Ely hits buzzer-beater to lift Montrose past Trail

BY JOBY FAWCETT
Times-Shamrock Writer

Troy Ely patiently dribbled, pump faked, then darted to the basket and floated a shot that slipped through the nylon net just in time.

Montrose players went wild.

The basket completed a big comeback and lifted ninth-ranked Montrose to a 42-40 win over Lackawanna Trail on Saturday afternoon in a Lackawanna Division IV boys basketball game.

“As I got the ball, I knew that there was only a few seconds left, I just waited and went to the basket and prayed that it went in,” Ely said. “We played a good game as a team and sometimes it comes down to the end and you have to finish strong.”

Montrose (12-4, 3-0 in division) trailed, 15-3, after one quarter, misfired on 16 of its first 17 shots and had 10 turnovers in the first half.

Austin Smith helped ignite the comeback by dishing out six assists in the final three quarters and scoring all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

“That gave us momentum in the fourth quarter and I was just glad to contribute to the comeback,” Smith said. “I was having a bad game shooting, so I just started to get the ball to the open guy so they could go to the basket and make easy shots.”

Jack Fruehan battled on the inside and wrapped up 11 rebounds, while also dishing off two assists to Brendan Buck in the fourth as part of a 6-0 start that gave the Meteors their first lead of the game at 33-32 with 6:45 to play.

“We had a really slow first half and our shots weren’t falling,” Fruehan said. “We just realized that we had to play defense and make some shots, then chip away at the lead.”

In the final three minutes, the teams traded momentum.

Steve Scioscia, who had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Ross Fauquier hit shots to give Lackawanna Trail back the lead at 36-35, but Smith drilled a long 3-pointer to answer. Fauquier hit another basket, followed by another from Smith.

Lackawanna Trail tied the game on a short jumper by Aiden Holmes with less than a minute remaining.

Montrose worked the clock for the last shot, and Scioscia forced a jump ball when it went inside to Fruehan.

On the final possession, Ely came through for the Meteors, who have won all nine of their Division IV games this season.

“This was a good win for us in the second half and is one that we can carry through the rest of the season,” Ely said.

Lackawanna Trail (8-10, 2-1) bolted to an early advantage in a rematch of a game that went to two overtime periods against the first-half division winners.

In the first quarter, the Lions connected on 6 of their first 10 shots and built a 15-3 advantage as Jerry Chilewski scored six points.

Lackawanna Trail made only 1 of its next 20 shots, had four points in the second and still led, 19-11, at the break.

However, Montrose climbed back into the game and closed to within 32-29 after three quarters. Mason Beck and Ely each had two 3-pointers in the third, and Fruehan scored all six of his points for the game.

“That second quarter we struggled and didn’t put the ball in the basket,” Lackawanna Trail coach Christian Sunseri said. “We knew that they were going to make it a game. We needed to extend that first-quarter lead and we had chances to, but we just couldn’t make a basket.”