WARRIORS FALL AT ‘TOGA
Saratoga guards explode for 27 in 2nd quarter
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Averill Park girls basketball team had a size advantage on the floor, owned the boards rebounding Friday night on the road, but an explosive 27-point second quarter and near perfect free throw shooting down the stretch propelled the Blue Streaks past the Warriors, 70- 65.
Off the rim and off the backboard, Averill Park (11-2 Suburban Council, 15-2 overall) and ranked No. 3 in the latest New York State Sportswriters poll nearly doubled the Blue Streaks (10- 4, 13-5), but Saratoga’s successful shooting from its guards just continued to come in waves.
Blue Streak junior Kerry Flaherty dropped in an eye-popping 29 points Friday, including 12 during the crucial 27-15 second quarter run.
“Our surrounding cast did a good job and started to get into a little bit of foul trouble, we had a couple hustle fouls where we reached in or someone got beat off the dribble and we fouled in the process, it hurt our matchups,” Averill Park coach Sean Organ said. “Mallory ( Wood) had to come out and we had at one point three-minutes to go in the second quarter, both Mallory and Kelsey ( Wood) out and that’s really when Flaherty took over.”
Conceding the rebounding advantage to Averill Park, the Blue Streaks went with their strengths, their guards.
“They have tremendous players, they’re athletic, they’re big, their quick and we knew it would be a battle tonight,” Saratoga Springs coach Robin Chudy said. “We knew we had to bring our ‘A’ game, which I think we definitely think we did from the shooting from our guards, Kerry (Flaherty) and Dolly (Cairns) were absolutely amazing,
“Kara ( Vamvalis) pushing the ball up the court, Briann Bar-
ringer and a couple of our posts that came in off the bench really helped up with their bigs to get some boards and to get the ball out to our guards.”
Saratoga’s guar play wasn’t just about hitting six three-pointers on the night or moving the ball efficiently against the sizeable Averill Park defense, it was about helping their own cause.
“All of us had to contribute on defense and we all had to step up,” Saratoga Springs sophomore Dolly Cairns said. “If one girl needed help we had to rotate and fix our whole defense just to stop them.
“We were up most of the game and we just needed to play that way, keep our energy going and defensively make good stops. That was our main key, getting stops on defense.”
Averill Park held a twopoint advantage in the final two quarters, but the Blue Streaks were near perfect from the line in the fourth quarter, hitting seven of eight free throws as the Warriors were forced to foul and get a stop down the stretch.
“I thought we played with a greater sense of urgency middle third quarter and especially into the fourth quarter, but when you let a team get away from us like we did in the second quarter, that’s a tough hole to dig out of,” Organ said. “They shoot the ball as well as any team that we will play this season.” round.
Patrick Robinson, CB (21), 5-11, 191, 8th season, Florida State
First season with Eagles 6- 6, 320, 2nd season, TCU and led them with 4 inter
Fifth-round pick in 2016. ceptions in regular season. Can play both tackle posi... Had spectacular 50-yard tions. ... Replacing perenpick- 6 against Vikings in nial Pro Bowl tackle Jason NFC title game. Peters. Ronald Darby, CB (41),
Stefen Wisniewski, LG 5-11, 193, 3rd season, Flor(61), 6-3, 305, 7th season, ida State
Penn State Missed eight games be
Originally second-round cause of dislocated anpick of Oakland in 2011. ... kle sustained in season Has played left guard and opener. ... Will face chalcenter. ... His uncle, Steve, lenge trying to cover Pawas two-time All-Pro setriots wide receivers Branlection at guard with L.A. din Cooks, Danny AmenRams and Oakland Raiddola. ... Inconsistent, but ers. when he’s on, he can han
Jason Kelce, C (62), 6-3, dle such assignments well. 295, 7th season, Cincinnati Malcolm Jenkins, S (27),
Went from sixth-round 6- 0, 204, 9th season, Ohio pick in 2011 to first AllState
Pro selection this season. Two-time Pro Bowler. ... Dominant part of run ... Key part of secondgame, can handle DTs one ary tasked with slowon one. ing down Brady, TE Rob
Brandon Brooks, RG Gronkowski. ... Had 99(79), 6- 5, 335, 6th season, yard pick- 6 in previous Miami, Ohio meeting with Patriots. ...
