Spartans lose to Chester, top Fallsburg

Florida - S. S. Seward Institute versus The Chester Academy. Brings back thoughts of one-time basketball great Charlie Stoll, who played in the 1930’s for Seward Institute, later moved to Chester and became a highly respected citizen of that village. His was the era of the set shot, the two-handed dribble and low-scoring games. Last Wednesday at the Spartan gym that era returned briefly as Florida and Chester went at it again with the Hambletonians prevailing 39-34. The Spartans only managed three points in the first quarter and trailed 18-12 at the half. Midway of the third quarter Florida tied it at 22-22. Then Brenden Myers hit a long three-pointer, followed that with another basket underneath and the Spartans went ahead 28-25. It seemed the tide had turned. The fourth quarter was nip and tuck. Florida was ahead 32-30. Chester was ahead 33-32. In the last frantic two minutes the Spartan shots failed to fall, and Chester hung on to win 39-34. Myers finished with a team-high 15 points and Saddam Sahmanovic tallied eight. Mickey Collins chipped in with five and Bryan Folkl had four. Myers also pulled down 14 rebounds and Folkl had ten. On Friday at Fallsburg the Spartans again started slowly, trailing 24-22 at half-time. A more energized defense in the third quarter and some well-balance scoring vaulted Florida into a commanding 38-30 lead after three quarters. The way things have been going lately perhaps “commanding” is not appropriate. The Comets did threaten in a fast and furious fourth quarter, but this time the Spartans held on to win 54-48 and notch their first league win. Folkl scored 14 points and grabbed the same number of rebounds to lead the way in this one. Myers contributed ten and Collins scored nine. Sahmanovic played a fine floor game and tallied eight points. Jeremy Harter kicked in with five, including a crucial three-pointer in that fourth quarter. Andy Zis came off the bench to knock down two 3-pointers and finished with eight points. The 6-7, 1-3 Spartans have their work cut out if they hope to contend for Division V honors. Charlie Stoll, where are you?