By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — February 8, 2011 — Outstanding individual performances by Troy Correa and Kenny Fisk helped the Livingston Manor Wildcats record a 61-59 victory over The Family School Falcons on Friday night in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI basketball game.
Correa, a junior guard, made six 3-point shots on his way to scoring a game-high 30 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists.
Fisk, a junior forward, registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was close throughout as the teams exchanged the lead on many occasions.
Correa scored a basket midway through the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 44-35 advantage. The nine-point lead was the largest either team held during the 32 minutes of play.
With just five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Family School’s Steve Eckert made a 3-point shot to cut the Wildcats’ lead to a single point at 60-59.
Manor’s Mike Mills was fouled with 1.8 seconds on the clock and stepped up to the free-throw line for two shots. After missing his first shot, the Falcons called a timeout.
Mills then made his second free throw to give the home team a 61-59 advantage.
But the Falcons had one final chance for victory.
On the inbound pass, Eckert got a good look at the basket and put up a shot from a few feet beyond the 3-point arc. But the basketball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
In addition to Correa and Fisk, Mills and Brandon Smith made key contributions for the Manor offense. Mills netted nine points and Smith had six points.
With the dramatic win, Manor improved its record to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in Div. VI.
“Troy was on fire shooting the ball tonight,” Manor Coach Charlie Hicks said of Correa.
After banking home a 3-point shot off the backboard with three seconds remaining in the second period to give the Wildcats a 30-26 edge at halftime, Correa made four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
“Kenny Fisk also had a great game,” Hicks said. “Everybody played well tonight. We needed this division win.”
The fact that the game was close until the very end did not surprise Hicks.
“We went into overtime when we played them up there and they won that game,” he said, referring to the Falcons’ homecourt victory in this season’s other Div. VI meeting between the teams.
The defeat was the first one in division play for the Falcons, whose record is now 10-3 overall and 2-1 in Div. VI.
Eckert paced Family School with 21 points. Fran Hannon and DeMarcus Williams also reached double digits with 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
Joe Plonski added eight points for the Falcons.
“Livingston Manor plays tough here at home,” Family School Coach Larry Patrisso said. “Manor played a good game.
“We played well, but missed some opportunities,” Patrisso added.