Prattsburgh survives scare from Addison
BY BOB BENZ THE-LEADER

ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Prattsburgh's Kyle Parker shoots over Addison's Jamie Martin.

ADDISON - Despite its best shooting effort of the season - which included 10 3-pointers - Addison's exceptional long-range perimeter game couldn't quite hold up to Prattsburgh's superior height.

Thanks to double-doubles from 6-foot-7 senior center Patrick Wright and 6-2 senior forward Jake Socola, the Vikings withstood a furious second-half barrage of 3- pointers from Addison and remained perfect on the season (11-0, 5-0) with a 64-59 victory Wednesday night.

"Their outside kept them in the game and our inside probably won the game for us," Prattsburgh head coach Jim Burke said. "I know their record is 1-10, but they're the best 1-10 team."

Wright made the most of his size, posting up against considerably smaller players and finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. And when Wright wasn't scoring in the low post, Socola usually was. Socola added 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

"Those kids might be the two most improved kids in the area from last year," Burke said. "Last year, we couldn't even keep Patrick on the floor and Jake wasn't a threat last year, but he's tough inside."

While the two Steuben County foes entered the game with virtually opposite records, Burke suspected the Knights would give his team problems.

"We don't match up well with that type of an offense with our 6-7 and 6-6 guys," Burke said. "Wade (Fuller) is our only real quick kid. If we face a team that has three 3- point shooters out there, we've got to pray they're having a bad night, because we can't play them man."

Each time it seemed Prattsburgh was ready to pull away, the Knights would battle back - using the 3- point arc as their weapon of choice to counter the Vikings' clear advantage in the paint.

Although the Vikings carried a 33-25 lead into halftime, Mike St rong quickly sliced Prattsburgh's lead to two by dropping in treys from the left and right corners to open the second half.

Later in the quarter, the Vikings' cut a nine-point deficit to four thanks to another triple from Strong, along with a steal and layup from Jamie Martin.

Strong and Martin were two of four Addison players to connect from long distance. Strong buried four 3- pointers and finished with 18 points, while Martin pumped in three treys and netted 16 points.

"Their height bothered us the whole game," Addison head coach Mike Makowiec said. "But I think we held our own and our 3-point shooting got us back in the game."

However, Socola scored on a three-point play late in the third as Prattsburgh opened up an 11-point advantage early in the fourth thanks to a bucket from guard Wade Fuller, who netted a gamehigh 19 points and came up big down the stretch.

Addison was still able to rally though and erased its 11-point deficit when Strong dropped in his fourth 3- pointer to give the Knights a 56-55 lead.

Prattsburgh would answer, yet again, as Fuller gave the Vikings a 60-56 lead when he banked a runner in the lane with less than two minutes to play.

Colton Makowiec pulled Addison within one on a 3- pointer with 37.3 seconds left, but the Knights were unable to get any closer as Fuller and Kyle Parker combined to hit four free throws over the final 30 seconds of play.

Parker finished with eight points and dished out five assists. Makowiec knocked down two 3s and registered eight points.