BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

The Montrose boys collected the Susquehanna County 2014 title in a rematch of last year’s final game with Elk Lake.

Montrose High School hosted the 2014 Susquehanna County Christmas Basketball Tournament on Friday, December 26 and Saturday, December 27. The boys varsity basketball teams from Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Montrose, and Susquehanna participated in the annual two-day event.

First round
Elk Lake vs. Susquehanna
The defending champions, the Elk Lake Warriors took on the Susquehanna Sabers in the first game on Friday night. Bailey Newhart came out swinging for the Warriors by sinking two of his three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Ben Woolcock added seven more points for Elk Lake. Christian Miller matched Newhart’s six points for the Sabers with two field goals and two foul shots. When the first eight minute quarter ended, Elk Lake was on top 22-13.

The Sabers matched the Warriors in the second quarter with each team scoring 12 points. The score at half time was Elk Lake 34, Susquehanna 25.

Susquehanna got into foul trouble during the third quarter, which gave away seven points to the Warriors from the charity stripe. Elk Lake only had one foul called on them during the quarter and only gave away one point in foul shots. This made a big difference in the quarter because it helped Elk Lake pull away further by outscoring Susquehanna 18-7. By the end of the third quarter the Warriors were up by 20.

In the last quarter the Sabers outscored the Warriors 18-14, helped along by 3-pointers from Zachary Collins and Austin Felter as well as seven more points from Miller. On the other end of the court 3-pointers were scored by Dalton Sherman and Cole Tyler. Elk Lake was able to secure their victory and once again return to the Championship Game on Saturday with a final score of 66-50.

Woolcock was the high scorer for Elk Lake with 15 points, followed by Newhart with 14, and Sherman with 12. For Susquehanna, Miller was the points leader with 15, followed by Tyler Williams with 14.

Montrose vs.
Blue Ridge
The second game of the tournament had the Montrose Meteors and the Blue Ridge Raiders squaring off with the victor earning the opportunity to face Elk Lake in the Championship Game on Saturday.

Jack Fruehan was a force to be reckoned with for the Meteors. He couldn’t miss from under the basket. He scored 10 points in the first quarter and was helped along by teammates Troy Ely with five, Austin Smith with four, and Andrew Bickford with two which had Montrose leading the Raiders 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, it was Austin Darrow’s turn to make a statement for Blue Ridge. He matched Fruehan’s 10 points and bested him by one foul shot for 11 points. He also had help from teammate, Michael Allen who sunk a 3-pointer and outscore the Meteors 12-10 in the second quarter. It wasn’t enough to make up for the first quarter, but it kept the Raiders in the game and gave them a boost of confidence going into half time.

The game was fairly evenly matched during the third quarter with only a three point difference between the two teams. Montrose outscored the Raiders 16-13, to increase their lead at the end of the third quarter 47-32.

The final quarter was a battle of the big men under the basket with Darrow and Fruehan fighting for rebounds and points. Fruehan scored three baskets and Darrow scored two, but Darrow went two for two from the foul line and Fruehan went one for three. Defensively, Fruehan blocked Darrow three times on consecutive shots, preventing him from adding to his total.

Allen also came up big for the Raiders by sinking two deep 3-pointers and Ely went four for four from the foul line, which made him a perfect six for six from the line in the game. Blue Ridge outscored Montrose 19-15 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough. Montrose claimed the 62-51 victory and advanced to the Championship Game to take on Elk Lake.

Consolation round
Blue Ridge vs. Susquehanna
Saturday’s Consolation Game between Susquehanna and Blue Ridge was a nail biter. Blue Ridge took an early lead ending the first quarter with at 15-6 lead.

The Sabers did not take it lightly and came roaring back in the second quarter to bring the game within three points by half time.

Brady Towner came up big for the Sabers, scoring 10 points in the quarter, Tyler Williams added four, Garrett Grausgruber, Austin Felter, and Luke Falletta scored a basket each to give the Sabers 20 points in the second quarter.

At the other end of the court, Darrow scored five, Austin Harper had four, Ty Herbert three, and Jarred Mills two points to keep the 29-26 edge for the Raiders going into half time.

