Hot-shooting Afternoon Sends New Paltz Past FDR

It was raining three-pointers for the New Paltz Huguenots on Wednesday, as they knocked down 10 en route to an eight-point victory over FDR.

“It’s big for us, we needed it,” New Paltz freshman Cayden Dones said on the victory. “It was a big game for us. We play them again in two weeks, so we needed this one.”

The Huguenots came out firing immediately, holding a 13-4 lead after the first quarter. It was more of the same in the second, as a Dones 3-pointer at the buzzer gave New Paltz a 17-point lead at the halftime break.

New Paltz build their lead from knocking down shots and their strong defensive pressure against FDR, causing multiple turnovers.

“We went over film today and made a few minor adjustments,” New Paltz head coach Danny Diklich said. “I thought we came out hungry for this win.”

In the fourth quarter, FDR, who trailed by as many as 26, made it as close as an eight-point game. But in the end, it was New Paltz who came away with the victory.

“I thought we limited turnovers and controlled the boards more than we did yesterday,” Diklich said. “I thought we got out and ran, that’s what we do. When we force turnovers on the defense, we can get out and run and that’s our bread and butter.”

Out of New Paltz’s 10 threes, Dones and Stephen Carr each had three.

“We have a pretty deep team that can shoot,” Diklich said. “We have a lot of shooters but not a lot of size, so we have to get out and run.”

Dones and Carr both had 13 points for New Paltz.

New Paltz secured their first 2022 Tournament victory after a two-point loss to Arlington Tuesday night.

“It’s different. So far we’ve played against kids not as strong and gyms not as packed, so I think we were a little timid in the first half [against Arlington], but the second half we came out and played good and into today.”

New Paltz will play John Jay Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

For FDR, they were led by Kamsiyochuckwu Awaka who finished with 20 points.

The Presidents will take on Marlboro Thursday at 1 p.m.

By: Tom Seipp (@Tom_Seipp)