(Dunkirk's Tyreese Kristian-Johnson defended by Chautauqua Lake's Devin Pope)

 

Dunkirk 82, Chautauqua Lake 66

In CCAA I West action, the Marauders raced out to a 26-11 lead after one quarter and Chautauqua Lake was never able to get closer than nine points the rest of the way.  Dunkirk is a team I voted #9 in the small school poll this week, while Chautauqua Lake is a defending Section VI Class C champion who entered the game ranked #4 in NYS Class C.

 

Dunkirk  26 – 21 – 22 – 13 = 82

C. Lake    11 – 23 – 18 – 14 = 66

 

Point Totals

Dunkirk:  Tyreese Kristian-Johnson 22, Devaun Farnham 15, Issaih Velez 12, Felix Garcia 8, Darnell Butts 7, Noah Sobilo 7, Andre Lockett 6, Jaziah Rivera 5

Chautauqua Lake:  Devin Pope 37, Nate Adams 16, Trey Sauerland 8, Kyler Majka 4, Collin Wood 1

 

Records

Dunkirk 3-2, 1-0 /  Chautauqua Lake 3-2, 0-1

 

Player of the Game

Tyreese Kristian-Johnson – Dunkirk

 

Unsung Hero of the Game

Issiah Velez – Dunkirk

 

Key Stats

Dunkirk's Tyreese Kristian-Johnson had a 20/20 game -  22 points and 20 rebounds

Chautauqua Lake's Devin Pope dropped 37 points, along with 9 rebounds, 4 steals, & 3 assists

 

Key Runs

Dunkirk's 12-2 start to the game and 22-7 lead before the end of the opening quarter.  Chautauqua Lake hung tough after that, but could never recover from the fast start by the Marauders.

 

3-Pointers

Dunkirk:  Issiah Velez (2), Devaun Farnham, Jaziah Rivera, Andre Lockett, Darnell Butts

Chautauqua Lake:  None

 

#BOOM

Dunkirk's Devaun Farnham hammered down a pair of one-handed dunks in the open court

 

Coaches Quotes

Andrew Krenzer, Dunkirk

On Tyreese Kristian-Johnson:

"He's got a motor that doesn't stop and the more he rebounds, the more we're going to be in every game. My dad was one of the football coaches and told me that kid will never take a break.  Really proud of him."

 

On Devin Pope:

"I don't think there's a way to stop Devin Pope.  We were just going to try to run a ton of guys at him and our goal was to outscore him.  It's early in the season and we wanted to tire him out, but really we've just got to have someone on him at all times and I don't even know if that's enough."

 

Mike Putney, Chautauqua Lake

On Dunkirk's fast start:

"The game were going to scout was cancelled, sometimes mother nature does that to you.  I thought they would come out and hit some threes on us, so we tried to man up and see what we could do.  They were able to get some good buckets off that and that hole was there the entire game."

 

Welcoming the stiff competition his Class C squad faces:

"The league we play in is great and these are the games we need to play in to help us get to where we want to be."

 

My takes:

– Devaun Farnham turned heads at Buff State last season playing with the heart of a champion and making plays all game in a thrilling Class B1 semifinal loss to East Aurora.  He grew three inches over the summer and is even better this season.

– Dunkirk has balance and a solid eight-man rotation.  I think you could find a different team-high scorer in five trips to see them play.

– When discussing the area's top big men, Tyreese Kristian-Johnson deserves to be in the discussion.  He's a 6-5 scrapper that gave all the credit to his teammates when I spoke with him following the game.

– What Devin Pope is doing this season is special.  He is the only senior in the starting lineup at Chautauqua Lake and gets all the attention of opposing defenses in every game, yet continues to dominate. 

– No player in WNY gets to the charity stripe as often as Devin Pope.  He's so good attacking the basket that you can either foul him or watch him finish.

– Chautauqua Lake has a nice sophomore in Nate Adams, who I didn't get to see when the team played at Franklinville because he missed due to injury.

 

-centercourt