John Jay Falls 61-39 to Yorktown

After facing a pretty tall and wide order in Byram’s Hills Zachery Efobi, John Jay faced Yorktown at home on Wednesday January 10, and the good news was that the Huskers weren’t nearly as hulking. But they were still pretty tall and pretty quick, and the combination again proved too much for the Wolves.

The visitors built a 13-4 first quarter lead, expanded to 18 in the second and ultimately took the day by a score of 61-39.

Yorktown showed speed, finesse and quickness first, though. Justin Price grabbed the defensive rebound, spotted Billy Feeks ahead of the field, and he put the moves on in the paint for the first bucket.

Adding one on the foul line, Price orchestrated basket two also. The guard penetrated the lane and dished to Ryan Duffy at center for a 5-0 lead.

So John Jay answered with some basketball of their own. Above the arc, Jacob Jones spotted Colin Bishop alone on the baseline, and he dropped the layup to get the Wolves on the board.

Yorktown got back to business anyway. Off the inbound, Brandon Montero received and was in step with Price’s cut to the hoop. The bounce pass made, Price crashed through the lane and went glass for a 7-2 lead.

3:28 left in the first, John Jay did contain when Sam Rickel stepped into a Feeks’ drive, but Yorktown could play tough too. After Bishop pulled down the defense board, Thomas Costello ripped the ball away and sunk the layup.

Up 9-2 lead, the Huskers continued the paint ball. Forward Drew Duncan went up strong between three defenders, and Feeks pulled up just inside the foul line to close the quarter with a nine point lead.

Not losing a step into the second, Costello sunk a fast break layup and then did double duty on defense. The guard stole the ball from Ryan Valdes and had another layup.

Now up 17-4, the Wolves put up another brief pause. Will Rickel got the ball in the paint, nailed the jumper and added one on the foul line.

An offensive foul got John Jay the ball back, and Rickel gave Yorktown a double take. He drove the paint, pulled up and dropped another deuce for a 17-9 score with 5:49 left in the half.

A game still, Yorktown dismissed the notion. They went on a 12-2 run on threes by Feeks and Sander Stone, while the duo also had steals that provided fast break layups for each other.

John Jay did respond again, though. Jones connected with Bishop underneath for two and then the forward crashed through the lane for the layup.

A 29-15 game, Yorktown reasserted. Montero kept John Jay occupied with his dribble down low, found Troy Diaz, and he skied over the defense for two.

Still, Will Rickel’s triple from the corner looked pretty nice but Feeks was not distracted. Open in the corner, he let fly and maintained a 34-18 halftime advantage.

Intermission didn’t interrupt the flow either, and it began on the inside. Kaden Gonzalez and Montero got put backs and opened a 20 point lead.

Valdes did drive baseline to free Matias Baez for a layup, but another brief blip just gave Yorktown more resolve. Costello hit a three, Montero got inside on a Feeks entry pass, and Drew Duncan muscled a put back to make it 45-23.

2:12 left in the third, John Jay did make a run, and a little luck began the spurt. Bishop launched above the arc and made no apology when the triple went off the glass.

The same applied as the Rickel brothers closed the quarter with a flurry. Sam Rickel’s offensive rebound set up Will for a short jumper, and after Jared Weitman stole inbound, Will Rickel put up a shot that resulted in two free throws.

Down 16 going into the fourth, a Feeks three did not help, but Will Rickel kept at it. He hit two threes, and John trailed by only 13 with 5:33 remaining.

Unfortunately the game would soon end on the boards. Inside with the ball, Duncan followed his two misses with rebounds and landed on the line. He made one, and John Jay could not get the rebound on the miss.

Montero making good, he then got inside, upped the lead to 51-37 and Yorktown scored the next 10 points to ice the game.