By BOB GOETZ
PLATTSBURGH — Section VII's hopes for regional success in basketball are down to two boys' teams — Plattsburgh High and Ticonderoga.
PHS (17-4) travels to Troy tonight to take on Fonda-Fultonville (22-0) in a Class B contest at 6 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College. Ticonderoga (7-12) will await the winner of tonight's Maple Hill/Brushton-Moira game with the regional final set for 4 p.m. Saturday at SUNY Potsdam.
Chris Hartmann's Hornets will be making their third appearance in the regionals in four years. Hartmann would rather forget the 2008 game when player contract violations deprived the Hornets of three starters and talk about the 2007 contest, also played at Hudson Valley.
A last-second shot lifted Watervliet to a 49-47 victory over PHS, a game the Hornets could have won but for a 15-for-25 effort at the foul line.
"It was funny, the newspapers called it Watervliet's worst game, but their coach came in our locker room afterward and told us we gave them their most competitive game all season," Hartmann recalled.
"Section VII basketball doesn't get a lot of respect. You have to play with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, know you belong there."
The regionals are certainly not new to several Hornets, who experienced play at that level either with the soccer or baseball team.
"A lot of these kids have been there, so it shouldn't be new to them," Hartmann added.
"We won an AAU tournament at Hudson Valley last summer and six of those kids on the team are on the varsity team."
The Fonda-Fultonville Braves are in uncharted territory. They have never been to regional play; in fact, they last won a sectional title in 1970.
But they've been knocking on the door the last five years and finally, broke in last Saturday with a 62-54 triumph over Watervliet.
"A lot of people down there say they (Fonda-Fultonville) play in a weak league, but whether that's true or not, they have beaten some good teams in the sectionals," Hartmann pointed out.
"I think they're a little bit like us, only taller, averaging six-foot-two for the starting five.
"They like to push the ball and rely on man-to-man defense. They don't go to zone unless they need to and that's been our philosophy, too."
Six-foot-one senior guard Brandon Mercado leads the Braves, averaging 18.1 points per game, while Seth Hidee, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, chips in for 14.3 a contest and is coming off an MVP performance in the Section II Class B tournament. He scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win over Watervliet.
"Our biggest worry right now is stopping Mercado, he has 46 3-pointers," Hartmann continued. "They also have a good inside game."
Mercado isn't the only outside threat. Fonda-Fultonville has converted 126 3-pointers with 6-foot-4 James Sheehan next with 27 and 5-9 guard Kyle Hanson contributing 22.
Tyler Hall doesn't usually start for the Braves, but has hit some clutch shots and also had 16 treys.
"We have to play a complete game," Hartmann stressed. "Our conditioning and fullcourt defense have been strong points for us. We play good transition basketball and we can shoot and drive. But we have to do a better job than we did against AuSable Valley (a 65-54 win in the Section VII Class B final) last Saturday. They (AuSable) were smaller, but they outrebounded us. They were scrappy.
"We need to take a lesson from them and be the aggressor."
Ticonderoga has bye
The Ticonderoga Sentinels will have the bye and will need to win only one game to reach the Final Four, but first-year coach Matt Cossey doesn't expect tonight's survivor between Brushton-Moira and Maple Hill to be any worse for wear come Saturday.
"I don't think it will matter. With these regional games, the adrenalin is flowing, teams are well prepared and they're ready to play on back-to-back days," Cossey said.
The Sentinels' coach doesn't have a preference for an opponent, either.
"We're preparing for both of them," he added. "Actually, the hardest part for us has been the long stretch between games. We had a good scrimmage yesterday (Wednesday) with Plattsburgh, but it's not like playing a game."
The Sentinels (7-11) had almost two weeks off before the Section VII Class C championship game, in which they defeated Seton Catholic 58-29.
Ticonderoga struggled offensively during the regular season, but showed signs of life late in the campaign.
"We just recently started to click on offense," Cossey continued.
Nick Mars, who netted 19 in the sectional win, has led the Ticonderoga offensive surge.
"Nick has come on strong of late. We have a couple of other guys with the potential to have big games offensively."
Robert Kearns leads the team in scoring, averaging 9.9 a contest, while Mars figures for 7.5 and Nate Lenhart, 7.0.
Tanner Purkey has been Ticonderoga's top perimeter shooter, with 11 3-pointers, while Kearns has nailed 10.
The Sentinels have played a pretty decent man-to-man defense.
"We basically have to because we rebound so poorly out of the zone," Cossey admitted. "We're so undersized, we can't afford to give away anything.
"Maple Hill has one guy who is 6-foot-5. If we play them, we have to keep him off the glass. They're very athletic and they like to get in the lane. We need to make them beat us from the outside."
Cossey is concerned his team, for lack of competition lately, may start out flat Saturday.
"We haven't played much and I worry about us coming out flat," he acknowledged. "If we do, we have to weather the storm and come back. We're used to clawing our way back. But it sure would be nice to lead by four rather than trail by four for a change."
Boys' Class B (6 p.m.)
Hudson Valley CC
Plattsburgh High (17-4)
Playergpfgfttpave.
Kyle LaPoint191096028014.7
Kyle Knight21968529514.0
Tre Bucci21864323411.1
Jordan Knight2057181577.9
Justin Curtis2057171316.6
3-point goals
J. Knight26Bucci18K. Knight16
Fonda-Fultonville (22-0)
Playerht. gptpave.
Brandon Mercado6-12239918.1
Seth Hiddee6-42231414.3
James Sheehan6-4221707.7
Luke Nethaway6-3221697.7
Kyle Hanson5-9221446.5
3-point goals
Mercado41Sheehan 27
Hanson 22Tyler Hall16
Boys' Class C (Saturday, 4 p.m.)
SUNY Potsdam
Ticonderoga (7-12)
Playergpfgfttpave.
Robert Kearns1761361689.9
Nick Mars1748311277.5
Nate Lenhart1539201057.0
Tanner Purkey183614985.4
Dylan Overbeek184015955.3
3-point goals
Purkey11Kearns10
Brushton-Moira (12-9)
Playergpfgfttpave.
Josh Sevey211547041119.6
John Green2180272089.9
Jason Aubrey2155241346.4
Zach Lyon2153111175.6
Adrian Martin2140261075.1
3-point goals
Sevey33Green 21
Evan Tavernia 6
