FAMILIAR TERRITORY-MARAUDERS SEND KNIGHTS PACKING WIN CLASS D PLAYOFF OPENER 61-49
Jake Kehrli # 30 skies for two as # 33 Kody Petrus and # 21 Antonio Figueroa stand and stare.
Fred Miller-MHTS
Photos-Courtesy-Rick Suprenant
2/17
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The “Boys of Beekman” began their, 2012-13, post season playoff run with a “get back on track” win over a stubborn bunch of Copenhagen Golden Knights (6-12), a #15 seed, who made the, #2 seed, Marauders earn their 61-49 Class D Quarterfinal matchup win at home.
Should have known what was to come next, Wednesday night, at Beekman, when Oriskany head coach Bob Reid sat down next to our MHTS/ESPN broadcast table at mid-court.
Reid and his Redskins, the #7 seed, rallied for a 66-65 win over Otselic Valley, in their playoff opener on Friday night, to set up a show down with their longtime CSC IV rivals.
The same Redskins team that beat the Marauders 74-58 in Oriskany last week. Reid was on a scouting mission and we’re sure he saw that his next opponent would be ready to be rude hosts for the impending matchup at Beekman.
High flying guard # 10 Andrew Suprenant looks to dish and deal.
Back on January 9th coach Mike Adey and company got the best of the Skins 69-49. So here we sit with both teams having won one and one team about to be sent home for good. No wonder Bob stopped by.
First things first. When the two teams warmed up, for what would be the fifth ever post season tussle between the Marauders (16-3) and their Frontier League foes, I noticed the difference in physical stature between the two front lines.
New York Mills had the beef up front, with Cody Marriotti, Jake Kehrli, and Zach Vennaro. As it turned, out the Mills bigs got the best of the Copenhagen bigs.
Wingman Nick Comenale, healthy again, came out of the gate at full speed grabbing long-range outlet passes, from the boys down under, to score 12 of his 18 points as the hosts led 8-0 just three minutes in and 16-4 after one quarter of play.
As good as Comenale was in the first half, Cody Mariotti was better in the second, as the 6’4” senior bulled his way to 14 second half points and 20 on the night, as the Marauders kept the Knights at bay. Marriotti also ripped down 6 rebounds.
Speaking of ripping…senior point guard Jon Ross played a great game on defense, coming up with six steals and also dishing out six assists and you guessed it… scoring six points.
# 22 Nick Comenale has the knack as he hits for two # 10 Andrew Suprenant trails the play.
Someone forgot to tell Kody Petrus and sophomore guard Antonio Figueroa that their trip south was just for show. Petrus scored 10 of his 19 points in the frist half to help his squad remain relevant.
Figueroa, who was beat up by the bigs early on, started to hit his stride, as Copenhagen chipped away at what once was a 16 point deficit 22-6, when Zach Venarro scored 2 of his 6 points with 5:10 to go in the first half.
Figueroa scored four quick points, late in the second, and you could see he was starting to hit his stride.
The Marauders headed into the locker room up eleven 31-20 after Kody Petrus drained a long three ball with time running out on the first sixteen minutes of play.
Figueroa really got hot in the second half, scoring 15 of this 19 as the Golden Knights made it a game down just nine, 41-32, with 1:20 left in the third when Antonio drilled a three from deep in the corner.
Guess who helped stem the tide? A three-point play, the old-fashioned way, by Cody Mariotti helped stretch the lead to 44-32 as we headed to the decisive fourth quarter.
Jake Kehrli scored six of his 8 points in the second half to help the Mills repel the Knights.
# 20 Terry Nichols looks for more as # 12 Ian Sawyer defends.
A Kehrli put back off a miss put New York Mills back up fifteen 37-22 with just under seven minutes to go in the third.
It looked like it would be lights out for the bright green and gold clad Knights, but coach Scott Randall and company were in no hurry to take a bus ride north.
The seemingly secure fifteen point New York Mills lead was just nine once again when Kody Petrus banged one in from behind the arc to make it 50-41 with 3:36 left.
Nick Comenale answered for the home team before Petrus found the range and dialed long distance, one more time, as the lead was down to eight 52-44 with 2:45 left on the big Beekman clock.
The Marauders went on a 9-5 run to wrap things up. Jon Ross made two free throws, Nick Comenale hit four in a row from the charity stripe, as the Mills survived and advanced in the Class D playoffs with the twelve point win.
Fan Facts:
The Marauders once again entered the “Big Dance” as CSC Division IV Champs
The Marauders 10th championship in the last 12 years.
The Marauders have claimed 20 CSC Championships the most by any CSC school.
Overall in the last ten years NY Mills has a division record of 129-11.
Tonight’s matchup with Copenhagen was the fifth time the two schools have met in the last 11 years in Section 3 tournament play.
New York Mills 61 Copenhagen 49
1 2 3 4 Total
Copenhagen 4 16 12 17 49
NY Mills 16 15 13 17 61
MHTS Scoring Summary:
Copenhagen:
Antonio Figueroa-19
Kody Petrus-19
Greg Kunert-7
Brandon Selley-2
Ian Sawyer-2
New York Mills:
Cody Mariotti-20
Nick Comenale 18
Jacob Kehrli-8
Jon Ross-6
Zach Vennaro-6
Andrew Suprenant-3
