Men’s basketball team dominates Rockland in their opening game
By: Jacob Freehart
Staff Writer
Men’s Basketball: Hudson Valley Vikings vs. Rockland Fighting Hawks
Men’s basketball had their season opener last Thursday versus the Rockland Fighting Hawks and won 101-62.
The men, of course, looked to start the season strong. In the opening moments of the game, sophomore forward O’nandi Brooks, made a defensive deflection and steal, going the full length of the court and finishing with a monster dunk! The crowd was invigorated and sent into a frenzy, only adding energy into the Vikings’ overall play.
The game was low-scoring to start, with Rockland staying close behind. With little over eight minutes of play in the first half, Josiah McCall, came off the bench and delivered a posterizing put-back slam. Which energized his teammates, along with the bench doing an assortment of celebrations.
The Vikings never looked back after the first half. They implemented a full-court defense, causing Rockland to turn the ball over and give up easy baskets. The hard-nosed defense of the Vikings put them way ahead at the half with the score being 52-26, in their favor.
Coming out of the break, the Vikings only finished where they left off. Their high defensive intensity continued and scored nearly double of what Rockland had.
The final score of the game was 101-62, a Vikings blowout!
Sophomore guard Caleb Canty and sophomore forward Brooks each had a game-high of 19 points. Caleb served as point guard and floor general, often looking to get others involved and regularly running plays, but he also looked to score and had an efficient night.
“I really liked our defensive intensity and our full court press,” Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Long said. “I didn’t even tell them to do that; They decided to initiate it themselves,” he said. “Going small helped our defense in the first half and sharing the ball led to us winning the game.”
“We lost all four of our scrimmages to start the preseason, so we weren’t feeling too good about ourselves,” Canty said. “I feel like this win will get us back on track and make us play better.”
Canty suffered a horrendous ACL tear to start the season a year ago and has worked his way through recovery to come back to full strength. He is in the individual studies program and hopes to get a Division 1 Basketball offer by the end of the season to play at a four-year college.
Coach Long expressed what the team needs to work on. “Our team defense needs to be polished, especially in the second half,” Long said. “We need to limit our turnovers and be more careful with the basketball,” he said. “We also have to improve our free-throw shooting,” he said. “If we can work on those things, I believe we can be much better.”
Make sure to go out and support both Men’s and Women’s Viking Basketball. Both teams play many home games this year so don’t miss out to cheer your team on!