Story Created:
Feb 26, 2009 at 10:00 PM EST
Story Updated:
Feb 26, 2009 at 11:42 PM EST
ROME, N.Y. (WKTV) - The West Canada Valley boys basketball team picked a bad time to have its worst game of the season on Thursday, falling to Fabius-Pompey 57-49 in the Section III, Class C-2 semifinals at RFA.
In what head coach Steve Porter called one of the most frustrating games he's ever coached, West Canada Valley, the defending champion, top seed and ranked No. 5 in the state in Class C, had leading scorer and rebounder Jared Suderley sit for nearly a third of the game due to foul trouble, shot 18-for-64 from the floor including 2-for-23 on three-pointers, turned the ball over numerous times on bad passes and gave up too many layups and rebounds to a smaller team on defense. A late charge nearly bailed the Indians out, but it turned out to be too little, too late.
Fabius-Pompey, the No. 4 seed, improves to 13-9 and advances to the championship round next weekend at Manley Field House. West Canada Valley ends its season 19-3, the early finish a disappointing follow-up to last season when the Indians took an undefeated record into the state final four.
Both teams started the game slowly on offense, but West Canada Valley was particularly sloppy with several turnovers on lazy passes. Then Suderley, a standout 6-foot-4 junior, picked up two quick fouls and sat out the final 3:41 of the first quarter, during which Fabius-Pompey turned a 4-4 tie into a 14-10 lead. Suderley picked up his third foul with 6:40 left in the second quarter and sat through halftime, helping the Falcons build a 27-15 lead before going into the break up 29-20.
In the third quarter, West Canada Valley started to get its offense going. After cutting the score to 29-23 Fabius-Pompey went back up 12 at 40-28, then the Indians' Anthony Ambrose caught fire. Ambrose scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, at one point getting the Indians within 40-33, but the Falcons answered every challange and still led 44-35 going into the fourth.
The final quarter was decidedly more dramatic as Suderley finally got going. After Fabius-Pompey went up 12 again at 47-35, Suderley, playing with four fouls after getting whistled again at the end of the third, led a 10-3 run to get the Indians within 50-45 with 2:29 remaining. The Falcons allowed the Indians to stay in the game by missing free throws and West Canada Valley was still within five points at 53-48 with 31 seconds left, but Fabius-Pompey recovered at the free throw line from there to seal the upset.
Suderley finished with a team-high 15 points (nine in the fourth quarter) and 13 rebounds despite missing 10:10 of gametime due to the foul trouble. Fabius-Pompey was led by Mitchell Knapp's 16 points, Zievaun Wright's 15 and Sean Emerson's 14.