Spent first four seasons Second in team history with Texans. ... Joined Eawith four pick- 6s, trailing gles in 2016. ... Selected for Eric Allen. first Pro Bowl in 2017. Rodney McLeod, S (23),
Lane Johnson, RT (65), 5-10, 195, 6th season, Vir6- 6, 317, 5th season, Oklaginia homa Signed five-year con
Second All-Pro on oftract with Eagles after four fensive line. ... Was No. 4 seasons with Rams. ... Had overall pick in 2013. ... Suscareer-high 117 tackles in pended 10 games in 2016 2016. ... Key guy in rushfor violating NFL’s perforing defense. mance- enhancers policy. SPECIAL TEAMS DEFENSE Jake Elliott, K (4), 5- 9, Chris Long, DE (56), 6-3, 170, 1st season, Memphis 270, 10th season, Virginia Fifth- round pick by
Won Super Bowl last Bengals signed off pracyear with Patriots. ... First tice squad when Caleb Stseason with Eagles. .... Had urgis was injured. ... Set 5 sacks and 4 forced fumpostseason club record bles in regular season and with 53-yard field goal in 8 QB pressures in NFC tidivisional round. ... Made tle game. ... Similar perfor61-yarder to beat Giants mance could help Eagles during season. pull upset in Super Bowl. Donnie Jones, P (8), 6-2, ... Second overall pick in 221, 14th season, LSU 2008 draft by Rams. ... Son Averaged 45.3 yards per of Hall of Fame DL Howie punt. Top punter in Eagles Long. history in gross average,
Fletcher Cox, DT (91), net average and punts in6- 4, 310, 6th season, Misside 20. sissippi State Kenjon Barner, KR/PR
Three-time Pro Bowler. (38), 5- 9, 195, 4th season, ... Powerful force who’s secOregon ond among Eagles interior Filled in nicely after linemen with 34 sacks. ... Darren Sproles was inHad season-high 7 tackles jured. ... Barner’s best punt and sack of Falcons’ Matt return went for 76 yards. Ryan in divisional playoff NEW ENGLAND PAwin against Atlanta. TRIOTS
Tim Jernigan, DT (93), OFFENSE
6-2, 295, 4th season, FlorTom Brady, QB (12), 6- 4, ida State 225, 18th season, Michigan
Second-round pick of Led NFL with 4,577 Ravens in 2014 was acyards passing this season. quired in trade in April ... Four-time Super Bowl and provides depth on deMVP going for sixth ring fensive line. ... Signed four... Is 5-2 in Super Bowls ... year extension through Contender for third reg2021. ular- season MVP award
Brandon Graham, DE with 32 TD passes at age (55), 6-2, 265, 8th season, 40. ... If Eagles don’t bring Michigan pressure, he will pick them
Led Eagles with careerapart. high 9½ sacks. ... No. 13 Dion Lewis, RB (33), 5-8, pick in 2010 draft and lon195, 6th season, Pittsburgh gest-tenured member of Played first two seasons Eagles defense. ... Sacked with Eagles ... Missed next Tom Brady twice when Eatwo seasons with injuries gles beat Patriots in previbefore joining Patriots in ous meeting in 2015. 2015 ... Had 896 yards and
Derek Barnett, DE (96), 6 touchdowns this season. 6-3, 259, 1st season, Ten... One of most versatile nessee RBs in league.
Had 5 sacks in rookie James White, RB (11), could be telling. captain Chris Maragos. season. .... Had strip-sack 5-10, 205, 4th season, Wis——— ——— of Case Keenum to halt consin
Special Teams Coaching Vikings’ red zone drive in Set Super Bowl record Patriots K Stephen GosPhilly was in attack mode NFC title game. ... Firstwith 14 receptions last tkowski (3) rebounded from the outset against round pick last April. year. ... Also set Super Bowl from a rough 2016 to have Minnesota, and that’s a Mychal Kendricks, LB record by scoring 20 points a strong season. He made good ref lection on Doug (95), 6- 0, 240, 6th season, (2 rushing touchdowns, 1
CalS econd on team with touchdown point conversion). reception Scored and 37 out of 40 field goals in Pederson and his staff. Pedthe regular season, going erson knows he can’t back 2-
4 for 4 on kicks of 50 or off against New England, 77 tackles. ... Has thrived tying and winning touchmore yards. He is one of the and defensive coordinator under defensive coordinadowns against Falcons. ... league’s most clutch kickers Jim Schwartz is known for tor Jim Schwartz. ... Had Solid pass-catching option and is third in career postbeing aggressive. team-high 10 tackles in out of backfield. season points in NFL hisNot much has to be said NFC title game. Brandin Cooks, WR, tory. about a New England staff Dannell Ellerbe, LB (57), (14), 5-10, 189, 4th season,
Lewis is the only player that is 5-2 in Super Bowls. 6-1, 245, 9th season, GeorOregon State in this game to have reA twist, not unprecedented gia Acquired in trade with turned a kickoff for a but interesting, has both coWon Super Bowl 47 with New Orleans. ... Provides touchdown this season. He ordinators, Matt Patricia on Baltimore. ... Joined Eagles deep threat for Brady. ... ranked fourth in the NFL defense and Josh McDaniels in November and became Second on team with 65 with 24.8 yards per return. on offense, bound for head third middle linebacker catches, 1,082 yards, 7 TDs.
