Redemption and fulfillment two words that can sum up the feelings Notre Dame (13-5) players and fans felt as they mingled and talked at mid-court at Michael J. Walsh Gym. With ten seniors on the roster you can understand why players, coaches and parents lingered before leaving the Jugglers 65-55 win over the New Hartford Spartans behind. Can't imagine why Juggler nation did not want to hurry to look ahead.
After all several members of the senior class went out in style wrapping up a share of the Tri-Valley League East Crown by finishing with a (12-2) league mark the same record the Whitesboro Warriors ended their campaign with.
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It was also a night of redemption, as the Jugglers got even with the Spartans who whacked them pretty good, 77-66 back on January 21st. That game ended a four game losing streak, a long streak by Notre Dame standards. Fans and media members wondered what was wrong with the Jugglers.
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Wonder no more, speaking of Moore, Pat, was one of the sensational seniors who enjoyed his last regular season home game.
Moore, headed to Colgate to play for the Raiders next season saved his best for last, scoring 11 of is game high 18 points in the second half. Seven of those points came down the stretch in the fourth quarter, a time when players of his caliber tend to shine.
Moore tired to put an exclamation point on Senior Night by jamming a couple home but was unable to do so. What he did do, was sink five free throws to help hold off the, never say die, Spartans.
Dylan Davis played a key roll in tonight's 13th win of the season carrying the Jugglers on his shoulders scoring 9 of his 17 points in the first half as Coach John Randall and company employed a trapping zone defense that left Moore doubled and hounded no matter where he went.
(Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game Dylan Davis (44) follows thru on a first quarter three ball as New Hartford's Derek German (32) defends.)
Speaking of the Spartans, (9-5-11-7) the Spartan who upstaged all the upperclassmen was sophomore Derek German who lit up the Jugglers defense for 26 points while he slashed and spun his way to the hoop to help his team close out the third period with a 9-0 run to leave things undecided, all tied up 42-42.
German, scored 11 of those points in that heated third quarter New Hartford rally. Not only did he score 6 points but the super-soph also grabbed 14 rebounds.
As usual, these two teams went right after each other trying to establish dominance at a pace neither team could keep up for four quarters. In a game of runs New Hartford went on the first one outscoring the home team 8-3 in the first five minutes of the game.
The quick start came thanks two quick buckets by Derek German and a break-away bucket by Vinny Servadio. A long three by Dylan Davis tied things up at 8-8 as the quarter wound down.
(Jugglers senior Pat Moore (5) pushes the ball up the floor during his last regular season game at Michael Walsh Gymnasium.)
AJ Wolfanger closed out the first in style banging down a long range three to leave the Spartans up 11-8 after one.
The tide started to turn when Mike Durr inserted Spencer Ballard in to the lineup. With Ballard, Dylan Davis and Pat Moore roaming the baseline New Hartford had trouble finding a good shot inside and also found it hard to stop the tall trio on the defensive end.
Ballard hit twice from the field as did Dylan Davis and Pat Moore. While the Jugglers got hot the Spartans sputtered hit just once from the field in a five minute stretch of the second quarter.
Moore, hit a turn around jumper with 7:10 to go before the half and gave Notre Dame a lead it would not relinquish again. The hard charging Jugglers were up 7 when Dylan Davis made it 24-17 with 1:40 left until intermission.
(Spartans sophomore forward Derek German (32) puts up 2 of his game high 26 points late in the ball game as Notre Dame's Dylan Davis goes up to defend.)
Derek German cut the lead to a single point, 24-23 and then Mike Gaglianese picked off a Spartans pass and raced home in front of the field to put ND up 26-23 at the half.
Two more Notre Dame Seniors, Mike Hill and Mike Grace, got into the act as Notre Dame came out fired up and ready to put this one away. Grace hit from about 12 to make it 30-27 and Grace asserted himself inside hitting twice from the field.
Hill hooked up with Grace with a great inbound pass that allowed Grace, who ended up with 12 points on the night, to turn and lay one in off the glass with 5:30 left in the third.
(Spartans point guard AJ Wolfanger (24) works against Notre Dame counterpart Mike Rueter (3) late in the third quarter.) The Jugglers turned up the heat, pushing the lead to 9, 42-33, after Pat Moore completed a three-point play the old fashioned way.
After a ,timely, timeout called by John Randall, the Spartans summoned up all their will and went on a 9-0 run to glory that left the Spartans student section up and cheering and the score tied at 42-42 after three fast and furious quarters.
Back and forth we went in the fourth. A Mike Hill three that would test the limits of most shooters range, found its way home to make it 51-47 ND with 4:15 to go.
A mad dash down the left baseline by AJ Wolfanger left number 24 all alone to put up a pretty looking, from the hip, scoop shot to make it just a two point game 54-52 as the clock wound down to 1:50 to go.
(Notre Dame senior Mike Hill steps onto the court with his parents Michelle and Chris.)
That's as close as the visitors would get down the stretch as Pat Moore made the Spartans pay by sinking five free throws down the stretch to wrap up the ten point Senior Night win, 65-55.
As we left the Gym to head home ,the Notre Dame seniors, parents and coaches still milled about not wanting to leave Senior Night behind, who could blame them.
The ten, Notre Dame ,seniors honored tonight are: Spencer Ballard, Dylan Davis, Joe Diana, Mike Forte, Mike Grace, Mike Hill, Pat Moore, Roman Pendrak, Mike Reuter and Kevin Rowlands.
Both teams now await the Section III playoff pairings to see where the post season takes them. The announcement will come on Sunday.
Notre Dame 65 New Hartford 55
1 2 3 4 Total
New Hartford 11 12 19 13 55
Notre Dame 8 18 16 23 65
Leading Scorers:
New Hartford:
Derek German 26
Ammar Kaashmiri 10
Vinny Servadio 6
Calvin Floyd 5
AJ Wolfanger 5
Notre Dame:
Pat Moore 18
Dylan Davis 17
Mike Grace 12
Mike Hill 5
Spencer Ballard 4
Mike Gaglienese 4
