FONDA —Playing on their home court for the first time this season the Fonda-Fultonville Braves turned in their best outing of the young season.
Despite the solid overall performance, the Braves could not overcome a strong Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons press that forced multiple turnovers leading to an 80-67 Western Athletic Conference victory for the Golden Knights Friday at Fonda-Fultonville High School.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our kids,” FFCS coach Eric Wilson said. “That is as good as we have played this year in terms of our intensity and our execution was solid. The first couple of games we weren’t there yet. I feel we grew up a lot as a team tonight. I think that if this shows what’s to come, I am happy.”
Fonda-Fultonville got a big first quarter from 6-foot-4 junior Nik Couture as he connected for seven of his game-high 25 points.
However, the Golden Knights got eight points from Arnori Poole and seven turnovers to take an early 21-11 lead.
Bishop Gibbons turned up the pressure with its full-court press, turning turnovers into baskets to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
“I felt that in the first half that there were a lot of steals that were like a ‘Pick Six,’ ” Wilson said. “They were steals for layups instead of steals and then us setting our defense.. That hurts.”
The Braves took better control of the ball in the third quarter and twice cut the Golden Knights lead down to single digits only to have Bishop Gibbons come up with a 3-pointer to turn the momentum back in their favor.
“If we could have gotten a stop. I feel like when we got it to 11 or nine then they would hit that three and that hurts,” Wilson said. “It is kind of a back breaker.”
Couture continue his hot shooting in the third quarter, hitting for eight of the Braves’ 24 points in the quarter, while Zyir Beverly countered with 12 of the Golden Knights’ 21 third-quarter points.
The Braves made another run at Bishop Gibbons early in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 11 with 3:30 left to play but the Golden Knights matched Fonda-Fultonville basket-for-basket to secure the 80-67 victory.
“That is a very quick, very athletic team. They get up and down and are tough,” Wilson said. “I thought, for the most part, we did a decent job but in a game like that there were just too many turnovers. I thought we were better in the second half, as far as turnovers go, but a team like that; you give them that many turnovers, they are going to win.”
Beverly finished with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Poole hit four 3-pointers in his 21-point effort. Nacier Hundley added 15 points, while Kyle Dikeman chipped in with 11. The Golden Knights recorded 21 turnovers in the game, 15 of which came in the first half.
Couture finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds for Fonda-Fultonville (0-3 overall), while Stiven Florez connected for 11 second-half points to finish with 13 and Dan Parslow joined them in double-digits with 11 points.
“Nik Couture was fantastic tonight. That was as good as I have seen him play,” Wilson said. “Stiven Florez also stepped up today. They played the way I know they are capable of playing. In the first couple of games they haven’t played bad but they haven’t played like that. If we can get them to play like that every game for 32 minutes I will take that.”
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 80, Fonda-Fultonville 67
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 21 14 21 24 — 80
Fonda-Fultonville 11 10 24 22 — 67
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons
Hundley 6-2-15, Coleman 1-0-2, Poole 8-1-21, Gosh 1-0-2, Dikeman 4-1-11, Sexton 1-4-6, Beverly 10-2-23. Totals: 30-10-80.
Fonda-Fultonville
Geniti 0-3-3, Epting 1-5-8, Parslow 5-1-11, Couture 11-3-25, Florez 4-5-13, Oertel 1-0-2, DiCaprio 2-1-5. Totals: 24-18-67.
3-point goals: Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 10 (Armoni Poole 4, Zyir Beverly 3, Kyle Dikeman 2, Nacier Hundley); Fonda-Fultonville 1 (Chris Epting).
WAC
Northville 56, Galway 39
NORTHVILLE — Lucas Jetty finished with 21 points to lead Northville to a Western Athletic Conference victory over Galway.
The Falcons jumped out to an 18-3 lead after one quarter on their way to the victory.
Danny Reidell scored 18 points for Northville (2-0 overall, 1-0 WAC), while Michael Kalkbrenner finished with nine.
Quinn Smith scored 11 points to lead Galway (2-2 overall, 0-2 WAC), while Thor White added 10.
Northville 56, Galway 39
Galway 3 7 13 16 — 39
Northville 18 9 11 18 — 56
Galway
White 3-3-10, Restivo 3-0-6, Smith 4-0-11, Brownell 3-0-6, Sowle 2-0-4, Matthews 0-2-2. Totals 15-5-39.
Northville
D. Reidell 3-10-18, Kalkbrenner 3-2-9, N. Reidell 1-0-2, Jetty 9-3-21, Ryan 2-0-4, Klingbeil 1-0-2. Totals 19-15-60.
3-point goals: Galway 4 (Smith 3, White); Northville 3 (D. Reidell 2, Kalkbrenner).
Center State Conference
Frankfort-Schuyler 62, Dolgeville 45
FRANKFORT — Jimmy Luther finished with 22 points to power Frankfort-Schuyler to a victory over Dolgeville.
Brandon Walker added 11 points for the Maroon Knights.
Shawn McGraw and Zach Smith each scored 11 points for Dolgeville (1-3 overall, 0-1 CSC), while Nick Nagle added 10 points.
Non-league
Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville 47, Fort Plain 40
FORT PLAIN — Devyn Jones scored 18 points to lead Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville to a victory over Fort Plain.
A.J. Hayes scored 16 points for the Wolfpack (2-0 overall).
Jacob Hisert hit six 3-pointers to finish with 18 points for Fort Plain, while Nate Florian added 10 points.
Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville 47, Fort Plain 40
Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville 17 11 9 10 — 47
Fort Plain 9 4 7 20 — 40
Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville
Brundage 1-0-3, Smith 1-0-2, Mosher 1-0-2, Jones 5-6-18, Hayes 5-6-16, Brado 1-0-2, Leon 1-0-2, Sanchez 1-0-2. Totals 16-12-47.
Fort Plain
Florian 3-4-10, Hisert 6-0-18, Thibodeau 0-2-2, Yacowenia 3-0-6, D. Nare 1-0-2, Logan 0-2-2. Totals 13-8-40.
3-point goals: Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville 3 (Jones 2, Brundage); Fort Plain 6 (Hisert).
Green Tech 69, Amsterdam 61
AMSTERDAM — Marcus Friend scored 24 points to lead Green Tech to a non-league victory over Amsterdam.
Amil Rodriguez finished with 12 points for the Eagles, while Tyler Dobbs added 11.
Anthony Aponte scored 17 points to lead Amsterdam (0-2 overall), while Dale Stanavich and Willie Brown each scored 13.
Robbie Spagnola added 10 points for the Rams.
Green Tech 69, Amsterdam 61
Green Tech 12 14 20 23 — 69
Amsterdam 14 10 12 19 — 55
Green Tech
Currie 3-0-6, Dobbs 3-2-11, Ford 1-4-6, Friend 8-6-24, Holmes 1-2-4, Rodriguez 5-2-12, Russell 0-2-2, Varmah 0-4-4. Totals 21-22-69.
Amsterdam
Aponte 4-7-17, Brown 2-1-7, Fedullo 3-0-6, Green 1-0-2, Spagnola 3-2-8, Stanavich 5-3-15. Totals 18-13-55.
3-point goals: Green Tech 5 (Dobbs 3, Friend 2); Amsterdam 6 (Aponte 2, Brown 2, Stanavich 2).
