Lumberjacks Show Composure

Competition doesn’t build character, it reveals it.

That was theme for the Lumberjacks on Tuesday night as they went to Kenmore West to take on the Blue Devils in an important Boys Basketball NFL matchup.

North Tonawanda Head Coach Ryan Mountain couldn’t have picked a better theme for the night as the Blue Devils gave the Lumberjacks all they could handle in a back and forth affair. In the end, North Tonawanda revealed their character and defeated Kenmore West 67-61.

The Lumberjacks were down 59-52 with three and half minutes left when Mountain called a timeout.

“(Mountain) told us ‘tough teams win on the road, we’ve been in positions like this before so grind it through,'” senior captain Alex Quinn said.

After the timeout, the Lumberjacks did just that. North Tonawanda went on a 13-0 run for the next three minutes.

Fellow captain Trevor Book got the run going when he hit two free throws and then made a layup to bring his team within a possession.

Then Quinn came up with a steal and hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to tie the game.

“When I got the steal, I was trying to be careful with the ball. I looked for a player up the court.,” Quinn said. “I had a shot when I first got it, but I figured we would have a better shot with another teammate. But I got it back so I shot it.”

“It was a team goal to get Alex shots tonight. He always does well in this gym,” Mountain said. “He’s a tremendous shooter.”

Quinn had nine points and two steals in the game.

Book got a layup on the next possession and the Lumberjacks never looked back. It was the last of five lead changes in the game.

Book lead the Lumberjacks with 24 points.

“Kenmore West made everything hard for us. But we answered that toughness,” Mountain said. “That last four minutes showed the character of our team.”

“It was a team win, we all fought through,” Quinn said. “Even when we were down, we all looked for each other.”

After giving up two points right off the opening tip, the Lumberjacks took control of the early stages of the game. Brandon Casterline, Quinn and Book had back-to-back-to-back three pointers to help North Tonawanda end the first quarter with an 18-11 lead.

The second quarter got off to a quick start as the Lumberjacks hit another three-pointer, this time by junior Sean Ferry. But the momentum turned as with four and a half minutes left, the Blue Devils forced a shot clock violation by North Tonawanda.

That’s when Tal James got on a roll. James, a captain and three-year varsity senior, hit a three-pointer to bring his team within a possession. Tyler Aquilina then converted a three-point play to tie the game at 22. James hit a three pointer to give the Blue Devils the lead. Later, James made a big play when he blocked a Book layup, then on the ensuing possession stole the ball and found a teammate to give West a five point lead.

The momentum came to an end when West made a mental error as they grabbed the ball and tried to go up the court after the first of two free throws.

“It was a turning point,” Kenmore West Head Coach Mike Meetze said. “I told the kids at halftime that we haven’t had a technical all year, now we have two.”

After made free throws by both sides at the end of the half, the game was tied at 34.

The two teams went back for the third quarter. In the fourth, sophomore Dylan James came into the game and broke the game open for Ken West.

Dylan James opened the fourth with back-to-back layups and hit one of two free throws to help give the Blue Devils a 57-52 lead. But it wasn’t enough for his team.

“We lost our composure,” Meetze said. “You have to have composure when you make a run at sectionals. Hopefully we learn from it.”

Aquilina had 20 points and fellow captain Kyle Laplante had 17 points in the losing effort.

For North Tonawanda, Tuesday night was big win over a tough league opponent which helps keeps the Lumberjacks atop the NFL. NT has now won four of the last five games against Ken West, after Mountain started his tenure going 1-5 against the Blue Devils.

North Tonawanda will head to Niagara Falls for a 6:30pm tipoff against the Wolverines in another big NFL battle. Kenmore West will also be in NFL league play on Friday at 6:30pm as they head to Lockport.