Maple Hill Blasts Catskill - Lance Wheeler video

Tim Martin Columbia-Greene Media January 17, 2019 12:00 am CASTLETON -- For the first time this season the Maple Hill boys basketball team was faced with what amounted to a must-win situation. And with a share of first place in the Patroon Conference on the line Wednesday night, the Wildcats rose to the challenge, beating Catskill, 73-60, to pull even with the Cats at the top of the league standings. The Wildcats and Cats are now both 9-2 in the Patroon, with Hudson a game back at 8-3 and Chatham two off the pace at 7-4. "I woke up and I felt good today, and I told the guys that, too," Maple Hill coach Scott Hanrahan said. "Came in, the guys felt good, the energy was good in the lockerroom before the game and, obviously, they were ready to play tonight. Catskill's got some tough weapons and we did a good job focusing on that." The victory also avenges a 67-47 loss the Wildcats suffered to the Cats back on December 4. "We just flat played better on both ends of the floor tonight," Hanrahan said. "The first time we played it was between a five and nine-point game that just got out of hand at the end. Tonight, we just stayed with it. When they made a run to tie it up, we didn't fold, we came back and got some great hustle plays out of guys, some offensive rebounds, hit some jump shots and guys hit some big free throws down the stretch. We finished the game with toughness, which is what we've talked about all year." Hanrahan was especially team with his team's ball movement and unselfish play. "That's another thing we talk about," Hanrahan said. The last couple of games we've been very slow with the ball and we talked about it in practice on Tuesday. We just have to keep the ball moving and do what we do best. We are not an offensive juggernaut by any means. We don't have one guy that's going to go out and score 40, so we do it by 18, 12, 10, 8, 8, 8. That's when we're at our best. Our last two games we had 46 turnovers and 12 assists. Tonight, we had 13 and 13. It's a recipe for success." The Wildcats' top scorer, Nate Mannion, stepped up, pouring in 20 points and grabbing 18 rebounds -- eight on the offensive end -- despite playing most of the second half with foul trouble. "It was fun, we had to get that game, " Mannion said. "We know, offensively, Catskill is a very dominant team. Justice Brantley and Devon Haye, they're going to get their points, they're going to get inside, so we had to be smart. Unfortunately, some of our big guys got into foul trouble early, but luckily, we were able to power through that. A lot of people stepped up in big ways and got their points and got their rebounds, got their blocks, everything." Quinn Pratico played what might have been his best game of the season, finishing with 20 points and coming up clutch in the fourth quarter, picking up the offensive slack when Mannion went to the bench with his fourth foul. "Quinn really stepped up in the second half for us tonight," Hanrahan said. "That's probably one of his best games where we needed him in a big spot." The Wildcats took control of the game early and never trailed, going up 15-12 after one quarter and widening the gap to 34-29 at halftime and 49-44 after three quarters. Catskill battled back and drew even at 49-49 with a mini 5-0 run to start the final quarter, but every time it seemed as though the Cats were about to seize control of the game, Maple Hill had an answer. The Cats were still within 63-60 with 1:38 to play, but the Wildcats closed the show with a 10-0 run to ice the victory. Rian Jewett added 11 points to Maple Hill's attack. Evan Kulpa contributed nine. Justice Brantley had 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for Catskill. Devon Haye and Bervonis Donely each had 12 points and Melik Christian nine. Haye also grabbed 10 rebounds. With just five league games left to play and four teams with a legitimate shot at winning the title, the final three weeks of the regular season promise to interesting. "The top teams in the league are very competitive and they all present different problems," Hanrahan said. "Chatham and us are very similar, defensive oriented, long, no great scorers, just battlers. Hudson and Catskill have prolific scorers out on the floor to make it tough for you. It's a great dynamic to come into games and I'm glad we've got all three of those teams out of the way now." Maple Hill travels to Catskill on Friday at 6:30 p.m., while Catskill returns to action on Saturday to host Cairo-Durham at 5:30 p.m. CATSKILL (60): Christian 3-0-9, Gibbs 1-4-6, Brantley 7-1-17, Donely 5-2-12, Scott 1-2-4, Haye 5-2-12. Totals 22-11-60. 3-pointers: Christian 3, Brantley 2. MAPLE HILL (73): Kulpa 3-3-9, Jewett 4-1-11, Hirschoff 1-0-3, Decker 1-2-5, Pratico 6-7-20, Hanrahan 2-1-5, Mannion 8-4-20. Totals 25-18-73. 3-pointers: Jewett 2, Hirschoff, Decker, Pratico.