Beacon boys claim seventh Battle of the Tunnel
The Bulldogs of Beacon High came into a hostile environment on Friday (Feb. 7) — the packed Devils Den at Haldane High School — and dropped a pair of bombs on the Blue Devils (one early, one late) to silence the home crowd.
Beacon opened with a blitz, inflicting a first-quarter 23-8 run on Haldane and sending an early message: The Bulldogs have a lot of scorers and a pestering defense that gave the Blue Devils problems.
The second bomb came in the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs turned an 11-point game (52-41 at the end of three) into a laugher, closing with another 23-8 run to secure a 75-49 victory, and the trophy, in the seventh annual Battle of the Tunnel game between the Highlands neighbors. (Haldane has a 4-3 edge in the series.)
Photos by Skip Pearlman and Cadence Heeter
“I thought we played really well in the first quarter, on offense and defense,” said Beacon Coach Patrick Schetter. “We lost a little focus in the second, and they got it to a three-point game in the third. But our leaders stepped up when we needed them, and allowed us to pull away.
“Jahcier [Ballard, who scored eight points] did a great job inside for us early,” Schetter said. “Michai [Thompson, with 19] hit some big shots and Marci [Rodriguez, with 22] had a great game. He turned it on in the third.”
“They’re very good,” said Haldane Coach Joe Virgadamo. “They have six guys who can score, who can go off on any given night. Offensively, they were the better team. I was hopeful that we were a better defensive team. But they hit big shots. Michai and Marci crushed us. And they had others who hit big shots.
“Fallou [Faye, with 18 points] was phenomenal for us,” Virgadamo said. “Luke [Bozsik, with 16] was also phenomenal. I thought our energy tonight was great. We went down big, then got it to three. You can’t ask for more.”
Video by Jeff McDaniel
Rodriguez led an offense for Beacon that ran whenever it could and forced turnovers that the Bulldogs turned into points, opening the game with a 20-7 lead. Ryan Landisi contributed 10 points.
Beacon (15-4) went cold in the second quarter, scoring just seven points, but Haldane was unable to take advantage, scoring only six.
The Blue Devils (11-6) won a more spirited and competitive third, 27-22, playing their best ball of the game, and managed to bring the deficit to three points, 44-41, with 2:10 left in the period. But Beacon responded with a 13-0 run to close the quarter and open the fourth, pushing the lead to 16.
“It was a phenomenal game — we came out with a lot of effort,” said Rodriguez. “Our defense was fast and we kept pushing the ball on the break.”
“I thought we almost had them,” said Haldane’s Bozsik. “We got it close in the third, but then we let it slip.”
