Panther Varsity Hoopsters Shut Down WASAREN Leading Scorer

by Ben Gaines
Coach Mike Lilac Jr. and the boys Varsity Basketball team, tied for fourth with Tamarac in the WASAREN League, hosted Granville, who are in a three way tie for last. The plan was simple; to add to their win column they needed to play the Horde hard and find a way to shut down Jared Beattie. Beattie, the Horde’s scoring machine, leads the WASAREN League with a 27.8 point per game average; he had a season low of 23 against Hoosic Valley Wednesday night. Levi Brewster and Beattie went up for the tip, with Brewster edging out Beattie.
Brewster continued to burn up the court for the first quarter with 7 points while Tutunjian scored the other three. Granville struggled to get 4 points.
During the second quarter Andrew Hoag, Taylor Baker, Evan Phillips and Austin Pitt joined in the scoring and only allowed Fournier 2 and Beattie 9 to end the half at 26-11 in favor of the Falls.
Lilac went through the relief players in the second half with every single player getting time on the floor and a crack at the Horde.  By the end of the game nearly every Falls player shot the ball, and most had at least one rebound. Randy Tutunjian, Austin Pitt, Levi Brewster and Cody Gaines had rebounds on both offensive and defensive boards, defensive turnovers and shot attempts.
The Panther defense did what was necessary to win the game – shut down Beattie. Beattie was held to his new season low of 17 points, five being foul shots.
Scorers for Falls were Randy Tutunjian and Taylor Baker with 9 points each, Evan Phillips with 8, Levi Brewster with 7, Derek Bird, Austin Pitt and John-Curtis Whitman with 6 each, Andrew Hoag with 4 and Josh Brogue with 2.  When the final horn sounded it was Panthers 57 and Horde 31. The game was physical and both teams have marks to show for their hard work. The win advances the Panthers’ record to 2 – 1 in the League, 2-2 overall. They will be heading to Cambridge on the 19th for the last scheduled game before the holiday.