Shevick joins 1,000-point club, but Foxes fall at Greeley

Arthur Shevick scores two points as he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career at Fox Lane. Janak Bain scores two points in the lane for the Foxes. Sebastian Getz pulls up for a jump shot. Jim Mac Lean Photos

By Jim MacLean

It was a milestone day in the four-year varsity career of senior Arthur Shevick at Fox Lane, but it was not a happy ending for the Foxes.

Shevick joined the exclusive 1,000 career point club, just the fifth player in the history of Fox Lane boys varsity basketball to reach the plateau, but it was host Horace Greeley celebrating at the end as the Quakers pulled out a 57-46 victory over their rival Foxes on Friday night, Jan. 16.

The Foxes paid the price for a slow start and a slow finish as Greeley controlled the first and fourth quarters to secure the win. Fox Lane kept fighting from behind the entire game, and the Foxes actually tied it up early in the fourth quarter, but the host Quakers outscored them 15-4 in the final six minutes to secure the win.

“We fought, but credit to them, we need to be better defensively, rebounding, executing and taking care of the ball,” said Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi. “We showed some good fight, but it’s hard to spot a team all those points and have to fight back. We need to do better. To beat a really good team you have to be good for 32 minutes, and I think we played good for maybe two quarters, and that’s not going to beat a team like Greeley. You have to play well for all four.”

It is always a packed house on a Friday night for a Horace Greeley vs. Fox Lane game, and the Quakers were fired up in front of the large home crowd. Greeley stormed out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes before Sebastian Getz scored to get Fox Lane on the board. Will Broghammer then hit a three-pointer for the Foxes, but Greeley answered with a pair of hoops to close out the first quarter with a 13-5 lead.

Fox Lane came out strong to start the second quarter as Janak Bain scored a pair of baskets and Getz added another to cut the lead down to 13-11, but Greeley answered with three points to make it 16-11.

Like every opponent, the Greeley defense was focused on stopping Shevick and the plan worked until Bain and Getz started scoring inside to keep the Quakers honest. Shevick then got into the scorebook as he hit two free throws and scored a hoop to make it a one-point game at 16-15.

Once again the Quakers answered with three-straight hoops, before Shevick scored again to make it 22-17. After a brief stop in the action to acknowledge Shevick hitting the 1,000-point mark, Greeley went on a 10-2 run to end the first half with a 32-19 lead.

The Foxes got hot in the third quarter, trailing by 14 at 35-21, Ethan Mayers nailed a trio of three-pointers, the final one closing it down to a one-point game at 37-36 before the Quakers closed out the quarter with a 40-36 lead.

Fox Lane carried the momentum over into the fourth quarter as Bain scored four points and Shevick scored to tie it up at 42-42 with 6:38 left to play, but the Quakers answered back and took control and closed out the victory. Jake Sheehy led the way with a game-high 22 points, while Levi Shack scored 17 points for the Quakers.

Bain and Shevick led the way for Fox Lane with 12 points each, while Mayers was also in double figures with 11 points and Getz finished with eight points for the Foxes.

Shevick was held well below his scoring average, but he put his name in the exclusive 1,000-point club at Fox Lane to highlight his amazing four-year career on varsity. He has spent a lot of time around Fox Lane basketball, growing up watching his three older brothers on the court and playing with his brother Charlie during his varsity career. Shevick will play in college next year at Vassar.

“You go back in the history of Fox Lane and there is a lot of really good basketball players, and the fact that Arthur is the fifth guy ever in Fox Lane history to score 1,000 points is pretty impressive,” Tomassi said of Shevick. “More important than the basketball points, he’s just a great kid from a great family. I’ve known the family for 12 years coaching his brothers. He wanted to play for Fox Lane with his friends, and the most special thing about him is he’s always thinking about how can I help Fox Lane and not just Arthur Shevick. He’s meant the world to us, a great kid, and it’s been great to be his coach.”

Fox Lane hopes to rebound this week on the road against undefeated Yorktown on Friday, Jan. 23. The Greeley game was the start of a rough stretch with six games on the road as the Foxes were set for away games against Suffern, Carmel, Brewster and Panas, before coming home to host Greeley on Feb. 6.