LOCH SHELDRAKE – Livingston Manor and Fallsburg finally got their turn to face off at SUNY Sullivan after their original February 3 game was postponed. The Wildcats put up a valiant effort, but Eugene Johnson and the Comets got hot at the right times to stave off any LM runs and take home a 59-38 victory.

The game started with a 4-1 run by the Wildcats, but Fallsburg was quick to answer with a 4-0 run and take the lead, and the two teams exchanged buckets for most of the quarter. By the end of the first, Fallsburg got out to a 13-10 lead. Daniel Tolbert, a key player on both sides of the court for Livingston Manor, got into foul trouble early, picking up three fouls and having to come out of the game in the first. Johnson took advantage of the mismatches, and the Comets outscored the Wildcats 21-12 in the second quarter for a 34-22 lead by halftime.

Livingston Manor made some defensive adjustments in the third, one such change resulted in two charges drawn by Tolbert against Johnson in the third quarter. Fallsburg quickly started on a 9-0 run, but Livingston Manor closed out on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 11 by the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth, Livingston Manor seemed to run out of gas, and Fallsburg’s offense kicked it into overdrive, outscoring their opponents 16-4 to extend the lead and earn the win.

The Comets, like the girls squad, is one win away from a Sectional berth with one game to go. They will be on the road against Mount Academy to close out the season.

“We knew we would have to play hard today, you can never take a team lightly,” Fallsburg coach Lionel White said after the game. “We started a bit slow but once we started working the ball inside we were able to pick it up.”

Eugene Johnson finished with 28 points for the Comets, with Carlos Alvarado adding 10 in the win. Livingston Manor was led by Daniel Tolbert with 12 points,  and Logan Park added 11 in the loss.

“I’m happy with how we played today,” LM coach Charlie Hicks said. “Our underclassmen got valuable minutes and it was a good look forward to the future and a good way to go out.”