Yorktown Basketball Defeats Lakeland

It was a win senior Kaden Gonzalez had long been waiting for as his game-high 18 points, 12 of them coming in the first half, led Yorktown to a 47-32 triumph at rival Lakeland on Dec. 16.

“It feels really good because ever since I’ve been on varsity, we’ve never beaten Lakeland, so it feels good to come here and win,” Gonzalez, who also grabbed seven rebounds, said. 

Yorktown coach Mark Pavella said every game is important. 

“When we play all the local schools, you always want to come out with a win, so we are just happy to get out of here with a win against a good team,” Pavella said.

Lakeland got the jump on Yorktown, leading 12-9 at the end of the opening quarter.

“We have been getting off to good starts lately, in four of our five games,” said Lakeland coach Shawn Sullivan. “We were just moving the ball, taking really good shots. On the defensive end, we were really fired up, putting a lot of pressure on them. They missed a few shots and we were to knock down some that we normally knock down.”

Back to back Gonzalez buckets to start the second quarter put Yorktown in the lead 13-12 but a 3-pointer and a field goal by Lakeland’s Anthony Attanasio, who scored a team high 10 points, put the Hornets back up 17-13.

“They were all over me in the game so right when they gave me a little space, I knew my teammates were going to get me the ball, so right when they passed it I shot it,” Attanasio said. “It felt good getting the lead but we knew how good the opposing team was.”

Gonzalez answered with two treys, the second one giving the Huskers a 21-19 lead, with a hoop by Colin Worden (12 points, six rebounds) putting Yorktown up 23-19 at halftime. 

“I knew we needed energy coming out of the game,” Gonzalez said. “Those plays developed because, as I said last week, Yorktown plays team basketball, and my teammates found me. I knew I wasn’t too hot but I had to keep letting them go and they finally dropped.”

Trailing by just four at the half, Sullivan was happy with his team’s defensive performance.

“I was pleased with our defense the entire game, so we wanted to continue to put a lot of pressure on Kaden and I felt that we did the second half,” Sullivan said. “They seemed to pick up the defensive pressure and we had too many turnovers and bad shots in the third, going into the fourth quarter.”

Yorktown (3-0) led 38-26 going into the fourth quarter after outscoring Lakeland 15-7 in the third stanza.

“I talked to the guys, we wanted to play a little more up tempo and push the basketball a little more in space and we allowed Kaden to run the point guard, in that third quarter,” Pavella said. “I thought he saw the floor pretty well and found his teammates.”

After Yorktown called a timeout early in the fourth quarter, Gonzalez nailed his third trey of the game, putting Yorktown up 42-26 and it didn’t look back.

“It felt really good to have that three,” Gonzalez said. “It was a good set. Once again, my teammates found me, and the shot went in.”

Sander Stone (six points), Brian Hansen (five points), Aidan Flynn (four points, 12 rebounds), and Franklin Ringel (two points) also contributed to the Huskers’ victory, punctuated by a great defensive performance. 

“The kids our buying in, knowing their roles, what they do well, and we know we have to defend in order to beat teams, so that’s been a point of emphasis this season for us,” Pavella said.

Oban Rader (nine points, nine rebounds), Mike Luccia (seven points), Aadi Sandhu (four points), and Luke Lulanaj (two points) all got into the scoring column for Lakeland (2-3) in the rivalry contest.

“Obviously, you always want to come out on the winning end but these are the reasons that you play high school varsity basketball, to play all the neighboring towns and rivals,” Sullivan said. “I was really pleased with our defensive effort, I was pleased with our energy, it’s just offensively we need to work to get better shots.”

Attanasio echoed the words of his coach when it comes to playing a rival.

“It felt good to play in a rivalry game, I loved the energy and atmosphere,” Attanasio said.