A Quick 60
The Challenge
MSGVarsity.com Sports Talk
High School SportsDesk
Pine Plains comes up "big" in second half
Follow Hudson Valley basketball on Twitter: @MSGVarsityKDJ
SPACKENKILL, N.Y. — Pine Plains didn’t bring its usual energy level in the first half against Spackenkill on Tuesday night. And the Bombers lacked the defensive intensity that’s keyed their perfect start.
Just about the only thing the Bombers brought to the game was something that, well, they physically can’t step on the floor without — their height.
Pine Plains, the biggest team in the Hudson Valley, completely dominated the interior in a 60-45 victory on the road. The Bombers outrebounded Spackenkill 53-23 and blocked six shots to improve to 14-0 on the season.
“Our defense was slow and our intensity was awful,” forward Tyler Lydon said. “Fortunately in the second half we picked up it.”
Pine Plains, the defending Section 9 Class C champions, fed the ball into the post and turned a five-point halftime lead into a comfortable finish.
The Bombers, who clinched the MHAL Division II title with the win, actually had more offensive rebounds (28) than Spackenkill (9-6) had overall.
That should be expected by a team that starts five players 6-foot-3 or bigger. The starting unit is 6-foot-9 Zach Lydon, 6-7 Tyler Lydon, 6-7 Adam Miller, 6-5 Rob Lamont and 6-3 Justin Cooper.
“We love it,” Tyler Lydon said. “We get a lot of reaction from opposing fans and even some of the players are like, ‘Man, you guys are really tall.’ We’re a big team and we play well together.”
The numbers showed it Tuesday. Tyler Lydon had a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Zach Lydon added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Rob Lamont had 13 points and nine rebounds. Miller had six points and 10 rebounds.
“We’re all big but we can really play pretty much anywhere,” Zach Lydon said. “A lot teams can’t handle the size, and we’ve got a lot of big guys who can handle the ball, too. That’s pretty tough to stop. It’s hard to box out five guys.
“We’ve been pulling off big board numbers,” Lamont said. “We have to rebound to win.”
Pine Plains will next play Red Hook, a top contender in Class A in Section 9, on Saturday. The Bombers have set a goal to finish the regular season undefeated. But their ultimate goal is to repeat as Section 9 champs and get another shot at the team that eliminated in the state tournament last season — Tuckahoe.
The Tigers are also unbeaten and a heavy favorite to win the Section 1 title.
“We really want to play them again,” Zach Lydon said. “We know their style. They want to get up and go. It would be tough. We’ll have to work hard in practice.”
Email Kevin Devaney Jr. at kdevaney@cablevision.com
Tri-State lacrosse Top 20: Week 7
HV/WE power rankings: Spring sports
All-Metro boys and girls basketball: 2012-13
All-HV/WE teams: Winter 2012-13
