Kingston boys rally for victory over Middletown

Tigers notch rare win on road against Middles, improve to 14-1

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. >> Kingston High’s boys basketball team raised its record to 14-1 Thursday with a 67-64 comeback triumph over Middletown.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 4-1 in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Division 1.

Clayton Pattillo poured in 24 points and Shy’quan Royal (18 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists), Brady Short (10 points, seven rebounds, six assists), Dylan Perry (nine points) and Daiveyon Jackson (seven rebounds, four points) also had big games to lead Kingston.

Joel Marrero scored 18 points and sophomore Jermaine McCray and freshman Arthur Harris each had 11 for Middletown. The Middies are 6-9 overall and 1-4 in the division.

Middletown jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, but the Tigers regrouped and had it tied at 19 by the end of the first quarter. Kingston opened a sixpoint lead by the end of the third, but the score remained tight throughout.

“Down 10-0 on the road, things can go really wrong, but we kept fighting,” Tigers coach Ron Kelder said.

“We just played better from there on out,” he added. “We did a lot of good things. We stumbled at times, but found a way to persevere, figure it out and get another W in the column.”

It was Kingston’s fourth consecutive win and its first in quite some time at Middletown. The Middies defeated the Tigers down there last year on a last-second shot.

“We haven’t won there in a long time. I don’t remember the last time we won there,” Kelder said. “It’s been a while. Any time you can get win in there is good.”

Kingston heads to Poughkeepsie on Saturday for a 6 p.m. nonleague game on a neutral court to face one of the best Section 1 Class AA teams in Horace Greeley. The Quakers are 13-3 and riding a 10game win streak.