After half time the intensity increased as Falletta scored a go-ahead three pointer to give the Sabers their first lead of the game. A very short time later, Ty Herbert tied the game up by sinking a basket for the Raiders. Falletta answered with another 3-pointer to take the lead again and give the Sabers a 39-36 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was all about defense with very little scoring. It came down to the wire. With less than a minute in the game, the Raiders put on an amazing defensive show against the inbounds play. The Sabers had to work hard to get the ball in the game and not turn it over. But they did turn it over.
With less than 10 seconds left in the game the Raiders had possession of the ball and a one point deficit, the Sabers returned the favor and stopped the Raiders from inbounding the ball three times taking the clock down to two seconds and only one chance to make the winning shot.

Darrow got the ball in to Ty Herbert, who took the shot, but it hit the rim and bounced off just as the final buzzer sounded. Susquehanna’s comeback was complete with a 45-44 win over Blue Ridge.

Championship
Montrose vs. Elk Lake
The Championship Game featured defending tournament champions, the Elk Lake Warriors, versus the Montrose Meteors.

The Meteors went full speed ahead right from the tip-off, stunning the Warriors with an early 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Austin Smith sank a 3-pointer, Troy Ely scored four points, Jack Fruehan added five, and Hunter Traver had six points in the first quarter. Fruehan also had five rebounds and a steal and Smith had three rebounds.

Elk Lake was unable to score a basket for the first five minutes of the eight minute quarter, but was able to put up 10 points in the last three minutes to keep themselves in the game. Hunter Watkins scored five and Dalton Sherman and Seth Tewksbury each made a basket.

The frenetic pace of the game slowed down slightly in the second quarter Ely and Smith each had 3-pointers for Montrose and Smith added two more buckets, Fruehan had one.

Elk Lake’s defense got the best of Smith as he had three turnovers, but Fruehan had a decisive block on a shot attempted by Hunter Watkins. Todd Lattimore added another basket for Montrose and three rebounds. Bailey Newhart sank a deep three for Elk Lake and Tewksbury, Cole Tyler, and JJ Heft each scored two points for the Warriors. Tewksbury added two more rebounds. Montrose outscored the Warriors 14-9 to end the half with a 32-19 lead.

The third quarter did not get any better for Elk Lake. Traver was able to effectively stop one of Elk Lake’s top scorers, Ben Woolcock from getting to the basket by guarding him tightly. He held Woolcock scoreless aside from two points scored in the third quarter from the foul line. Fruehan, once again, blocked an Elk Lake shot, this time attempted by Tewksbury. The Meteors added 19 points to the scoreboard with Smith earning four, Fruehan six, Traver a 3-pointer, and Brendan Buck earned four points under the basket as well as two rebounds. Chris Guyette blocked an Elk Lake shot.

Dalton Sherman sank a three pointer for the Warriors and Tewksbury added two more points. In a moment of frustration, Woolcock earned his fourth personal foul when he fouled Lattimore as he took a 3-point buzzer beater shot and sent him to the foul line where he made two of his three foul shots on an empty court after the buzzer.

Montrose increased their lead to 51-27 at the end of the third period.

The final quarter was evenly matched. Tewksbury was fantastic under the basket for the Warriors, making two shots and snagging three rebounds. Tyler and Heft each scored two points.

At the other end of the court, Buck grabbed another rebound and made a lay-up as did Andrew Bickford. Traver went two for two from the foul line to give him a perfect four for four on the night. Guyette blocked another shot. However, the quarter was not without drama. Montrose’s Smith and Elk Lake’s Newhart had been jawing at each other all night. Smith earned his fifth foul with 1:37 left in the game and fouled out. The two exchanged words as Smith walked off the court and Smith earned a technical foul. After Newhart made two foul shots to give the Warriors 10 points, both coaches cleared their benches and pulled out their starters.

When the final buzzer sounded, Montrose earned the tournament trophy with a definitive 61-37 victory.
The high scorer for Montrose was Smith with 16 points, followed by Fruehan with 13 and Traver with 11. Elk Lake’s high scorer was Tewksbury with ten points and nine rebounds, followed by Newhart with seven points.

All-Tournament Team
Each team had one player selected to the All-Tournament team. Those players were: Tyler Williams from Susquehanna, Austin Darrow from Blue Ridge, Seth Tewksbury from Elk Lake, and Troy Ely from Montrose.

Jack Fruehan from Montrose was named the tournament MVP.