Story and video by JOHN ANDERSON, photos by ELLA GREEN
The historic season for Andover-Whitesville’s boys’ basketball team ended Friday night at Buffalo State with a 63-49 loss to Section VI champion Clymer.
Both teams were looking for their first New York State Final Four appearance, and it was the size and strength of Clymer that won out. Andover-Whitesville’s pressure defense finally got Clymer to crack in the fourth quarter. Clymer was poised to take a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter when A-W went on a run and closed the gap to 56-49 with 1:33 left.
But a few shots didn’t fall and Clymer converted baskets and free throws to win.
“It was a tough loss, we didn’t play the way we wanted to but nothing diminishes what we accomplished this year,” said Andover-Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce. “I am so proud of all the coaches and players, they put their names on the wall.”
Joyce was impressed with Clymer and pleased with the way his team did not panic when Clymer took a 17-point lead in the fourth.
“Clymer is a good, physical team. They executed better than we did and deserved the win. We came back thanks to ball movement. We got ball movement going, not just one pass and shoot, we got back to our offense, running screens, cuts, finding the open man,” Joyce said. “Once we did that, we got easy looks and the boys started hitting … but no heads handing low here, great season.”
Joyce then turned his attention to the graduating seniors, who went 21-3 this season with a Section V championship to reach states.
“All the credit to our seniors, to Colt (Calladine), Trey (Kent), James (Miller-Young) and Skyler (Orpet). What a group. Better people off the court than on the court,” Joyce said. “It’s a lot to lose and we can’t replace them.”
During the game, Miller-Young was a one-man show inside with five blocks, twisting and turning, going against two to three tall, athletic athletes inside. Meanwhile, they didn’t show up in the stat sheets, but Kent (steal) and Calladine (two rebounds, two assists, steal) played tough defense.
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Gavin Frungillo had three steals in five trips down the court. Frungillo came off the bench in the sectional championship game and provided much needed offense. His role changed on Friday and he got his team back in the game thanks to unselfish play (three assists) and along with Jake Mattison, they spent a lot of time diving for loose balls and forcing turnovers.
Then there was junior Vincent Joyce. In a game of height, he stood tallest when he skied over everyone for offensive rebounds. He had a season-high 20 rebounds and it looked like more, to go with 23 points, three blocks, two steals and two assists.
Junior Brody Vance’s box-and-one extended the entire court. Even during free throws, a Clymer defender followed him 80 feet from the basket. Yet Vance scored 20 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to show there is no quit in this team. He also had six rebounds and two steals.
“We are in a good spot. We pretty much have our ‘stat’ guys coming back next year,” said Coach Joyce. “Vinnie and Brody will be back, some young guys are coming back who got some valuable minutes, I’m really confident. There is no reason we can’t do the same or even better next year.”
Coach Joyce then reflected on the week that was.
“This week was something I never experienced … the community, and not just the Andover and Whitesville community, but everybody,” he said. “Wellsville, Cuba, Bolivar … Jasper .. everybody. It was beyond amazing the way the whole county and everyone supported us, it’s something I’ll never forget and it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it … it was an amazing experience.”
Andover-Whitesville finished the season ranked #3 in New York State. Clymer, at 17-6 and ranked eighth, will play in Binghamton next weekend.
CLYMER 63
ANDOVER-WHITESVILLE 49
Andover/Whitesville 14 8 9 18 — 49
Clymer 17 10 19 17 — 63
A-W: Miller-Young 6, Perkins 0, Kent 0, Mattison 0, Joyce 23, Vance 20, Frungillo 0, Calladine 0, Orpet 0 0 0.
CLYMER: White 25, Gomez 0, Beckerink 5, K. Wassink 0, Einink 11, Johnson 0, Mitchell 12, R. Wassink 10, Redlecki 0, Lao 0. 3-point goals–Vance 3, White 3, Einink 2.
Swipe to see the Ella Green slideshow: (she is @ella.green_photos on Instagram)