Amendola is also a threat coaching spots elsewhere. after Jordan Hicks, Joe Rob Gronkowski, TE on punt returns. He averDon’t look for it to have any Walker sustained season(87), 6- 6, 265, 8th season, aged 8.6 yards per return effect on this game. ending injuries. ... Missed Arizona during the regular sea——— NFC title game with hamHad team- leading 69 son, including a long of 40 Intangibles string injury. receptions and 8 touchyards, and had a big one The Eagles have never Nigel Bradham, LB (53), downs. ... Suffered conagainst Jacksonville in the won a Super Bowl; their 6-2, 241, 6th season, Florcussion in AFC champiAFC title game. previous NFL title was in ida State onship game. ... Combina
Philadelphia’s Jake El1960. They have that exAcquired in trade with tion of size, strength and liott (4) set a postseason tra edge that perennial unBuffalo in 2016. ... Led all hands creates matchup club record with a 53-yard derdogs — even in home Eagles LBs with 99 tacknightmares. All-Pro who’s field goal and has longer playoff games as the No. 1 les and had career-high 7 nearly impossible to stop range than Gostkowski. But seed — would carry. Their tackles for loss and tied with one single defender. he is less reliable on extra confidence is soaring after for team lead with 2 forced Nate Solder, LT (77), 6-8, points, having missed four. they tore apart the stingifumbles in first season 325, 7th season, Colorado
P Donnie Jones (8) est scoring defense in the with Eagles. Has second-most imranked 17th in net averleague for the conference Jalen Mills, CB (31), 6- 0, portant job on team: proage and Kenjon Barner (38) championship. 191, 2nd season, LSU tecting Brady’s blindside filled in nicely after Darren New England probably Seventh-round pick in ... First-round pick in 2011, Sproles was injured. Barndoesn’t need anything in 2016. Made key defensive also played right tackle. ... er’s best punt return went this category. But the Paplay while guarding JuSolid contributor. for 76 yards. triots always seem to find lio Jones on fourth down Joe Thuney, LG (62), 6- 4,
Coverage units are solid some extra motivation, and to preserve 15-10 win 305, 2nd season, North despite losing special-teams it usually works. over Falcons in divisional Carolina State Saratoga Springs’ Kayla Lahart looks to get inside of Averill Park’s Kelsey Wood off a free throw Friday night in a Suburban Council showdown at Saratoga Springs High School, Friday, Feb. 2, 2017. yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns.
It’s underlined the football savvy of Belichick, who with a sixth Super Bowl victory would pass Vince Lombardi and tie George Halas and Curly Lambeau for most NFL championships by a coach.
Belichick will be taking part in his 11th Super Bowl as a head coach or assistant, the most among any coach in NFL history. That amounts to 21.2 percent of all Super Bowls in league history and 34.4 percent of all Super Bowls since his first appearance as the Giants defensive coordinator in 1986. have guys doing things that don’t fit the defense.”
On the opposite side of the ball, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has an aggressive unit. Nobody runs on Philadelphia’s defense. It was No. 1 against the run and didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher until Ezekiel Elliott had 103 in Week 17 against backups and third- stringers.
The Patriots ( 15- 3) rely mainly on Brady’s arm, even though Dion Lewis had 896 yards rushing and James White was a Super Bowl hero last year. But Brady can’t throw if he doesn’t have time and the Eagles have a dominant front four led by Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham.
The line often generates enough pressure that Schwartz doesn’t have to blitz much and there’s enough depth with Chris Long, Vinny Curry, Tim Jernigan and Beau Allen that guys stay fresh in the fourth quarter.