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BEDFORD, N.Y. Fox Lane boys basketball coach Chris Violante told his players that Wednesdays game against Horace Greeley would be a battle simply due to the nature of the rivalry.
So he was not surprised when the Quakers erased a 22-9 deficit at the end of the first quarter and turned the game into a nail-biter.
I told the kids at the end of the first quarter and I told them before the game that theres no way that well beat them by 20 or theyll beat us by 20, Violante said. Its just not going to happen. Its going to be a war.
Fox Lane (12-2) survived the war, 63-60, despite some late three pointers from Horace Greeley (8-7) that kept them in the game. Fox Lane sophomore James Morales hit two clutch free throws in the final seconds to put the Foxes up by three. The Quakers last-second attempt to tie was off the mark and the Foxes escaped with the win.
Morales had one thought as he stood at the charity stripe: Just have confidence, he said.
Horace Greeley coach Dave Fernandes said his team was able to get back in the game because it finally calmed down.
Its such a big rivalry that gets you so up, almost too up, Fernandes said. I know that sounds crazy but sometimes your motors running at 100 miles an hour and youve got to slow it down a little bit.
Morales scored four points, all on free throws, in a fourth quarter in which Will Trawick missed three of four free throws. Violante said after the game that he has been impressed with Morales growth every game as he has become part of a rotating sixth man crew with Mike Valvano and others.
But Morales almost did not have a chance to prove himself.
The funny thing is, early on in the year, we were trying to think whether or not we should bring him up or not, Violante said. Looking back, obviously we made the right decision.
Dylan Peretz led Fox Lane with 19 points. Trawick finished with 15 and Robbie Shilstone added 10 points. Harrison Brown led Horace Greeley with 16 points while Connor Domershick added 14. Josh Rosen scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Justin Ciero added 11 points.
Ciero nearly tied the game at 59 with about 20 seconds to play. He drove to the hoop against Shilstone and put up a floater that went halfway down the net before it spiraled out and into Morales hands.
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