John Jay boys basketball gets first win of the season

Above, John Jay point guard Will Green makes a pass. Below, Alex Palacio grabs a rebound. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

John Jay boys varsity basketball coach Tyler Sayre knew it might take some time for his Wolves to come together with five new starters on the court and a bunch of newcomers on the varsity lineup.

After starting the season with two losses, John Jay came home on Friday night, Dec. 12, to host Croton-Harmon, and after a slow start in the first quarter, it all started to click for the Wolves. John Jay exploded for 18 points in the second quarter to open up a 15-point lead at the half, and the Wolves cruised to a 62-34 victory over the Tigers.

“The first win of the season for a new group playing varsity is hard to get, we knew we just had to be solid defensively,” said John Jay coach Tyler Sayre. “It was slow and ugly in the first quarter, but we got our tempo going in the second quarter. The kids needed that confidence boost.”

The big difference was the big men inside as John Jay used its size advantage to take control of the game and dominate inside on the boards. Leading the way was senior Alex Palacio as he scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 14 points overall as the leading scorer for the Wolves.

“Alex set the tone, he was the difference for us, especially early on,” Sayre said of Palacio. “He’s that kind of guy, and as soon as he started making plays around the basket our energy changes as a group. He lifted us all up.”

With Palacio taking control, that opened it up for the Wolves as the other big men started converting. Dion Prelvukaj finished in double figures with 10 points and Owen Gitelson scored nine points for the Wolves. And the guards got hot connecting on four 3-pointers in the first half to open up a 26-11 lead at halftime.

“We knew they were playing zone and our bigs would have opportunities inside,” explained Sayre. “Alex played physical, rebounding and on defense and scoring inside and he was great. Owen finished around the net, and Dion, then our guards got involved and started hitting shots.”

Palacio picked right up in the third quarter scoring a pair of baskets early, and then Prelvukaj finished the quarter strong as he scored the last 5 points of the quarter for John Jay to open up a 45-23 lead.

Croton started the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 15 points, but John Jay responded with an 11-0 run highlighted by a pair of baskets from Gitelson to put the game out of reach.

It was a full team effort for John Jay as a total of 13 different players scored for the Wolves. Jacob Gottesfeld hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 6 points, while Braydon Gates and Nate Summer each scored 5 points. Point guard Will Green had 3 points, and six other Wolves each chipped in with 2 points to round out the scoring.

For Sayre, it was a sign of how far the team has come after suffering a tough loss three days earlier on the road at Blind Brook where the Wolves had the lead in the second half and let it slip away in a 56-50 setback to the Trojans. This time the Wolves didn’t let that happen as they bounced back with a strong game from start to finish.

“We were disappointed after Tuesday against Blind Brook and felt we should have won that game,” explained Sayre. “Tonight they came together and played well to the end.”

John Jay will try to keep the momentum going as the Wolves were set to travel to rival Somers on Tuesday, Dec. 16, and then compete in the Harrison tournament before the holiday break. The Wolves were set to face Nanuet in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 18, and then compete in the consolation or final game on Saturday against either Pelham or host Harrison.