MAHOPaC, N.Y.—The Wolf Pac opened last week taking on the state’s No. 2 ranked Class A team and came within a shot of sending the game into OT. But Mahopac couldn’t get a last-second 3 to fall in a 48-45 loss to the Dutchmen of Tappan Zee in a thriller at the Wolf Den.
Wednesday night (Feb. 11) at Mahopac, the Wolves found offense tough to come by, scoring just nine points in the first and four in the second to trail 20-13 at halftime.
A 17-3 third-quarter run put the Pac up 30-23 with 1:45 left in the period, but TZ closed that gap to two by the end of the third (30-28). The Pac held the lead until the Dutchmen — who started hitting shots they had previously been missing — tied it at 39-39 with 3:45 left and never trailed again.
“That’s exactly why we scheduled this game,” Pac coach Matt Calabro said of the caliber of play. “They started hitting threes late and hit one more than us at the end. In the third we went on a run — but in the fourth it was them.
“It was a good battle going into the playoffs,” Calabro added. “And we had a chance to win against the state’s No. 2 ranked team.”
Pac captain Matt Reilly came up with another big game, dropping 16 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists. Ethan Dedvukaj added 10 points and six rebounds, Drew Lichtenberger had nine points and three steals, and Ryan LaRue had six points and four assists.
In their regular-season finale Friday vs. Panas, Lichtenberger led Mahopac with 17 points and eight rebounds in a 71-45 win. Dedvukaj had 15 points to go with five rebounds, while Reilly pummeled the Panthers with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
“It was good to see the guys come out with good energy and approach after the loss to TZ,” Calabro said. “We defended really well and handled business.”
Mahopac (13-7) was expected to draw the No. 7 seed and open the Class A playoffs Saturday with a home game (time TBA) vs. No. 10 Harrison. The Pac beat the Huskies by 12 during the regular season. The winner advances to Wednesday’s quarterfinal round.
Calabro knows the Huskies will be hungry for the upset come Saturday.
“We need to get out and run,” the coach said of his keys to victory. “We need to create turnovers and get into our offense early. We have to take care of the ball, make free throws, be physical and play defense. Harrison has multiple scorers and they take pride in their defense. We’ll have our hands full.”
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