WATERVLIET TURNS IT UP IN SECOND HALF
Senior Joey Atkins scores 1,000th point in playoff win
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » The Watervliet boys basketball team suffered an apparent power outage late in the second quarter Friday night against Catskill in the Section II Class B quarterfinal at Shenendehowa, but the Cannoneers found its energy in the second half to advance, 66- 63.
“As long as I coach high school basketball I thought we came out early, just missed five, six, shots, lay-ups around the hoop, some unforced turnovers just maybe the excitement of the moment and the game being a big game and having a young team,” Watervliet coach Orlando DiBacco said. “I credit them for not wavering, we found a way to get it done at the end and that’s what I told them, ‘Great teams find a way to win when you’re not playing your ‘A’ game.’”
The fourth- seeded Cannoneers struggled under the basket throughout the first half, turning the ball over on missed alleyoop attempts, no-look passes and were fortunate to enter halftime down by just a single point, 28-27.
“The first half everyone was kind of taking the game lightly because of our easy win last game and the second half we had to get buckled in and get in the flow of the game and that’s what we did,” Watervliet senior Joey Atkins said. “It was time for me to put my foot on the gas pedal.
“I’m the leader of the team, the oldest on the team and I didn’t want it to be my last game or my team’s last game either.”
A player of words and action, Atkins did just that, scoring 10 points in the third quarter, allowing him to reach the 1,000-point career mark and then again being the catalyst to tie the contest in the fourth, three straight
buckets to give the Cannoneers a two-point lead, 4947 with less than six minutes to play.
DiBacco never doubted Watervliet’s chances of making a comeback; his players just had to have faith.
“We’ve got a big saying, we say ‘ Bring the Juice’ and we play with energy,” DiBacco said. “It’s contagious and I think we finally got it going a little bit and a couple big stops, but give Catskill a ton of credit, they kept on getting second shots, pounding the glass late every time I thought we had the momentum, they kept on getting it right back.
“I told them at halftime to try to loosen up, I felt like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders, everyone was tight, missing shots, just our body language,” DiBacco said. “Go out and play. Defensively we’re going to have to hang our hat to create some offense and that’s what I thought that’s what we did in the fourth quarter.”
Catskill was able to get a final shot off in the closing seconds, down by three, but the ball rebounded off the front and was tipped further out to the backcourt, the Cats were unable to recover as time expired and the Cannoneers will now meet Mekeel Christian Academy 8 p.m. Monday night at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Watervliet lost their only meeting of the year, 65- 63, on Jan. 10.
“We said yesterday that we didn’t want it to be our last practice as we met at the end of practice,” DiBacco said. “I think it means a lot to keep your season going.
“They’re all close, they enjoy practicing, they play with energy so I don’t think they want their season to end and the opportunity to get back to Glens Falls is a great opportunity for any high school kid. We’re ex- cited about Monday.”