MOHAWK 57, LITTLE FALLS 42

LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. — Senior guards John LeClair and Jim Traglia provided the one-two offensive punch Mohawk needed to win the Little Falls Tournament championship and the Mohicans’ defensive pressure took care of the other end of the floor in a 57-42 victory over the host school in Saturday’s title game.

LeClair, the tournament’s most valuable player, followed Friday’s 31 points in the opening round with a 24-point, six-rebound, five-steal effort against Little Falls. LeClair’s five steals were among 23 for the Mohicans as a team.

Mohawk took advantage of a woeful offensive start by the Mounties. Dylan Hysack converted two free throws for the first points of the game and Little Falls would not score again in the first quarter. Two free throws by Traglia pulled Mohawk even and started an 18-0 run by the Mohicans. Mac Werenczak scored all eight of his points in a two-minute span late in the first quarter and Michael Scudder’s basket put Mohawk up 18-2 at the end of the opening period.

The second quarter saw more cold shooting, this time on both sides. Dylan Blumberg’s three-pointer from the left elbow was the first Mountie field goal as each team managed one basket in the opening 3 1/2 minutes of the period. Two more three-pointers — another by Blumberg and one by Hysack — got Little Falls within 11 points at 22-11 but the Mounties would get no closer before halftime. Mohawk stretched its lead back to 15 points before Patrick Shepardson made a spinning drive to the basket and scored the first two-point basket of the night for Little Falls with 1:14 left in the first half; Shepardson was fouled on the play and added a free throw to cut the deficit to 12.

A 9-2 run early in the third quarter opened Mohawk’s lead back up to 17 points and the Mohicans would eventually lead by as many as 24. LeClair and Traglia combined to score 21 of the final 23 Mohawk points as Scudder and Ryan Hunt were the only other Mohicans to score in the second half.

Traglia ended up with 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and a spot on the tournament all-star team along with Werenczak, Shepardson, Blumberg, Brookfield’s Dave Shipman and Edmeston’s Blake Vibbard. Shepardson scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and had a career-high 17 off the bench for Little Falls while Blumberg had six on his two three-pointers.

Andrew Gorinshek scored nine points for Little Falls which got a total of 25 from its starting lineup — or one more than LeClair had by himself.

Edmeston defeated Brookfield in Saturday’s consolation game.

Little Falls won the junior varsity championship with a 49-38 victory over Mohawk.

The Mounties play at home again Tuesday against Mt. Markham. The junior varsity game tips off at 6 p.m. with varsity play to follow.

MOHAWK MOHICANS 57, LITTLE FALLS MOUNTIES 42

MOHAWK (2-0) — John LeClair 9 6-6 24; Jim Traglia 5 5-11 15; Mac Werenczak 3 1-2 8; Ryan Hunt 1 0-0 2; Ryan Healey 1 2-2 4; Winston Smithson 0 0-2 0; Dillon Hassett 0 0-0 0; Michael Scudder 2 0-0 4; Bill LeClair 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 14-23 57.

LITTLE FALLS (1-1) — Dylan Blumberg 2 0-0 6; Dylan Hysack 1 2-2 5; Andrew Gorinshek 2 5-8 9; Alex Ewanyk 1 0-0 2; Graham Rogers 0 3-5 3; Corey Day 0 0-0 0; Patrick Shepardson 6 5-5 17; Josh Delaney 0 0-2 0; Bryce Salamone 0 0-2 0; Jake Foster 0 0-2 0. Totals: 12 15-26 42.

Mohawk    18  14  17    8 — 57

Little Falls      2  17    9  14 — 42

Three-pointers — Mohawk 1 (Werenczak 1); Little Falls 4 (Blumberg 2, Hysack 1). JV championship score — Little Falls 49, Mohawk 38.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

John LeClair, Mohawk

TOURNAMENT  ALL-STARS

Dylan Blumberg, Little Falls

Patrick Shepardson, Little Falls

Dave Shipman, Brookfield

Jim Traglia, Mohawk

Blake Vibbard, Edmeston

Mac Werenczak, Mohawk

WESTMORELAND 61, HERKIMER 49

WESTMORELAND, N.Y. — Kyle Eisnor scored 15 points Saturday and led the Westmoreland Bulldogs to a season-opening 61-49 victory over Herkimer’s Magicians.

The Bulldogs led by five points at halftime then limited Herkimer to eight in the third quarter while extending their lead.

Paul Grubner scored a game-high 16 points to lead three Magicians in double figures. Mike Fahy had 15 points in his varsity debut and J.J. Crandall added 10.

Dan DeCarlo had 13 points for Westmoreland.

Herkimer plays on the road again Tuesday at West Canada Valley.

Compiled From Evening Times Staff Reports