Amherst boys struggle at Grover Cleveland
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Amherst Central's Geoff Gallson drives underneath several Iroquois defenders for a bucket in the Tigers' 64-57 Section VI Class A-1 prequarterfinal win last Wednesday at Amherst. The Tigers' season ended in the quarterfinals last Friday at Grover Cleveland, losing 84-49.

For one quarter last Friday, the Amherst Central boys basketball team was hanging with the top team in Western New York.

But too many missed shots and turnovers was the Tigers' downfall in an 84-49 Section VI Class A-1 quarterfinal loss at top-seeded Grover Cleveland (20-1).

The Tigers (9-12) played a good first quarter, trailing the Presidents, 20-16, but Grover Cleveland, the favorite to win a section title, outscored Amherst, 23-6, in the second quarter.

Presidents guard Tyshawn Edwards scored 12 of his 26 points in the second quarter. He had 20 in the first half.

"We had a bunch of turnovers in the second quarter but they were a lot bigger than us and posed a lot of match-up problems," said Amherst coach Mike Chatelle. "think their athleticism and size took over."

Chatelle said the halftime score could have been a lot closer as his team missed six layups.

Amherst finished with 22 turnovers in the game.

Grover Cleveland led, 69-37, after the third quarter.

Nico McLean and Kurt Ebsary each scored 10 points to lead Amherst. Mike Yanity (nine points), Viron Hale (six points, 14 rebounds), James Gould (five points), Geoff Gallson (four points), Bert Smith (three points) and Stephone Brown (two points) also scored for the Tigers.

Anthony Greene added 15 for Grover Cleveland, who plays 12th-seed Hutch-Tech in the A-1 semifinals at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Buffalo State Sports Arena.

To face Grover Cleveland, the eighth-seeded Tigers downed ninth-seeded Iroquois, 64-57, in a prequarterfinal game last Wednesday at Amherst.

The Tigers looked invincible early, scoring the first 10 points of the game, and leading 17-3 with a minute left in the first quarter. A three-pointer and jumper from Iroquois sophomore Calvin Sluberski cut the Chiefs' deficit to 17-7 by the end of the quarter.

Iroquois cut the score to 30-25 at halftime and to two twice, 30-28, and, 32-30, early in the third quarter but could never take the lead.

"Whenever they got close, we put some distance between us and them," said Chatelle. "We really needed that 14-point lead (from the first quarter)."

Hale was a big key in helping Amherst hold on. Midway through the third quarter, he stole a pass and fed McLean for a reverse layup and stole another pass and it resulted in a basket by Gallson. Amherst went ahead, 49-34, as a result of his effort. Hale finished with seven points, 17 rebounds and three steals.

"He definitely changed the game by rebounding, deflecting passes and getting us out in transition," said Chatelle of Hale.

Amherst made 11 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

McLean paced Amherst with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Ford (14 points) and Yanity (12 points) also scored in double figures. Gallson (six points), Ebsary (five points) and Brown (four points) also scored for the Tigers.

Sluberski led Iroquois with 19 points. Six-foot-five Josh Walczyk and six-foot-four Paul Evans each scored 11.

The loss for Iroquois ended the 34-year coaching career for Archie O'Bryan. O'Bryan has been Iroquois' coach for the last 24 years.

Amherst graduates five seniors. They are Hale, Ebsary, Yanity, Gallson and Sam Schepart. All five started at some point this season.

Chatelle said he liked his team's effort and defense all season but their inability to score on offense was the difference between whether or not they had success.