Beavers, Patriots take home FL basketball titles

The Sackets Harbor and Beaver River boys basketball teams continued the season-long dominance of their respective divisions Wednesday night at Jefferson Community College.

Zach Allen scored a season-high 28 points to lead the top-seeded Patriots past No. 3 Lyme, 76-62, to improve to 18-0 and claim their second straight “D” Division playoff championship.

The No. 1 Beavers used a big third-quarter run to seize control of the “C” Division championship game before defeating No. 2 Thousand Islands, 57-47. Beaver River also repeated as playoff champions.

SACKETS HARBOR 76, LYME 62

Allen, a 6-foot-1 senior, went 10-for-13 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Fellow senior Zach D’Alessandro scored 20 points, and junior Cameron Allen added 18 for Sackets Harbor. Zach and Cameron Allen each hit three 3-point field goals.

The trio combined for all of Sackets Harbor’s points in the first half.

“For us, points don’t really matter,” Zach Allen said. “We know any one of us can score a lot on any given night.”

The Patriots wrapped up their perfect league season beating their divisional opponents by more than 26 points per game.

“It definitely was one of our goals to get through the season undefeated,” Sackets Harbor coach Jeff Robbins said. “A tremendous amount of credit goes to these boys, they’ve worked hard and they continue to work harder every day in practice. We’re getting better and better.”

Sackets Harbor, the top-ranked Class D team in the state, is expected to receive the top seed and a first-round bye in the Section 3 playoffs. Seeds will be released on Sunday.

“In the sectionals, we have to think it’s 0-0 and the start of a new league,” D’Alessandro said. “We have to play like there’s no (favored) teams and go hard in practice.”

Troy Wilson hit a three to cut the Patriots lead to 11 with two minutes, 18 seconds left. A Dakota Booth 3-pointer cut the Sackets Harbor lead to 69-60 with over a minute left, but the clock ran out before the Indians (11-7) could truly threaten a comeback.

“We got to go back to work and work hard tomorrow at practice,” Zach Allen said. “We got to work on our defense, the second half showed it. We just have to keep working and keep on trucking.”

Marshall Smith and Colton Belcher added five points apiece for the Patriots.

Troy Wilson led the Indians with 16 points, but made just 5-of-22 shots from the field. Dakota Booth scored 13 points, Darius Reed added 13 and Angelo Williams provided 11.

Booth and Reed each connected on three 3-pointers.

BEAVER RIVER 57, THOUSAND ISLANDS 47

Sam Widrick scored 20 points and the Beavers went on an 11-0 run midway through the third quarter to turn a one-point lead into a commanding 38-26 advantage. It was their 14th straight win.

“We got our press going (in the second half),” Beaver River coach Lynn Petzoldt said. “Not that we forced a lot of turnovers off of it, but I think it got them out of their offense. It forced them into some tougher shots.”

“We came out so flat, we had to pick our intensity up,” Widrick said. “(Then) we slowed them down a lot and our offense developed more.”

Alex Hall finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Beaver River (16-2).

“Alex Hall’s shot-blocking ability and rebounding makes a big difference in our defense,” Petzoldt said. “He kind of anchors us.”

Adam Schneider scored 13 points for the Beavers and Trevor Lehman added eight points and three assists.

Beaver River went 8-0 within the “C” Division this season, including the playoffs, with a 14.6-point average margin of victory.

“They just played well,” Thousand Islands coach Scott Lalonde said. “They outrebounded us, they outplayed us in the third quarter for about a four-minute stretch and we got down about 12 or 15 and had trouble getting back in the game. They’re good. They played well.”

The Beavers should receive a high seed and could get a No. 1 when sectional seeds come out.

“Last year we wanted to go farther, and then (Syracuse Academy of Science) really handed the beating to us,” Hall said. “So this year we want to get back to it.”

Junior guard Reed Donnelly scored 18 points to lead the Vikings (9-9) and eighth-grader Quincy Aubertine added 15.