(Dominick Welch sails to the basket at St. Joe's / Photo by James McCoy)

 

Cheektowaga has one of the best players in WNY in Dominick Welch and some very athletic and talented pieces around him.  Warriors' head coach Pat Cullinan puts together a tough nonleague schedule each year to get his players some exposure and to challenge his group to play better by facing top competition.  On MLK Day, Cheektowaga visited St. Joe's, a school that is annually among the top ten large schools in the area, and found itself trailing by double digits early in the second quarter.  Cullinan called a timeout, following an 8-0 Marauder run, as you could see the effort and energy was lacking from the Warriors.  It was as if he pulled out a switch amidst the 30-second huddle and flipped it on in front of his players. 

 

The Warriors outscored St. Joe's, 66-30, following that timeout, and came away with a signature win on the road, defeating the Marauders, 82-57.  Welch finished with game-highs in points (28) & rebounds (16) in the victory.

 

"We pride ourselves on playing people, and St. Joe's is one of those teams," Cullinan said.  "Their history speaks for itself, and to come in here and get a win, and the way we did it more importantly, especially after a slow start."

 

With the Warriors already looking up from the hole they'd dug themselves, Cullinan could be heard from the team's huddle, letting his guys know the effort wasn't good enough.  They response he got from his team was palpable, as Welch & company quickly got to work on erasing their 27-16 deficit.  Runs of 6-0 and 9-0 followed before halftime, and with the Warriors down by three just before the break, sophomore Rudy Bragg drilled his third trey of the game to send the game to half knotted at 34-34.

 

"When we called that timeout, I just said this is it – do or die," Cullinan said. "We've been doing it to ourselves, getting in these holes we can't dig out of – let's be on the other side of it, let's drop the throttle now, come out and play with some energy and play hard."

 

The message from the timeout was still resonating with Cullinan's team when the third quarter began.  Bragg opened the second half scoring to give Cheektowaga the lead and they never trailed again.  Welch slammed one home in the lane for the Warriors to give his team a 42-36 lead early in the third quarter.  The Marauders used a timeout following the thunder dunk, but it was to no avail.  Welch splashed a '3' for the Warriors a minute later, followed by a basket from Stephan Parker (19 points & 10 rebounds) to put Cheektowaga up ten, 48-38, midway through the third quarter.  Traditional three-point plays from Welch and DeMarion McGinnis later in the third, helped push the Cheektowaga lead to 60-46 heading into the fourth quarter.

 

The final eight minutes were won by the Warriors, 22-11, as they continued to out-rebound St. Joe's and get run-outs going the other way, then converting in transition for easy points.  As the lead grew for the Warriors, their energy increased.  The ball was being shared and guys were playing inspired defense.  Sophomore Alek Bryant scored seven of his 15 points for Cheektowaga during the final frame.

 

"I always tell them, if you play and give me everything you've got and we lose, God bless the team that beats us," Cullinan said.

 

"It's getting these guys to believe –  if we just play hard, let somebody try to beat us.  I think we've beaten ourselves a lot this year with some mistakes and lapses in effort, but you get there with experience.  I think today we put it all together, and I'm hoping we turn the corner."

 

 The success of Cheektowaga over these next two seasons will always start with Welch.  The junior sensation is captivating to basketball audiences and is clearly a player that is looked up to and respected by his teammates.  Despite his superior skill set and scoring prowess, Welch always makes the pass in transition at just the right moment and continually sets the other Warriors up in great positions.  When Welch is going all out and playing with a chip on his shoulder, the rest of the Warriors seem to get a little extra pumped up as well.  

 

"We just wanted to keep the energy up and get the job done,"  Welch said.  "We're really just sick of losing, I'm sick of losing."

 

Cheektowaga is now 6-5 on the season, heading into tonight's game with Pioneer.  On Friday, the Warriors visit Amherst, where first place in ECIC III will likely be on the line.

 

Point Totals

Cheektowaga:  Dominick Welch 28, Stephan Parker 19, Alek Bryant 15, Rudy Bragg 11, Vaughn Burdette 4, DeMarion McGinnis 3, Anthony Grabp 2

St. Joe's:  Naseer Jackson 19, Nick Motley 11, Jack Capen 11, Grant Beyer 8, Caleb Cockrell 4, Hunter Dimitroff 4

 

-centercourt