BY ERIC AHLQVIST
COOPERSTOWN CRIER
A slow start cost the Cherry
Valley-Springfield boys basketball
team its season on Monday
night.
The fourth seeded Patriots fell
behind by 16 points in the first
half to 12th seed Andes, 24-8,
before making a furious rally
that fell short in a 45-37 loss in
a Section Four Class D quarterfinal
contest.
The Mountaineers, 11-9, have
just seven players on the roster
but one of them is standout Eric
Reed, the best player many may
have never seen before.
After scoring 30 points in an
opening round win over Gilboa,
Reed had 24 against CV-S on
Monday, including two long
three-point shots that led the
Mountaineers to a 24-8 lead
midway through the second
quarter. Reed hit four three point
shots on the night, and
went a perfect 6-6 from the foul
line in the final two minutes to
seal the win.
The Patriots cut the lead to
nine (25-16) at halftime and
continued their rally in the third
quarter. CV-S senior Kyle Flint
converted an old-fashioned
three-point play to cut the lead
to three, 28-25, with 3:37 left in
the quarter.
The teams then traded baskets
when the biggest call of the
game occurred. Reed drove into
the lane and appeared to crash
into CV-S’s Alex Shuster, but
Shuster was called for a blocking
foul, his fourth, and Reed hit
two free throws.
Shuster had to go the bench,
and the Patriots never got closer
than five points the rest of the
way.
``That call could have gone either
way but it definitely stopped
our momentum,’’ said CV-S head
coach Terry Brant. ``Defensively,
we made a lot of stops late in the
game but we couldn’t execute offensively
when we need to. That’s
been our biggest problem all
season.’’
Andes lost to top-seed Davenport,
43-40, on Tuesday night.
The Patriots advanced to Monday’s
game with a 63-45 victory
over Hunter-Tannersville Sunday
night in Cherry Valley.
The game was originally
scheduled for Tuesday, but was
postponed five consecutive days
because of snow.
Shuster had 20 points, including
10 in a decisive second quarter as
the Patriots opened up a nine-point
halftime lead.
Shawn Cope had 11 and Flint 10
for CV-S, which ends the season at
14-6.
Only Flint will be lost to graduation,
and CV-S should also get help
from this year’s junior varsity team,
which was undefeated in league
play and 16-2 overall.
Brant said four players from that
team will likely be on the varsity
next season.
``Those players will give us more
of a scoring threat from the outside,
which is exactly what we need,’’
Brant said. ``The future is definitely
bright for the program.’’
