GERMANTOWN FALLS IN FINAL FOUR

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports

03-22-10 - 7:15 a.m. - The Germantown Clippers fantastic postseason run came to a close Friday morning at the Glens Falls Civic Center as they fell to Coleman Catholic 70-50 in the New York State Public School Semifinals. This was the second time these two teams have met this year with the earlier game also resulting in a Coleman Catholic win—that time by 19 points.

After looking so sharp in the second half of their Central Hudson Valley League schedule, throughout their Section II Class D championship run, and even in their Regional victory, the Clippers—in the biggest game of their season—played one of their poorest, sloppiest games. Neither team looked overly sharp throughout the contest, but it was the Clippers who could not pull everything together to carry off the upset.

Coleman Catholic started the game hot with a quick 5 points before Germantown got on board with a Cody Broast free throw and a Larry Niebling steal and layup, but before they knew it the Clipps were down 13-5. With the team struggling down 19-7 just before the end of the first, Broast nailed a jumper to cut their deficit to 10.

Germantown scored the first hoop of the second quarter, but Coleman responded with the game’s next 7 points. Another Broast hoop pulled the Clippers to within 11, but things were not going Germantown’s way. With six seconds left in the half, Daniel Thomas buried a big three for the Clippers to pull within 33-25 and give Germantown a little momentum.

Any hope of a second-half Germantown comeback was quickly put to rest as Coleman Catholic scored the first 5 points of the second half before Niebling finally got Germantown on the board. Late in the third, Thomas hit another three, and William Wyant scored on a fast break to pull the Clipps back to within 10, but that was as close as it would get. Two free throws with 1.1 left on the clock pushed the deficit back to 13 heading into the fourth. Both teams got up and down the floor in the final eight minutes trading hoops, but the game never got closer than 14 as Coleman Catholic cruised into the Class D State finals.

In the game Germantown shot just 17 of 43 from the field, only 39 percent, while Coleman Catholic shot 46 percent from the field. There were plenty of free throws shot by both teams, with the Clippers making 13 of 21 and Coleman making 21 of 34. Neither team shot it well from deep. Germantown made just 3 of 15 from deep, all by Thomas, while Coleman made only 1 of 8.

Cody Broast scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds while Dan Thomas scored 9 points, all on three-pointers. Mike Wyant scored 8 points and grabbed a team high nine rebounds, while Larry Niebling and Thomas Griffin each scored 6 points. Niebling added two assists, while Griffin had five assists and three rebounds. Will Wyant and D. J. Lyons each scored 3 points, and John Diehl added 2 in the loss.

The Clippers should be back and even better next year since CHVL co-MVP Broast will be back, along with Griffin, Niebling, and Mike Wyant—all of whom scored more than 200 points this year. The team will also return three-pointer special Dan Thomas, along with sophomore Will Wyant and junior Robert Quierolo.

Germantown is expected to lose only three players, all seniors: D. J. Lyons, Brandon Jason, and John Diehl.