Kingston comes up short in loss to Byram Hills
Byram Hills pulls away in second half for tight non-league victory; Tigers to face North Rockland in Officials vs. Cancer tourney today
Ben Leff poured in 31 points as Byram Hills held off Kingston High 73-69 in a non-league boys basketball game.
Ben Leff poured in 31 points and Skylar Sinon scored 27 as Byram Hills held off Kingston High 73-69 in a non-league boys basketball game.
Brian Moore had 24 points, six rebounds and five steals, Damani Thomas hit for 20 points and Chris Wright scored 12 to lead (93) Kingston in the Friday night loss.
With Thomas hitting for 16 points in the first half, including 11 in the second quarter, the Tigers were able to offset Leff’s performance. Kingston was ahead by three after one period and only down 29-28 at the break.
Moore picked up the pace in the second half with 17 points. Sinon, however, hit for 16 points alone in the fourth for (11-3) Byram Hills.
“We fought. We had our opportunities,” Kingston coach Ron Kelder said. “We put ourselves in a position to win, but it didn’t work out.”
Kingston battled to get within two points in the fourth, but the Bobcats came right back to extend the margin to six.
The Tigers rallied again to get within 71-69 with 20 seconds left.
“We switched to a press, faceto-face, guard man denial,” said Kelder, who saw that result in a half-court steal.
“We had the opportunity -- a 10-footer and a couple of putbacks, but they didn’t fall,” he said.
After that, Kingston had to foul and the Bobcats sank a pair of free throws to clinch the win.
Sinon finished with eight assists for the Bobcats. Leff, who had a double-double, had a dozen rebounds and Dylan Friedman grabbed 14 to
help Byram on the boards.
Moore (five rebounds), Thomas Huleatt (nine), Jimmy Moot (eight) and Daivel Jackson (seven) had big nights on the boards for the Tigers.
Kingston, which held the Bobcats to 10 points in the first quarter, allowed 44 in the second half. The Tigers are at SUNY New Paltz today, playing North Rockland at 12:30 p.m. to kick off the 6th annual Officials vs. Cancer Tournament.
KINGSTON (69)—Moore 9 6-7 24, Wright 4 3-4 12, Genther 0 0-0 0, Thomas 8 2-2 20, Warnecke 0 0-0 0, Moot 2 2-2 6, Huleatt 1 2-2 5, Bamba 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 2-4 2. Totals 24 17-21 69. BYRAM HILLS (73)—S. Sinon 9 4-7 27, DiSano 1 0-0 2, Goldman 3 2-2 11, Leff 13 4-8 31, Lorenzo 0 0-0 0, Friedman 0 0-1 0, Parrotta 0 2-4 2. Totals 26 12-22 73. Kingston 13 15 18 23—69 Byram Hills 10 19 23 21—73 3-point field goals: Thomas 2, Wright, Huleatt; Sinon 5, Goldman 3, Leff. Team records: Kingston 9-3; Byram Hills 11-3.