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For Irvington sophomore Ryan O'Donnell, the baskets in the Irvington High School gym must have looked as wide as the Hudson River.
Wordlife.
He splashed treys from the corner, triggering scoring surges and helping wash the repugnant taste of an exruciating overtime loss to Dobbs Ferry--a game in which they surrendered an 11-point lead in the fourth quarte--out of the Bulldogs' mouth.
O'Donnell scorched the nets to the tune of 18 points on six three-pointers, helping spearhead Irvington to a 69-50 walloping of Bronxville in the consolation game of Irvington's Michael F. Tewey tournament Saturday afternoon.
"The kid can flat out shoot," said Irvington senior Chris Brennan, who scored 14 points, including an eye-popping first half block.
"That's why he's in the starting lineup. We've seen him light it up in practice and in the scrimmages. He's got a ratchet. We really needed that third leg for our scoring."
Irvington's Matt Fenyn, who sidestepped foul trouble until the game was out of reach, was superb. Fenyn's twin brother Alex, was equally impactful and a handful for the callow Broncos to guard.
Alex Fenyn dropped 14 points and dissected the defense with forays to the cup.
Matt Fenyn, the high-motor 6-foot-1 senior cleaned the glass as if he was Mr. Clean's understudy, tearing down rebounds at a frantic pace.
The relentless hustle (JIGGA said it best 'cuz you can't knock the hustle') of the fast-paced, go-go forward supplied Irvington with a number of second-chance buckets.
Alex Fenyn's performance was underscored by a streaking circus shot he hit in the second half. The bucket gave the Bulldogs a virtually insurmountable 53-36 bulge.
Parris Purcelle (nine points) followed with a fast break layup as Irvington ran away with it.
"We were missing some key pieces," said Bronxville coach Brian Senior, whose undermanned Broncos team fell to 0-2 with the loss. The Broncos were defeated by Ardsley in the opening round of the tournament Friday.
"We're two weeks behind and are just going to have to piecemeal this team together and get better."
Bronxville is without junior captain Gibbs Lilly and Matt Tormey, both of whom have been bitten by the injury bug.
The Broncos were lacking some size without their two seniors in Dillon Mitchell and Jack Near.
Mitchell and Near were both essential ingredients (quarterback and go-to receiver) of Bronxville's 2010 New York State Championship football team. Having just finished the season on the gridiron, the senior tandem needs a few more practices before they are eligible for the hardwood.
With the blowout of the Broncos, first-year Irvington coach Mike Auerbach earns the first win of his varsity head coaching career.
"It feels great to get the first win under my belt, especially after last night," said Auerbach, referring to the Bulldogs' heartbreaking double overtime loss to Dobbs Ferry (a game in which they relinquished an 11-point lead with four minutes remaining in regulation).
"The guys felt as if they were 0-100 after that game but I had to tell them guys, 'it's just one game.' They kept their heads up and really recovered. I think Matt (Fenyn) just brings us a different dynamic because he has so much energy. He only has one gear which is speed. When he avoids foul trouble, he has a major impact on the game.
Brennan, who dropped 18 points in the loss to Dobbs Ferry (11 in the first half), orchestrated the offensive symphony and hit a wealth of options on the perimeter and in transition.
O'Donnell got free off of picks and screens ready to stroke it from beyond the arc. He drilled back-to-back treys to spark a game-opening 10-0 run capped off by a Brennan steal and fast break layup.
Bronxville quelled the early power surge on a Matt Marrone free throw, as the Broncos finally got on the board with 3:49 remaining.
Bronxville answered with a 12-6 spurt of their own. Darius Brightman, a high-octane guard off the bench, thwarted the run when he split a pair of defenders and found Matt Fenyn for an open layin to make it 18-12.
Irvington seized control of the game following a 10-0 surge jump-started by back-to-back threes from O'Donnell.
Purcelle, who dropped a game-high 24 points in the loss to Dobbs Ferry, finished strong on the break to fatten Irvington's lead to 20 points. The scoring onslaught continued until both team's emptied out their benches.
Nick Converse paced the Broncos with 10 points. Marrone added eight.
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