Heuvelton Turns It On In the Second Half to Beat Harrisville

#5 Francis Sharpe of Heuvelton skies in the air for 2 of his team-high 19 points to lead the Bulldogs to victory in the Class D semifinals.
Photo by: Jeff Bunstone

Heuvelton and Harrisville, the West Co-Champions, battled in the Semi-Finals of the Class "D" Playoffs Thursday night at Maxcy Hall. In their last match up Heuvelton dominated to a 25 point victory. But this game was very different. In the first quarter Heuvelton and Harrisville fought to a 9-9 tie with under 3 minutes to play. Heuvelton went on a 6-0 run for the next minute, but Harrisville used their size and went up 18-15 with 5 second to play in the first. Eric Ross nailed a long two point jump shot to cut the Pirate lead 18-17 after one quarter played. Harrisville came out in the second quarter with a quick 7-0 run, and held Heuvelton without a field goal for the first 4:24 seconds of the second quarter. Jay Hebert finally cut the Pirate lead hitting a 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the half. Harrisville held on to a 30-26 half-time lead as Tom Coloney nailed a lay-up as the clock winded down. In the third, Heuvelton came out with a blanketing man-to-man defense and held Harrisville to just 8 points in the quarter. Francis Sharpe tied the game 32-32 with 4:40 left in the third. Heuvelton pulled out a 40-38 advantage after 3. In the fourth, Heuvelton and Harrisville fought in a back and forth battle until 2:28 left to play. Heuvelton's Francis Sharpe gained a huge lay-up off a back door cut and up the Bulldogs up 51-48. On the ensuing possession the Bulldog's defense got a Harrisville shot clock violation with 1:05 to play. The Bulldogs pulled to a 56-53 advantage with 5.9 seconds to play and Harrisville's Tom Coloney watched his last second three point attempt fall short as the Bulldogs claimed the 56-53 victory. Heuvelton faces Chateaugay on Saturday at 2:45 at SUNY Potsdam's Maxcy Hall. Lucas Getman had 17 and Tom Coloney had 22 for the Pirates. Nick Larche had 13 for the Bulldogs, Jay Hebert had 14, and Francis Sharpe had 19. Heuvelton Heads back to the Championship game for the 3rd time in 4 years.