The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Panther Coach Lilac Hits 250 Win Mark

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by Ben Gaines
Coach Mike Lilac received a commemorative blue and white ball honoring his 250th win for the 52-40 victory at Tamarac on January 4. On the 9th, Stillwater’s Coach, Dave Cook, had planned that they would make Lilac wait for #251. Cook scouted the Panthers during their 33-50 loss to Lake George on the 2nd and prepared his team well.
Stillwater’s John Hoin at 6’ scored 11 points while Shawn McNeil dominated the floor with 16 points for the Warriors. Shawn, at 6’3”, pulled down multiple rebounds and assists.
The Panthers’ Levi Brewster worked hard underneath, pulling down 8 defensive rebounds during the game. “I just watch the clock and the score a little,” said Levi. When told of his 8 rebounds he simply replied with a huge smile, “I didn’t think it was more than a couple.” Levi, typically a shy lad said, “We will need to work on our foul shots and our shooting.”
Roughly a quarter of the 15 foul shots were made and nearly 20 shot attempts were missed during the game. The first half ended  HF 10, Stillwater 16.
Lilac put the starters on the floor for the second half while Cook had his team on a full court, active press, forcing Lilac to finally call a time out to address the resulting multiple back court, time violations.
When Falls discovered that Stillwater runs deep, they decided to try the outside game, but it didn’t pan out. Andrew Hoag, a good scorer for the team, commented on his low points contribution for the evening, “I was really gun shy tonight.” Others would put up shots, but they failed to go through the hoop.
The Warriors worked like a well oiled machine, reading the floor well and using the entire arc to open driving and passing lanes to convert possessions to points.
During the second half Falls came back to within 5, just to see the Warriors go on the war path. The relentless Warriors had 5 shot attempts from one possession before making 2 points and won 42-30. Scoring for Falls were Jonny Whitman 3, Austin Pitt 8, Hoag, Brewster, Baker and Tutunjian with 4. The loss leaves the Panthers and Stillwater tied in the league in third place at 4 – 2.