New Look Wolves Open Basketball Season with a Win over North Salem

With no starters returning from last year’s team, the boys basketball team completely turned the page against North Salem on Wednesday, November 29. So being a little shaky at the start was not a surprise. A 41-35 lead with less than six minutes remaining was, though. Unfortunately, the game went to overtime, and momentum and a lack of experience didn’t bode well. But these new look Wolves missed the memo.

“You feel like you had control and then you’re in overtime. So I’m proud of them” said Coach Tyler Sayre after his team gutted out a 59-50 road win.

Nonetheless, John Jay was quickly off kilter with a couple of early traveling calls. Extra possessions for North Salem, Max Cotrone sank two jumpers and a put back by Luke Loftus yielded a 6-2 lead.

The two for John Jay came on a steal and layup by Jacob Jones, who cracked the starting lineup after being a bench player last year. The forward then added a jumper and side stepped to the hoop to tie the score at six.

3:06 left in the first, John Jay’s first lead was on the way. Jared Weitman pulled down the defensive rebound, brought the ball up court and hit Sam Rickel in the corner. All alone, the guard buried the three for a 9-8 lead with 1:48 left in the quarter.

Time called, the home team responded. Connor Meehan made two from the line, and after another John Jay travel, Cotrone hit a pull up jumper to close the quarter at 12-9.

Trading turnovers after the break, Cotrone went coast to coast and finished the trek with a euro step to the rim. The lead then grew on a Meehan layup, and John Jay was chasing at 16-9.

So Jones went basketball 101 to get his team back in the game. “You got to attack,” said the senior, and his hard drive netted the old school three point play.

5:41 left in the half, Jones took a trip to the bank next. Connecting off glass from the key, he acknowledged that good fortune is part of the game. “You get lucky once in a while,” clarified Jones, who had a game high 21.

Even so, Meehan answered true with his three, and the lead grew to six on the interior. Justin Major went to the line twice on drives and Meehan’s penetration freed up Nathan Baer for an easy layup.

A 23-17 game, John Jay didn’t let the Tigers get away. A lane spotted, Ryan Valdes got to the rack for two, and again, Rickel made the most of his loneliness with a corner three.

Conversely, Jones got plenty of attention to close the half. He took off from above the arc, and on another mission, he drew the foul.

Going one for two, the 25-23 deficit had the Wolves ready to take the lead at the outset of the third. Both making a little juke into space, Brendan Corelli and Jones hit jumpers to give John Jay a 27-26 lead at 5:41.

Rickel still didn’t get his propers, though. Open above the key this time, he drilled another three to open up a four point lead.

The lead grew to five on another Jones three, but Cotrone switched continents again to keep the game in the same hemisphere. The guard got the steal, was fouled on the euro step and converted two at the line

A 33-31 game with 2:52 remaining, John Jay would get some separation again. After Corelli converted two from the line, Rickel showed he could catch Tigers coming and going. The defense up on him this time, he blew past for the layup and then muscled an offensive rebound to set Weitman up at the line.

One for two, John Jay led 38-31 to start the fourth. Of course, Cotrone and the Tigers weren’t giving up their stripes just yet. Above the arc, the guard spotted Meehan cutting to the hoop, and two foul shots kept it in range.

A Loftus put back made it 38-35, so Jones had his say again. He swung around the arc, Corelli dished him and Jones launched for a 41-35 lead with 5:38 remaining.

But John Jay went cold, and the sizzle of Cotrone didn’t help. After forcing a turnover in the John Jay end, he received Justin Major’s long pass into the corner and quickly found Loftus to go glass on the layup.

The duo wasn’t done either. Cotrone got another steal, went to the line on the fast break, and after missing the second free-throw, Loftus got the put back.

A one point game, Jones went on the attack again. Fouled on his drive, two made free throws meant some breathing room.

3:15 to go, Cotrone didn’t care. Off a John Jay turnover, he went iso and made it a 43-42 game on a pull up jumper at 1:20. One more turn, he dropped a pass over the top into Loftus at 33 seconds, and one for two forced overtime.

Two missed Reilly Denneen free throws to open proved a good sign, though. James Arefieg pulled down the rebound, and Jay went to the drawing board. A set play, said Corelli, “I came off the screen and right to the hoop for the layup,” said the junior point guard.

Deja vu, Loftus missed two more free throws, and the Wolves were ready to make the Tigers pack it in. Ryan Valdes essentially doing the honors, he wasn’t shy about taking aim in the corner. “We needed a big shot. So I wasn’t hesitant to pull the trigger,” said the junior, and his three opened a 48-43 lead.

2:55 to go, Jones and Colin Bishop forced Cotrone into a travel, and Arefieg completed his team’s itinerary. Driving into the paint, he threaded a pass into Jones, and the easy layup made it 50-43.

From there, North Salem put Arefieg on the line three times and three times he went one for two. “It was kind of fun,” he joked.

So was winning, but the senior is already looking ahead. “When Horace Greeley comes to town on December 5, we’re going to be ready,” Arefieg concluded.