By David J. Hill<br><a href="mailto:hilld@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail David</a>
North Tonawanda, NY — Andrew Granchelli had only seven points in Tuesday night’s boys basketball showdown at North Tonawanda. He made the last five count, big time.
With the NT faithful roaring to try and distract him, the Lockport senior calmly sank five free throws in the final 30 seconds as the Lions held on to defeat the Lumberjacks 54-50 in a nail-biting Niagara Frontier League contest.
Senior Sean Smith led the Lions with 20 points, and classmate Shannon Haynes added 15.
The loss was just the second of the season for NT (11-3 overall, 9-2 NFL), whose only other loss was to Lockport by 18 on the Lions’ home hardwood nearly a month ago.
“It sure was the loudest gym I’ve ever played in,” Granchelli said. “It’s just concentration.”
“He’s been in that situation before,” said first-year Lockport coach Dave Gilson. “He’s a good guy to have the ball in his hands in that situation.”
Unlike their last meeting, neither team led by more than four points, and there were seven ties in the game. North Tonawanda led 10-9 after the opening quarter and 27-24 at the half.
Smith scored 10 of Lockport’s 18 points in the third quarter as the Lions briefly built a 40-36 lead with under three minutes to go. A long two by Jesse Puscheck put NT up 43-42 going into the final frame.
The two teams traded leads several times in the fourth quarter. Aaron Davis (23 points) lifted NT to a 50-49 advantage with two minutes to go. But with 28.2 seconds left, NT’s Joe Montesanti (10 points) picked up his fifth foul, sending Granchelli to the line for a one-and-one. He hit both to make it 51-50 Lockport.
The Lumberjacks got the open looks they needed, but 3-pointers by Darrik Bloomfield and Davis didn’t go, even though both looked like they would fall. “We had two looks, and that’s all you can ask for,” NT coach Erik O’Bryan said.
Granchelli was 5 for 6 from the line down the stretch, with his final two shots to ice the game coming with 1.6 seconds left.
The Jacks wanted to force Lockport to play a strictly half court game, and NT succeeded in the first half. But as the second half unfolded, several things caused North Tonawanda to let the game slip away.
“We didn’t have an inside presence at all tonight,” O’Bryan said. Also, he said, “We just didn’t get any of our easy points off of the fast break, and we didn’t make key stops at key times.”
Still, the Lumberjacks are in good position to host a sectional playoff game in a few weeks. “I don’t know how many people thought we’d be sitting here 11-3 overall and 9-2 in the league,” O’Bryan said.
And, he added, the beauty of basketball is that they get right back to it Friday night at Lewiston-Porter. “You’re only as good as your last game, and we weren’t very good tonight,” he said. “We’ve just got to take care of business.”
For the Lions, who are 7-4 in the NFL, Tuesday’s win offered a big boost of confidence. “We’ve been playing passive lately,” Gilson said. “We moved the ball a lot better tonight, we took the shots we wanted to, and we were aggressive on defense. We held our composure very well for a game that was close the whole way.”
Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.
