Colts Taken Down by Jets

The Calhoun boys basketball team came out with a lot of fight on Friday night and opened up a 14-2 lead, but it wasn't enough as the Jets from East Meadow were able to secure a 51-40 victory.

John Wigand led the way for the visiting Colts with 14 points, and Devon Pazmino contributed 12 to the effort.

"It's not easy to come back when you are down by that much early on," East Meadow coach Barry Dickson said. "We showed nice poise to come back and keep our composure."

East Meadow (6-8) came out of the gates playing sloppy. The Jets threw a lot of passes into the waiting hands of Calhoun defenders, but they still lived to talk about it.

"We really need to stop with the turnovers," Dickson said. "Usually, when you turn the ball over like we did, you do not come out on the winning side of things."

Luckily for East Meadow, Calhoun wasn't playing much better. After going on the 14-2 run to start the game, the Colts allowed East Meadow to get their game together. One contributing factor was the play of Matt Gundrum, who started nailing every shot he took.

"We showed a lot of fight," said Gundrum, who scored a game-high 22 points.  "I am proud of how hard we played." 

East Meadow would answer Calhoun's early run with a 13-0 run of their own, and they ended the first quarter with a 15-14 lead.

Calhoun (3-11) was fortunate to remain in the game as long as it did. They managed to score just seven points in the second quarter, but East Meadow couldn't make their baskets either. In fact, it wasn't until the 2:24 point that the Jets scored their first basket.

The Colts were their own worst enemy again, as the passing got worse and worse, and that allowed East Meadow to get in a rhythm. Gundrum scored five straight points to end the half, and he even had a couple of nice blocks, and the first half ended with East Meadow ahead by three.

"Good offense always starts with good defense," Gundrum said. "If I make a big defensive play, that helps energize my teammates, and then we can make a big play on offense. It's huge in terms of momentum."

Despite the sloppy play, the Colts were able to stick around through the third quarter, and they even ended the period with a one point lead. Most of Calhoun's players had remained cold from the field, but Pazmino's clutch three point shooting kept them in the game. The third quarter ended with the score 30-29 Calhoun.

East Meadow's faithful was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief in the beginning of the fourth quarter as Gundrum took the floor. He limped off with 38 seconds to go in the third, and there was concern about a leg injury.

"I am fine," Gundrum said. "No need to worry about me."

The fourth quarter undoubtedly belonged to East Meadow. Gundrum showed no ill effects from the injury scare, and he continued to be a force on both sides of the basketball. East Meadow ensued on a 12-0 run and that put the game out of reach.

It was more of the same for Calhoun coach Jay Kreutzberger, who didn't have much to say when it came to a post-game comment.

"We've lost nine games in a row," Kreutzberger said. "These kids are tired, and they need to get on the bus. Let the game speak for itself."

Calhoun's players were unavailable for comment.

The Colts will be back in action tomorrow when they have a very tough puzzle to solve as they host Freeport at 6:30 p.m.