O'Neill 74

Sullivan West 45

LAKE HUNGTINGTON- “When sorrows come, they come not (as) single spies, but in battalions.”

In just so many words did Hamlet inform his close friend Horatio of the way things seem to pile on when adversity strikes in the iconic Shakespearean tragedy.

While Hamlet was dealing with truly grim insults to his princely existence including the murder of his father by his uncle, his mother's hasty marriage to that same scoundrel, the suicide of his love Ophelia and the ever-snooping presence of Ophelia's father Polonius who Hamlet unwittingly stabs behind a tapestry, the basketball coaches across the county are dealing with their own troubles, though admittedly not nearly as somber.

Of course there was the extended delay to the start of the season which followed months of uncertainty. Add to that the mandated restrictions, the sharply abbreviated season, the exigencies of the weather and now, as in the case of several districts including Sullivan West, the incidence of a positive tested individual in the school for the Coronavirus prompting the quarantining of others who came in contact with that person.

So it was that Sullivan West Coach John Meyer had to face Class B O'Neill without four of his players as if the task of taking on the Raiders wasn't already daunting enough.

The result was not surprising as the initial six-point deficit at the end of the first quarter burgeoned to a 29-point loss by game's end. Meyer brought up four J.V. players to fill in the gap and to their credit,

“They played very well,” noted Meyer. “It was cool to see them get their first varsity points,” he added, referencing Jaymes Buddenhagen who scored three, William Nearing who also posted three, Andrew Hubert who provided six points and Rodney Wilson who netted two.

“Senior Ryan Mace was super on the defensive end and led the Bulldogs with 13 points,” asserted Meyer. Jason Lowe had eight. M.I.A. were Dan Hemmer, Justin LeConey, Tariq Gambari and Dylan Sager.

“I'm very proud of all my guys,” Meyer said despite the outcome. Turnovers were in no short supply by either team, something which is always prevalent at the start of a season. That mishandling has been made worse by a year's absence on the hardwood in competitive games. O'Neill led by seven at the half but went on a big run in the third quarter resulting in a 58-36 lead by the end of the third stanza.

The Raiders got 15 apiece by Antwon Lewis, Bryan Jones and Hector Burgos. Sullivan West fell to 1-2 as a result of the non-league fray.