steals.

"It seems like we got stronger as the game went on," said Swierski. "A lot of that came from our conditioning and endurance. We've worked hard on that in the preseason and in that particular game, it worked out for us."

No matter who Swierski put in the game, they played great. Junior Alex Barth had an all-around great game, with 15 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists. His brother, Steve, led with 16 points and seven rebounds. Senior John Piaggione chipped in 13 points. Classmate Alex Ullrich had five points and 10 rebounds.

As well as the Spartans played against OP, they had to work for the Dick Harvey Tip-off crown. North came back to beat Kenmore West, 55-50, in the first round last Friday and defeated Lafayette, 66-55, in Saturday's final.

Swierski said his team wasn't mentally ready to play Lafayette, taking a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.

"We were sloppy but they were sloppier," said Swierski.

Swierski said his team only had one good quarter, the second. North caused turnovers and scored on fastbreaks to outscore Lafayette, 22-13, to take a 36-22 lead at halftime. Alex Barth and sophomore Jim Gaines each scored six in the second quarter.

The Spartans led, 52-37, after the third quarter.

Tournament MVP Alex Barth led North in points (19) and rebounds (nine).

"If we didn't have Alex, I'm not sure we would have held on," said Swierski.

Gaines was a spark off the bench, scoring 10.

North trailed Kenmore West, 10-2, early in the first quarter. Three free throws by senior Josh Barrett, who was fouled while attempting a three at the end of the quarter, cut the Spartan deficit to 19-10.

North trailed the Blue Devils, 34-29, at halftime but turned up its weakside defense in the third quarter which generated offense and led to a 41-38 North lead.

A huge play in the third quarter came from Steve Barth. Down 36-34, he hit a three at the top of the key and stole a inbounds pass on Kenmore West's next possession and went coast to coast for a layup to put North up five.

"It was a huge 15 seconds," said Swierski. "From there on, we didn't give up the lead."

Barrett led North with 12 points and added seven rebounds. Alex Barth chipped in 11 points. Steve Barth had nine points. Gaines had nine points but helped stop the bleeding for North in the second

quarter, nailing a three.

Piaggione was named to the all-tournament team.

North beat South Park, 64-48, in the first round of the Bennett Tournament on Monday. They played Bennett in the final on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Spartans close out the week with its home opener at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against Frontier.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com