Quakers Defense Holds Off Red Raider Comeback

The St. Francis Red Raiders came into Orchard Park high school Monday night with a sense of urgency. However, a couple of runs by the Orchard Park Quakers and a strong defense in the fourth quarter, pushed their opponents back. Leading the Quakers to a 55-51 win.

Each team battled hard in the first quarter as they went back and forth, which led to trading leads. St. Francis junior guard Peyton Consigli did well as he ended the quarter with seven points and gave his team the 14-12 lead.

Once the second quarter started, Orchard Park went on a tear and started off with a 14-2 run to grab them a double-digit lead, hoping to extend it by the end of the first half. Up 26-16, St. Francis stormed back and came up with an 11-2 run to end the half, cutting down the lead down to one.

The second half started off with the Quakers going on an 8-0 run thanks to two big three-pointers from senior guard Chase Kline and senior forward/guard Ethan Swiatek. As the third quarter was ending, the Red Raiders came back once more and cut the lead to signal digits, making it 46-39 Orchard Park.

In the fourth quarter, St. Francis would outscore their opponents 12-9, but the defense from the Quakers would help them prevail. A big free throw from senior center Bradley Fowler late in the game would make it a two-possession ball game and secure their fourth win of the season.

The Red Raiders had a 1-3 overall record heading into the game, with their first win taking place Wednesday Dec. 18th, defeating West Seneca West 69-64. By the end of this game, they didn’t feel like a 1-3 team as three players ended in double figures in points.

Consigli, junior guard Amiel Collins and senior guard Jack Bickerstaff combined for 40 of the team’s 51 points.

Quakers head coach Chris Frankowski noticed his team was struggling a bit offensively because of how aggressive their opponent’s defense was playing. Adjustments were made as the team focused more on the defensive side of the floor and it proved well for them.

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we have, and I didn’t think offensively we were as good tonight as we usually have been, but I thought at the defensive end of the floor we were good enough to win and that helped us out,” said Frankowski.

Even though shooting the ball wasn’t as effective, points in the paint were big. Fowler came up with 15 points, 14 of them in the low post. In the second half, St. Francis applied pressure to him when he had possession. However, the defense from Fowler made up for it, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking eight shots in the contest.

“He was the difference maker for us inside, he’s a fantastic rim protector,” Frankowski said. “Just good rebounds and allowing us to get out and run, which is what we want to do. We can defend hard on people because we know we’ve got that big body inside with all that length to help defend the rim a little bit. We don’t win the game without Brad Fowler.”

In addition to coming up big, senior forward/guard Jackson Roskow shined bright with a double-double in Monday night’s victory. Putting up 14 points and grabbing 12 boards, it was impressive to see him come out strong with this being his first year playing varsity basketball.

“He is a leader on and off the floor just by doing the right things, he’s always asking the right questions, he’s a smart kid, he plays his butt off all the time, he can really shoot the rock,” said Frankowski.

With the win, Orchard Park is now 4-2 on the season. With Christmas break their next game won’t be until January 2nd; they will square off with The Park School of Buffalo.

“There’s nothing that we can do in practice to simulate their ability to play the way they do, but were gonna come with a plan. We’re gonna work really hard, the kids are ready for it. When my kids play extremely hard I would take our shot against anybody,” Frankowski said.

As for St. Francis, they fall to 1-4 on the 2019-20 campaign and will be taking on West Seneca East on Friday Dec. 27th. The Trojans are currently 2-2 overall.