WNY Boys Hoops: Wolverines Cool Off Lumberjacks’ Late Surge as NFL Title Race Heats Up

By Joe Kraus

Revenge is sweet. After their five-point loss on the road in early December at the Lumberyard, the Niagara Falls Wolverines were determined to be on the victorious side the next time they faced the North Tonawanda Lumberjacks. Their goal was completed as the Wolverines held off a furious second half effort from their guests, 52-50, as the race for the Niagara Frontier League title is in the final stretch. In preparation for this game, Niagara Falls head coach Sal Constantino and his team made some adjustments against North Tonawanda’s notorious 2-3 zone. “We did two things. Especially in the first half, we made a concerted effort to get the ball out and run, run, run at all costs via makes or misses,” said Constantino after the victory. “And the second thing was we made some shots. The first time (against them), we were 10 for 52 (shooting). I knew we’d be better than that.”

And the Wolverines did do that. Thanks to contributions from the senior duo of Jhamir Isom (team-high 13 points) and Charles Lamar (7 points) most notably, the team from the Cataract City went on a 19-6 run in the second quarter to take a 34-19 lead at halftime. But after a three-pointer from junior Tazaun Rose (10 points) to start the third quarter, the Wolverines went in a scoring drought for nearly five minutes as the Lumberjacks, who missed a handful of layups in the first half, finally clicked. Layups from guards Vinny Tripi and Trevor Book (game-high 18 points) along with a three-pointer from Zack Woodard (13 points) sparked a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 37-31 with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter. Both teams exchanged connections from in the paint and beyond the arc to end the quarter, with Niagara Falls holding onto a 45-37 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged both baskets and turnovers. At the end of the game, the teams combined for nearly 30 turnovers, most of them coming from the Wolverines. “Sometimes it’s our youth in our guys that bring up the ball,” he said. “If a team makes a little run at us- we wanted to run today, on a make, on a miss- if they score two baskets in a row or get a 6-2 run, we stop and we’re upset. We got to get past that. We know that our game is up-tempo and we just gotta be a little bit better at taking care of the ball.” The teams went down to the wire in the final three-and-a-half minutes when Book intercepted Lamar’s pass, went in for the basket and converted on the three-point play to trim the deficit to 51-47. After a technical foul called against NT’s Patrick Milbrand, the Wolverines had a five-point lead with 2:37 left.

It seemed that NT was going to complete the rally for the second time this week (15-2 run in final 3:30 against Kenmore West, 67-61 final) when Woodard used his quarterback vision to find Book for a cross-court pass to trim the deficit to 52-49 with 1:30 left. After a free-throw from Tripi (6 points overall), Rose had an opportunity to seal the game but did not convert the 1-and-1 bonus. The Lumberjacks had time for one more shot but Tripi, one of the best guards in the division, did not convert the three-point attempt. But as NT head coach Ryan Mountain explained, the missed opportunities inside the paint in the first half came back to haunt them. “Once again, this is a loss where we shot a low percentage and, when you play against these good, tough teams, you’ve got to hit (shots.) We missed 7 or 8 inside finishes in the first half and those are going to kill you.”

In addition to the trio of Book, Tripi and Woodard, North Tonawanda (10-3, 7-2 NFL) had contributions from Milbrand, who finished with 7 points and Rory Farkas, who added 4 points. While the outcome didn’t go their way, Mountain said that this loss won’t affect his team at all moving forward. “We’re just as confident walking out of here as if that shot would have went in. Why is it different if the ball went through the hoop and went in and if it didn’t go in? We knew it was going to come down to the final possession so we’re going to bring confidence out of this.” The Lumberjacks will be back in action next Friday, Jan 27, when they host Niagara-Wheatfield at the Lumberyard before a big road trip against Lockport on Jan. 31.

With the victory, Niagara Falls (8-4, 7-2 Niagara Frontier League) are now on a four-game winning streak and could make a final push to win another league title and make a deep playoff run similar to years past. But as coach Constantino explained, it simply comes down to how much his guys truly want it. “I’ve told these guys for a while, we have to get out of our own way. We’ve lost five games this year, four of them, we’ve played without a starter. We’ve got to stop all the stuff- and it’s not school stuff- it’s making it to practice on time, we’ve got to learn how to control ourselves when a call doesn’t go our way. Once we get past ourselves and put a full team out there, I think this team can contend for a section and I hope that right now we are. Tonight, there were many times where we could have lost our cool and we didn’t.” Other notable contributors in the victory were the Brothers Sanders, Devin and Tyler, who combined for 8 points and junior Syquan Ralands added 6 points. The Wolverines will be back in action on Jan. 26 to face the Kenmore West Blue Devils, who rallied to defeat the Lockport Lions, 43-41, on the night of Jan. 20.