North pulls out ugly home win over OP
Boys basketball
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's Jerome Fields powers through Jamestown's Jordan White, left and Ben Cecchini, to help the Spartans to a 66-57 home victory last Tuesday. North defeated Orchard Park, 65-47, at home last Friday, to improve to 13-1 overall and 6-1 in ECIC Division I.

Good teams know how to pull out ugly wins and that's what the Williamsville North boys basketball team was able to accomplish against Orchard Park last Friday at home.

The Spartans overcame OP's aggressive in-your-face style of defense, which switched between man-to-man and a 2-3 zone, to earn a 65-47 victory.

The 11-point win was not indicative of the type of game that was played. North led, 18-13, after the first quarter, 32-28, at halftime, and 44-36 after three quarters but every time the Spartans tried to pull ahead, OP had an answer. OP briefly had the lead twice in the second quarter, 24-23, and, 26-25, and tied the game at 32-32 three minutes into the third quarter.

It wasn't until a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter that North opened its first double-digit lead, 54-43.

"None of our games are easy but over the course of 32 minutes, I think we're a better team than most," said North coach Chuck Swierski. "(Against OP), I think we were more athletic in the end."

"Their defense had been frustrating because you couldn't get into a rhythm but as soon as we got a stop on defense we were just going to run and go," added North senior point guard John Piaggione.

Piaggione played huge late in the game, scoring eight of his nine points in the final stanza, including three layups, to help North outscore OP, 21-13, in the fourth. On his final layup, he switched hands (right to left) in mid air.

"I felt like we needed a jolt to get us going in the fourth," said Piaggione, who also had four rebounds and two assists.

"That's the second time this year when he took over at the end of a game," added Swierski. "He took it upon himself to step up and I'm proud of him."

Piaggione was one of several key players for North to earn what he called a "team win."

Junior Alex Barth had 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Senior Josh Barrett tossed in a career-high 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals and held OP's Kyle Perla to nine points. Barth and Barrett combined for 15 of North's 18 points in the first quarter.

Steve Barth and Jim Gaines each chipped in six points. Colin Potter hit a three at the regulation buzzer. Mark Balsom and Jack Jagodzinski each chipped in two points.

Tom Comfort had 12 points to lead OP.

The game was a fundraiser for former OP standout Brian Dux, who was involved in a serious one-car accident in early December. Approximately $300 was raised to help the Dux family pay for medical costs.

North opened the week with another league win, defeating Jamestown last Tuesday, 66-57. Going into the game, both teams had only one league loss.

The Spartans led most of the game, doubling up the Quakers, 16-8, after the first quarter, and taking a 30-21 halftime advantage and 46-31 lead after the third quarter.

Jamestown cut its deficit to five in the fourth but North hit 3 of 4 free throws (Piaggione, 1 of 2; Steve Barth, 2 of 2) and Alex Barth hit a three to seal the win.

North used its size from a group of players to pick up the victory. Swierski lauded the work of backup centers Mike Herberger and Jerome Fields, who combined for nine points and 11 rebounds, in place of regular starter Alex Ullrich, who got poked in the eye 3.5 minutes into the game. Ullrich did not return.

Swierski said Fields converted a big three-point play in the third quarter which shot the Spartan lead up to 10. Fields and Herberger also played nice defense on Ben Cecchini, Jamestown's leading scorer, to 15 points.

"To get that kind of production out of the center spot with reserves was a real key part of the game," said Swierski.

Jim Gaines came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points, including three threes.

Alex Barth led North with 17 points. Eight of his 17, including two threes, came in the first quarter.

Steve Barth posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Barrett did not score but held Jamestown's Carlos Rivera to five points, a three that Barrett was not covering him on, and two free throws.

North (13-1, 6-1) battles Frontier (12-3, 8-0) for first place in ECIC I at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Frontier. North's only loss of the season came against Frontier, 72-58, at home on Dec. 14.

"We have to prove to ourselves that we can beat them," said North assistant coach Bill Gorman. "We have to get it into a running game. If we get into a half court game, it's going to be tough for us."