By JAMES A. ELLIS
JOHNSTOWN — With all five of their starters scoring in double digits, the Amsterdam Rams got their season off to a fast start.
Led by Ceasar Thompson’s 32-point performance, the Rams turned back Section III contender New Hartford 85-72 at the Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-off Classic Saturday at Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
“I am proud of the boys,” Amsterdam varsity boys basketball coach Tim Jones said of his veteran squad. “We were moving. Sometimes it was more like a track meet. A lot of maturity was shown from last year to this game.”
New Hartford got a quick advantage as senior Zachary Philipkoski converted a pair of free throws on a technical foul against Amsterdam during warm-ups. The Rams were unfazed, putting together a 10-3 run en route to building a 24-18 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
After scoring 10 first-quarter points, Amsterdam forward Alec Bartone spent most of the second quarter on the bench with foul trouble and the Spartans took advantage of the opening to cut the Rams’ lead to two late in the quarter. Victor Dueno hit a 3-pointer and Jhai Vellon delivered a basket off a turnover in the final seconds to put the halftime score at 45-38 in favor of the Rams.
The Amsterdam defense forced the Spartans into taking highly contested shots and turnovers in the third quarter. Thompson converted on six of eight free throws in the quarter and Dueno hit a pair of three-pointers to help Amsterdam outscore New Hartford 18-9 and take a 63-47 lead into the final quarter.
“I felt we were aggressive and we are very versatile on defense,” Jones said. “We can guard one through five. It was all the guys; they were excited to play. When you have that commitment, good things happen.”
The Rams maintained their lead in the final eight minutes to post the 85-72 non-league victory.
Philipkoski led all scorers with his 36-point performance, while Jameson Stockwell hit 12 fourth-quarter points to bring his game total to 19.
Thompson’s 32 points included a 12-for-14 effort at the free-throw line. Vellon added 17 points while JaShean Vann and Bartone finished with 12 points apiece and Dueno added 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
New Hartford and Amsterdam both connected for six 3-pointers in the game, while the Spartans were 12-for-16 from the free-throw line and the Rams finished 17-for-21.
Amsterdam (1-0) will open Foothills Council play Tuesday at Johnstown before hosting Gloversville in a league contest Friday. New Hartford (1-1) will travel to play Whitesboro on Friday.
New Hartford 18 20 9 25 — 72
Amsterdam 24 21 18 22 — 85
New Hartford scoring: Stockwell 7-3-19, Philipkoski 13-9-36, Suriano 2-0-6, Beaton 2-0-5, Christiano 1-0-2, Weller 2-0-4. Amsterdam scoring: Vann 5-1-12, Thompson 9-12-32, Bartone 6-0-12, Vellon 7-3-17, Dueno 4-0-11, Santos 0-1-1. Team totals: New Hartford 27-12-72; Amsterdam 31-17-85.
