2012 tournament coming down to the wire, with six teams one loss from elimination; games continue Thursday night
By Brian Ladd, Sepcial to UnionvilleTimes.com
EAST MARLBOROUGH — The URA High School Boys Double Elimination tournament continues and we are down to just two undefeated teams remaining and 6 others fighting to stave off the dreaded elimination. Follow the tourney bracket online at www.urasports.com and look for the March Madness link! Come join us at the Patton Middle School Gym Thursday, March 1 with games at 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00. The game of the night is scheduled for 7PM where our two remaining undefeated teams battle it out to determine who reaches the Championship game undefeated and who has the unenviable task of joining the elimination bracket in an effort to claw back and defeat tonight’s semi-final winner twice for the coveted title.
Trout/DeMatteis 52, Joseph/Brislin 30 – In this elimination matchup, it proved to be battle of blonde bombers. Things were looking good for Yum as Parker Williams (23 points) had the shots falling early with 11 points in the first quarter alone. However, that’s when the Fish that Saved Unionville started to get on track. Alex Trout found the bottom of the net in each quarter, schooling Team Yum for 26 points, while Andrew “Baby” Uhrik led the support cast with 9 in the win.
Piasecki/Willis 63, McGinnis/Hissey 53 – In the revenge matchup of the tourney, the #1 seed McGinnis/Hissey squad looked to avenge the only blemish on their season record. Unfortunately for the boys in baby blue, Chris Piasecki and Eric Willis are starting to meld together like Chocolate Cream Pie. With Willis dropping 20 points and Piasecki 16 of his own, timely scoring and all around hustle by David Apruzzesse (14 points) proved to be just too much for the unusually tired looking #1 seed. Ryan Hissey had 24 points and Trace McGinnis 16 points in the loss. Piasecki /Willis (6 seed) have now steamrolled through the 7, 4 and 1 seeds to setup their matchup Thursday at 7PM vs. the 3 Seed Barnes/Burlotos squad where the winner sits in the driver’s seat as the only remaining undefeated team in this double elimination marathon.
Piper/Holcomb 54, Lee/Ford 42 – in another win or go home matchup, our friends in fluorescent green had a tough row to hoe facing the deep #4 Piper/Holcomb team. However with Andrew Cutrona looming around the arc and 6’ 5” Ryan Montgomery patrolling the paint, anything can happen. Things weren’t looking as bright as those shirts early as the Big 3, Jackson Shafer, Riley Pier and Kyle Holcomb, combined for 13 points en route to an early 15-7 lead. However, Andrew Cutrona (20 points) began to heat up and Ryan Ford was clearing the lanes as they pulled within 5 at the half. Cutting the elad to 1 after 3, it appeared we were braced for an upset, however out of nowhere, The Fashion Plate Brandon Denning scored 8 of his 10 points in the 4th quarter to help his squad stay in the tourney.
McWilliams/Matson 44, Letang/Kelly 36 – Coming off an emotional win knocking off the 5 seed with 0.2 seconds left one wondered if the Matson/McWilliams squad was in a trap game. Steven Fatzinger, the hero in the previous game looked to keep that spark going by continuing his MVP type play with fantastic defense and scoring a game high 15 points in the win. All 7 players for the Purple People Eaters found the scoring column, Quin Savant leading the charge with 12. Joe Dougherty had 10 points and Rick Stabler contributed 8 for the winners.
Ladd/Langdon 48, Viens/Rose 45 – When your coach and primary ball handler is missing, it generally spells trouble. But when you have a team as deep as this crew, there’s little to worry about. Andrew Nichols (11 points) took tremendous care of the ball and used his speed to combat the pressure and court awareness of Doyle Tuvesson (19 points) for the red team. With the game knotted at 35 after 3 quarters, the fans knew they were in for a tremendous finish. Down 2 with 15 seconds left, it was Max “AK-47” Akoto (15 points) and Andrew Jones (10 points) hitting the jumpers and their foul shots to hold off the Green Team at the buzzer.
Barnes/Burlotos 41, Koehler Block 33 – There’s nothing fancy about the Barnes/Burlotos squad, they just get dirty, get physical and get the job done. With Dan McClaskey (13 points) and Stephen Lange filling the lane it’s near impossible to get off a clean shot so teams are generally required to hit their perimeter shots to beat this team. Last night was no different – The Block/Koehler team had a hard time finding the open
