Clarkstown South Boys Basketball Gets Set to Open New Season

Clarkstown South High School boys basketball beat Mahopac, 54-45, in its final preseason scrimmage before they open the season.

South had a strong first quarter, and led 14-4 at the end of the quarter. This lead was mostly due to South having good ball movement, passing and penetration.

At the start of the second, the Vikings continued to show good ball movement, in addition to grabbing some key rebounds. Junior guard Mikey McCahey (#32) showed real hustle as he quickly hit a big three to open the quarter, and in the ensuing possession had a three point play opportunity. He also grabbed two rebounds and hit two important free throws.

South opened the third playing some scrappy defense and showed good offensive rebound prowl ness. Mahopac did make things interesting as its offense stepped up and definitely out rebounded South for the quarter. Mahopac also started playing some good defense and forced some turnovers.

With just under 30 seconds to go in the quarter, South's Cornell Patterson #23 hit a significant jumper from the top of the key. Patterson did a good job of taking it to the hole and drawing contact from defenders. South took advantage this quarter and outscored Mahopac. 19-6.

As the fourth quarter started, Mahopac's coach looked frustrated. McCahey really stepped things up with some sweet passes, in addition to doing a good job of penetrating and earning trips to the charity stripe. Once he got to the line, he hit most of his free throws.

Toward the end of the fourth, South showed great ball movement and had good team communication. The players were much more vocal toward the end of the game. Although South got outscored for the quarter, 18-11, they ended up taking the game 54-45.

South head coach Matt Backs is satisfied with his team's performance.

"I think we played hard, for the majority of the time the effort wasn't the issue. We tried some things we haven't tried yet and we have some things we must work on," he said. "They shared the ball and shot the ball very well and defended well enough."

Backs, explains his expectations for the team this season.

"The real expectation is that we can be competitive every night if we choose to play hard," he said. "Everybody is pretty balanced in the county and every game can be a potential one or two point finish. I don't think there is one team on our schedule that is significantly weaker than anyone else. It's going to be a meat grinder for everybody in Rockland."

The team opens its season as it hosts Nyack at 5:30 p.m., on Wednesday, at Clarkstown South High School in West Nayck.