Arthur Shevick looks to make a pass for Fox Lane. Janak Bain goes up for two in the lane against Mahopac. Logan Mammola drives to the basket. Jim MacLean Photos
By JIM MACLEAN
Two months into the season and the Fox Lane boys varsity basketball team was still waiting to play a game in front of the home crowd.
Fox Lane finally got the chance to play its home opener Friday, Jan. 3, against Mahopac, and the Foxes made the most of the opportunity.
Fired up in front of their home fans, the Foxes came out on fire and raced out to a 15-0 lead to start the game. The Foxes never looked back cruising to a 47-30 victory to send the home crowd home happy.
Arthur Shevick led the way with 16 points, but it was a team effort overall that made the difference as eight different players scored. The energy playing for the home crowd was clear as Fox Lane squared off against a tall Mahopac team and the Foxes controlled the boards, led by Janak Bain who grabbed 19 rebounds.
“It was really great coming home and seeing the crowd,” Shevick said of the home game atmosphere. “We dominated the boards tonight, which was really big. I struggled behind the arch, but everyone got involved and we got the win. We can be a really good team, a lot of pieces, a lot of guys who crash the boards, a lot of guys who can shoot, and that’s going to help us win a lot of games. We just have to keep working hard.”
The Foxes were on fire to start the game as Shevick, Eli Daglio and Mac Keller each hit a three-pointer from outside, and Logan Mammola scored a pair of baskets inside to give Fox Lane a quick 15-0 lead.
Mahopac responded with a 7-0 run to close out the first quarter at 15-7. The lead was down to four points at 18-14 when Bain came in to spark the Foxes off the bench with his effort under the boards. On one possession he pulled down five offensive rebounds, and he scored four points to help the Foxes close out the first half with a 23-16 lead.
In the third quarter it was senior Will Oliverio returning to the lineup after missing a few games due to injury sparking the Foxes as he nailed a pair of three-pointers, and in the fourth quarter it was Shevick scoring six points to close out the victory.
“Mahopac is a good team, big, gritty and tough, so this was a nice gritty win for us to pull out,” said Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi. “We did a lot of nice things on the defensive end, and we really dominated on the glass at times which was nice to see. We moved the ball well and had 15 assists and when that happens we get some good shots.”
While Shevick led the way with 16 points, he was actually held below his scoring average as he came into the game averaging 25 points a game. He did have seven assists as the team effort made the difference for Fox Lane. Mammola was the next high scorer for the Foxes with nine points. Bain finished with seven points to go along with his monster effort pulling down 19 rebounds. Oliverio finished with six points, while Daglio, Keller and Ethan Mayers each scored three points.
“We’ve got Arthur, everybody knows he is really good, one of the best players in Section 1, but we’ve got a lot of guys who can score,” added Tomassi. “We don’t need Arthur to score 25 if we’ve got seven or eight guys who put five or six points on the board, that makes us tough to defend and tonight showcased that. Arthur didn’t have a good shooting night and we still had a 17-point win over a really good team.”
It was a good way to start the New Year for the Foxes, and Tomassi points out another key is that the team is starting to get healthy with the return of Oliverio to the lineup. With the victory, Fox Lane improved to 5-2 overall on the season.
“We’ve had a couple of starters out, this was Will’s first game back and Evan Mayers should be back next week,” according to Tomassi. “It’s only going to make us better with other guys stepping up. The guys on the bench are doing a great job. It’s a team where we have one really good player, and a lot on the same level which is good to have; on any given night someone could have a big game for us.”
Fox Lane hopes to continue its winning ways with the next home game scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10, against Yorktown.