Defensive mishaps haunted Fayetteville-Manlius when hosted they Shaker in a game that decided the winner of the More Than A Game tournament.
The 65-55 loss came just a day after the Hornets opened some eyes and beat a very good team in Bishop Grimes, but, this was one of the games that never really saw F-M get into a rhythm.
And that started early in the game. F-M (2-5) got off to a very slow start and scored just seven points in the first eight minutes of play. But, they were carried out of the hole by certain guys, including Brad Procita, who had five of those seven points.
In the first quarter, their defense compensated for their lack of offensive production, but, when the second quarter came around and their offense heated up, their defense collapsed and Shaker had the 23-point second quarter that carried them the rest of the way.
A big part of F-M’s struggles surrounded two of Shaker’s players, Sloan Seymour and Jake Cook, who ignited their team and scored just under two-thirds of Shaker’s points. Cook finished the game with the 20 points that complemented the 23 points that Seymour scored.
Despite that and the struggles that they faced early on, F-M put up a fight and followed head coach Jason Dudzinski’s mentality of playing until the final buzzer.
And they were led by senior Timmy Zapisek, who scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Zapisek knocked down three shots from behind the arc and hit one of the two free throws that he attempted.
Ryan Salzberg also picked up a few points when he was at the line and made three of four free throws. Salzberg finished the game with 12 points and ended up making a three-pointer.
However, it wasn’t enough to propel the Hornets and give them the boost that they needed to beat Shaker in the championship of the More Than A Game tournament.
