Orchard Park basketball hosted St. Francis for an early Christmas matchup Monday night. It was a close game, but the Quakers came away with a 55-51 victory to carry into the holiday.
Things started off very well for the Quakers as they easily found their way to the basket. St. Francis answered back to the Quakers’ offense for most of the first quarter. The Red Raiders came out of the first quarter with a 14-12 lead.
Things really began to open up for the Quakers as their strong defense led way to scoring opportunities, as the Quakers got up to a 10-point lead in the second quarter. The Red Raiders cut into the Quakers’ lead and came out of the first half only down one point.
OP continued throughout the rest of the game with a solid lead. The Red Raiders started a little run at the very end of the fourth quarter, but it was not enough as the Quakers held on to win, 55-51.
Quakers seniors Brad Fowler, Tino Mancabelli, Ethan Swiatek, Chase Kline and Jackson Roskow all had big impacts on the game as they played strong defense and put up a lot of points together.
Quakers starting center Brad Fowler was very impressed with how the team looked on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court.
“The game went very well, our defense got a lot of stops which fueled our offense,” Fowler said. “Our offensive ball movement was great and that kept the defense guessing, and it also opened up shots for a lot of our guys. We played hard the whole 32 minutes and we came out with the win.”