BY KIMBERLEY A. MARTIN
Less than seven minutes until the Class B championship game. The Mules don't look nervous at all. One thing's certain, though: they'll need to start and end strong against Olean (Section VI).
OK, gotta finish my Burger King meal before tip-off...be back in a flash!
(Whoa...Olean just did this really weird "on-the-floor-huddle"...apparently that psyches them up. Whatever does it for you, I guess. Laura took a pic using her camera phone -- hopefully we can find a way to post it online for your viewing pleasure.)
Ta-da:
7:17 - Justin Williams starts us off with a baseline layup. Olean's Jacob Houseknecht gets called for the goaltending.
6:09 - Chris Weidt hits a three to put the Huskies on top.
5:41 - Malverne's D.J. Williams fouls Sam Moore. Moore connects on both free throws.
5:22 - Moore's back to the line -- this time he's fouled by Dashiem Cherry. Again, he sinks them both.
5:10 - Bryon Hecton hits a three for the Mules.
4:45 - Moore hits a short jumper.
(both teams go cold from the field over the next minute and a half)
3:11 - Houseknecht basket.
2:00 - Williams fouled on putback attempt by Houseknecht. He hits the first, misses the second.
1:40 - Malverne's Matthew Bates gets fouled by Moore inside. He connects on the first, misses the second.
:50 - Evin Shaw knocks down a three-pointer for the Mules to cut the lead to just 1 (11-10).
:39.4 - Moore shifts the momentum back to the Huskies on a conventional three-point play. (foul on Shaw.)
:22.7 - Bates gets fouled by Houseknecht. He hits them both. (I must say, kudos to Bates. He looks much improved from the line tonight! Must've been practicing)
:2.5 - Olean misses a three-pointer at the buzzer.
End of the First Quarter: Olean 13, Malverne 12.
Even though Malverne's down by just 1, the deficit feels much larger.
Onto the second quarter....
7:46 - Sean Donahue is fouled by Terry Banks. He sinks both.
5:33 - Weidt breaks a two-minute scoring drought with a crowd-pleasing three-pointer to put Olean up 18-12. (These Olean fans travel in droves.)
4:18 - Dashiem Cherry scores his first basket of the game, a fastbreak layup. (Up to this point, he had missed all four of his previous shots. If Malverne wants to stay close, Cherry's got to start sinking these threes. I'm sure he'll get hot soon).
2:41 - Kadeem Bell is fouled on a putback. He sinks the second to put the Mules withijn three.
2:07 - Bell layup.
1:55 - Weidt three-pointer.
:50 - Ryan Carney hits another three for the Huskies. He's skipping down court now, waving his hands in the air. (A tad unnecessary, I think.)
Justin Williams misses three as time expires.
End of the Second Quarter: Olean 24, Malverne 17.
The Mules have GOT TO PICK it up. This seven-point deficit feels like 15. Maybe coach Darrol Lopez will have some inspiring words for the locker room session.
Start of the third quarter:
I think I was right. Lopez must have said something in there because Malverne looks more focused.
7:45 - Banks inside.
6:45 - Cherry hits a three-pointer. (See, I told you he'd get hot.)
5:50 - Bates putback ties score at 24.
After that, it's allllllllllllllllllllll Olean.
4:06 - Moore steals the ball from Malverne and finishes with a behind-the-back layup.
4:08 - Joe Palumbo snags another steal for the Huskies and lays it in.
2:42 - Moore drives the baseline for a layup and gets fouled by Bates. He misses the free-throw.
2:25 - James Chatmon scores inside.
1:51 - Moore layup, plus the foul (on Shamel White). He converts the three-point play.
MALVERNE GETS HIT WITH A TECHNICAL. (forgive me for not seeing the play first-hand, but I was busy blogging for you guys. But I just asked the guy from the Buffalo News what happened -- according to him, Lopez was upset at one of his players and slammed the ball on the ground. The refs obviously didn't think that was OK, so they T'D him up.)
Palumbo hits both free-throws.
1:22 - Carney caps off a 13-0 Huskies run with a putback.
:40 - Cherry scores on a putback.
:39.4 - Justin Williams steals the ball, puts up a layup and is fouled by Carney. He misses the free throw.
26.8 - Bell fouls Palumbo, who knocks down both free-throws.
:16 - Cherry hits a three.
:5.5 - Justin Williams is called for a blocking foul on Moore. As expected, he sinks them both.
End of Third Quarter: Olean 43, Malverne 31.
This isn't looking good for the Mules....
Start of the Fourth Quarter...
7:08 - Houseknecht hits layup, plus free-throw (foul on Bates).
6:38 - Bates scores on putback.
5:54 - Palumbo is fouled by Hector on his way to the basket. He sinks both free-throws.
5:35 - Malverne basket (I was too busy blogging to see who scored, sorry).
4:38 - Moore is fouled and sinks both free-throws (surprise, surprise) to make it a 12-point lead (50-38).
4:08 - Shaw hits a three.
3:55 - Weidt is fouled by Shaw. He hits the first, but misses the second.
3:43 - Justin Williams is fouled by Houseknecht. He hits the first, but misses the second.(Houseknecht fouls out.)
3:24 - Carney is fouled by Justin Williams. He hits both free-throws.
3:00 - Justin Williams scores inside.
2:20 - Bates fouls Palumbo, who hits one of two free-throws.
Olean begins to pull away, outscoring the Mules __ - ___ over the last __ minutes of play.
2:05 - Cherry fouls Palumbo, who hits one of two free-throws.
1:45 - Cherry scores on a putback to pull the Mules within nine (55-46).
1:42 - Moore scores on a fastbreak layup.
1:30 - Justin Williams scores inside.
1:20 - Moore is fouled by Hector. He connects on both free-throws.
1:13 - Justin Williams is fouled by Weidt on the steal attempt. The Huskies are in the double-bonus; Williams hits one of two free-throws to bring Malverne within 10 (59-49).
1:03 - Malverne steals the ball and scores a layup.
SCARY MOMENT ALERT FOR MALVERNE. For the second time tonight, Justin Williams is on the ground. Late in the second quarter, he hit the ground hard but managed to shake it off. Now he's lying on the far end of the court and looks to be writhing in pain. I couldn't see how he injured himself, but he appears to be grabbing his left leg. The Olean trainer (who for some reason was wearing dress pants and stiletto heels) just made her way across the court over to him. After a few minutes, he is helped up to his feet and gingerly walks over to the Malverne bench.
(OK, Williams looks fine. He's back in the game with 59.8 seconds left.)
:28.9 - Banks' putback puts Malverne within six (59-53). Lopez calls a timeout.
:27.2 - Justin Williams is called for his fourth foul on Moore. He sinks them both.
(Honestly, can't they foul SOMEONE ELSE! This kid refuses to miss. Just checked the stat sheet -- he went 15-for-20 from the stripe. Impressive.)
:21.5 - Hector fouls -- guess who??? -- Moore. Hector fouls out and Moore connects on both. Again.
:15 - Cherry misses a pull-up three-pointer from the top of the circle.
:13.6 - Bates fouls Moore. WOW. He actually missed two!
With less than 10 seconds remaining, Lopez clears the bench. It's over guys.
FINAL SCORE: Olean 63, Malverne 53.
Leading scorers: Justin Williams (15), Dashiem Cherry (15); Sam Moore (27).