Somers Runs John Jay out of Gym with 69-51 Victory

After falling 67-61 to Yorktown on Wednesday January 17, another cross town rival was in on Friday night, and the Tuskers were definitely in the thick of it versus John Jay. A 41-37 third quarter game in favor of Somers, the battle gave way to a long run, and the rest of the game was easily joined.

Somers went on a 22-2 run and finished the Wolves off by a score of 69-51.

Coming off a buzzer beating shot versus Brewster on Wednesday, Will Rickel stayed hot to start. The guard hit a three and a pull up jumper to give the visitors an early 7-2 lead.

Not impressed, Somers answered with their own weapons. Andrew Violante got to the line on his coast to coast drive, and twice Matthew D’Ippolito caught elephants on the run from the backcourt.

Brady Leitner and Violante the beneficiaries, Somers never relinquished the lead and good guard play by Nate Cohen turned the tables. He converted a half court steal into two and exploded through the lane to go up 12-9.

Colin Bishop did tie with a three, but the that was John Jay’s last sniff. Cohen again got to the rim for two, and next, it was Violante with the quick hands.

His steal resulted in the conventional three point play on the break, and the guard wasn’t done yet. Violante also went bicoastal for a 19-14 first quarter score and then stayed stationary by dropping a three to start the second.

A 22-14 score, Will Rickel matched with a three and Colin Bishop kept it a five point game with his triple. But after Violante continued the three ball streak and Rickel drove for two, the Tuskers started to separate.

Another three for Violante did not have Rickel matching up. The Wolf’s drive was blocked by Cohen, and the loose ball had Violante headed for the coast and a 32-21 lead.

4:31 left in the second, John Jay answered back. First Jared Weitman ripped down an offensive rebound and fed to Dylan Cooper for a short jumper. Then Sam Rickel got into the act. The twin brother took a bounce pass to the baseline and swung the ball to Bishop on the other side.

Wide open, the guard buried the three and soon had another jumper in him. Drifting above the key, he took the pass and made it a 32-28 game with 1:40 remaining.

Too much time before intermission, the Wolves couldn’t finish. After Violante forced a turnover, Jacob Hauser muscled in the paint for two, and following Leitner’s solo fast break to the basket, D’Ippolito followed his teammate’s miss at the buzzer.

An eight game going into the third, John Jay wasn’t relenting yet. Will Rickel opened with a fast break layup on the steal, and matched Violante’s conventional three point play with a runner and two from the line.

Now 39-34, John Jay would get within four on Ryan Valdes' run from the corner. But 5:38 left in the third, the Wolves’ night was essentially over. The Tuskers came out of the time out, Violante exploded into the paint, and the heavy traffic didn’t deter the senior’s TNT to the rim.

Violante wasn’t the only one with a short fuse either. Cohen took the inbound in the back court, dribbled past the midline and saw his opening. He took off and the defense got there too late to make a difference.

Up by eight at 4:07, Violante went down to get this team up by double digits. He took the charge underneath, and back the other way, Cohen drove high off the glass for a 47-37 lead.

Cohen then added two threes, and by the time the run was over, the bus back to John Jay was already warm. The win left Fox Lane on Saturday and saw another big run to decide the game. After Cohen put in a tough put back to give Somers a 38-32 fourth quarter lead, the remainder of the game’s points went to the Foxes and sent the Tuskers to a 48-38 defeat.