Fox Lane Basketball Finishes Strong After Tough Start

No one had a worse 2009 than the Fox Lane basketball team. The Foxes headed into winter break with an 0-8 record and looked like they would be the first Fox Lane team in at least 30 years to not qualify for sectionals.

But the Foxes' fortunes changed with the new year. First came back-to-back wins to start 2010, then a late push to make the Class AA sectional tournament, and even an outbracket win in the playoffs before the season ended on Saturday in the first round against North Rockland.

"The effort was good. The kids worked hard every day," coach Chris Violante said. "It would have been better to be able to pull some wins out early on, maybe got us rolling. It took us a long time to play good basketball, but once we did we had some good wins."

The Foxes (6-14) entered the season with just one returning starter, and nine players had graduated from last year's team. But despite a tough schedule, Violante was still surprised at how poorly it started.

"We were inconsistent in all aspects," Violante said. "Defensive intensity, attention to detail, offensive productivity — we were really inconsistent, and that's the difference."

Violante said it wasn't a change in philosophy that turned the team around in the second half of the season.

"We just put the ownership on the players," Violante said. "We said, 'You don't want to be the first team in 30 years not to make sectionals.' They started to play a little better together, a little more urgency. The biggest thing was more confidence, and in January and February we went 6-6."

Fox Lane got its first win 73-29 against Somers, and followed that with a 53-36 win over John Jay. Wins followed against quality teams Harrison and Rye.

Finally, Fox Lane needed to win its last regular season game, against rival John Jay, to advance to the postseason. Down by one entering the fourth quarter, the Foxes outscored the Indians 18-13 to clinch a playoff berth.

Fox Lane earned the No. 18 seed in the Class AA playoffs, and traveled to No. 15 Clarkstown South in the outbracket round. The Foxes allowed 22 first quarter points, but held the Vikings to 20 points the rest of the way in a 61-42 win.

Fox Lane's season finally came to a close with a 56-18 loss at No. 2 North Rockland on Saturday afternoon.

The Foxes were led this season by senior Timmy Muller, who led Section 1 in free throws made (105) and averaged 19.1 points and almost 10 rebounds a game. The all-section performer often played the entire game, also led the team in assists and was just as outstanding on the defensive end.

"Timmy just exploded on the scene," Violante said. "Maybe him and his parents did, but we didn't think he would be able to perform at that level. He probably had one of the best senior years that anyone's had at Fox Lane in a long time."

Fox Lane's talented corps of youngsters was led by sophomore center Dylan Peretz, who averaged a double-double in his last six games and led the team in scoring against Clarkstown South (18 points). A 6-foot-5 center who blocked nine shots in a game this season, Peretz has enormous upside and is one of the reasons Fox Lane should have a promising future. Of the 10 players who had significant minutes this year, eight will return, and they'll be joined by the stars of a junior varsity team that posted a 14-2 record.

"I'm excited about getting all of them back," Violante said. "The future looks bright, but it falls back on them. What are they going to do in the offseason? Are they going to lift, work to get better? There's certainly a lot of potential."