FALLSBURG – “It’s frustrating, because I feel like they’re getting there. They go out there and they give 100 percent every day and I just want it to equate to more wins for them, especially the seniors. We’re two competitive teams, against each other, it’s just sad that we came up short on two games against them [the Bulldogs], said Fallsburg Head Coach Daniel Redmond. This is the third time the two teams have met with the Comets coming up short in two of those meetings. 

After the senior presentations and festivities ended, the game was under way. By the looks of it the Comets were nothing short of fired up during the opening minutes of the game scoring off fast breaks and on the perimeter. But the Bulldogs would nearly even the score, 19-18 at the halftime buzzer. The Bulldogs struggled at the free-throw line in the first half, making only 51 percent of their attempts to end the night. However, they seemed to turn it around late when the game was on the line. The Bulldogs came out aggressively after the break. Head Coach Ronj Padu said, “I told them that we just had to clean up a few things like turnovers, rebounding, and this game would be ours. When you do all the little stuff it translates, and they came out and played a hard second half.”

Calvin Powell, Seamus Johnston, and Alec Hubert hit clutch free-throws for the Bulldogs late in the game. The Fallsburg Comets shot a solid 75 percent from the line but too many turnovers saw the home team working from a point of disadvantage in the final minutes of play. “Untimely turnovers…at times when we couldn’t afford to turn the ball over,” said Coach Redmond. 

It was a close contest all the way through, but in the end the Bulldogs had more bite and came away with a 56-51 win over the Comets. Despite their loss Xavier Young of the Comets led all scorers with 24 points and Calvin Powell led the Bulldogs with 16. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play O’Neill on the road tonight at 6 pm, while the Comets have another chance to win on their home court against Chester Academy at 6 pm.