The Catskill Chronicle

Homeward Bound. Seward’s David Oliver races up court.

Story and photos by Ted Waddell

LIBERTY – And the winner took all.

Liberty’s Brandon Tompkins goes up for ‘two’.

On Saturday night January 9, the Spartans of S.S. Seward (7-0) defeated the Liberty Indians (3-5) in the championship match of the First Annual Liberty High School New Year’s Tournament 50-45.

A lot of ‘first’s’. In the first minute of competition, Liberty’s Eddie Byrd scored the first bucket of the game, but then the Spartans fought back to take the lead until the game was tied 11-11 at the end of the first frame.

A lot of ‘third’s’. In the second period, Seward outpaced the Indians 16-10, while in the third frame both teams fought to a 10-10 point-wise tie, the Spartans taking a 37-31 lead at the end of the third period although at about the five minute mark in the third Liberty shaved Seward’s lead to a single bucket (29-27).

Calling Ground Control. Liberty’s Danny Anderson and Seward’s David Oliver head for the deck.

In the race to the checkered flag, the Spartans got to the finish line despite a last ditch effort by the home team on their home turf in front of a good crowd comprised of fans from both sides of the bench.

Liberty’s top guns: Herman Drayton (13 points including two ‘3’s’), Eddie Byrd (11 points), and contributing ‘three’s’ to the cause were Eddie Soto (1) and Chris Soto (2).

Seward; David Oliver (14 points), Justin Sinisi (11 points and three ‘3’s), and from outside the arch Rob Gorski (2), Scott Glowaczwiske (2) and Taylor Steele (1).

Stats from the free throw line: Seward 12/17 (71%), Liberty 6/13 (46%).

“I could do without my two point guards getting hurt in the same game,” said Rob Gravelle, coach of the Spartans, noting that Taylor Steele and David Oliver came off the bench to fill in those critical slots during the heat of battle.

“I give credit to Taylor Steele and Dave Oliver’s, who’s the man,” praised Gravelle.  “We needed him to handle the ball and he did that too.”

Up Court. Liberty’s Eddie Soto drives past Seward’s Rob Gorski.

Oliver scored 14 points for Seward, leading his team as top gun in the points department.

Gravelle’s take on the newest tournament on the block?

“This was good stuff, a good atmosphere, and I’ll guarantee we’ll be back next year.”

Seward’s scoring attack was fairly balanced between ‘two’s’ and ‘three’s’ from outside the paint: 7 ‘two’s’ and 8 ‘three’s’.

Jason Semo, Liberty’s hard charging athletic director and boy’s varsity hoops coach, said his starters and subs played their hearts out, and added of his subs, “the guys who came in off the bench tonight played fantastic…they made stuff happen.”

Liberty’s Eddie Byrd wings his way to the basket.

“I’m so proud of our team tonight, how well they played.”

With about five minutes remaining of the game clock, Semo unleashed a bit of character building advice to his horses as they began to falter going down the stretch, and in a post-game interview said he told them, “We’re not looking for excuses, we’re in control of our own destiny…the biggest thing is answering the call.”

“We had a lot of great opportunities tonight, but the ball fell; for them and it didn’t fall for us.”

The term “Respect” is a big deal at Liberty High these days; you see it on a lot of posters on the walls around school and emblazoned on tee-shirts up in the stands.

Asked why he set up the First Annual Liberty High School New Year’s Tournament, Semo replied, “I know what tournaments bring to a community…everyone walked out of here with a lot of respect.”

Richard Ross of Sports Insights New York (www.SportsInsightsNY.com) a popular online source of daily articles, blogs, photos and sports profiles.

One thing that made the tourney unique was that it featured four boy’s varsity basketball teams from four different OCIAA Class high schools against each other: Monticello (Class A), Liberty (Class B), Seward (Class C) and Livingston Manor (Class D).

In Friday’s opening round of the tournament, Seward beat Monticello 70-40, while Liberty defeated Livingston Manor 70-38.

Picked for the tourney’s All-Star Team: Jesse Kapito (Monticello), Troy Correa (Livingston Manor), Herman Drayton (Liberty), Taylor Steele (Seward) and David Oliver (Seward).

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Spartans Edge Indians in Tourney Championship visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.