The Vikings had their moments on Thursday night when they hosted Pine Bush for an early divisional game. However, Pine Bush dominated most of the game. The Bushmen took home the victory with the lopsided score of 79 – 44, but they would tell you that the game was closer than the scoreboard made it appear.

“It’s a divisional game, it’s our biggest game of the year so far. The guys knew that and I told them we had to come out and play unselfish and play good defense,” said Stephen Distefano, Pine Bush’s head coach.

After the first quarter, Pine Bush held a dominating 23 – 8 lead. In the second quarter the Vikings picked up the pace, although they still trailed 36 – 23.

Elijah Orta led the Vikings with 11 points. Jayson Amodio had 8 points, Raysean Johnson had 7 points and Zach Bealer had 6 points, accounting for much of the scoring for the Vikings. Amodio and Johnson each contributed with 5 rebounds.

“We were allowing offensive rebounds, and I wasn’t pleased with some of our help-defense,” said Distefano. “It’s a working progress, these guys come in ready to work hard every single day and they’ll be ready tomorrow.”
The Bushman took control again in the 2nd half, taking a 60 – 35 lead into the 4th quarter.

“We were unselfish. We don’t care about who’s scoring, we don’t care about our individual stats, we care about our team and the end result is what happens on the scoreboard,” said Distefano.

Nate Jaloszynski’s three-point range and Chris Cain’s play beneath the rim were what gave Pine Bush such a significant edge. Jaloszynski drained four 3-point field goals, on his way to 16 points overall.

“I don’t think about it at all. If I think about it, it doesn’t go in,” said Jaloszynski on his 3-point shooting. “It was really fun as a team because some of our lower guys got to play and that was fun towards the end,” he said specifically referring to a field goal Brendan Keegan made late in the fourth quarter, which led the Pine Bush student section to go crazy.
Chris Cain led the Bushman with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 8 field goals. Kenny Holland and Bryce Boddie scored 11 points each. Of Boddie’s 4 field goals, three were 3-pointers, nearly catching Jaloszynski’s mark. Tim Linton added 7 points for Pine Bush.

“I’m happy we’re starting the season strong, 4-0 so far,” said Cain. “This is our first league win too, which is important. Last year we struggled a bit, so getting these wins early is helpful towards getting to sections.”

Pine Bush (4-0 Overall; 1-0 Class AA Division 2) will host the Kingston Tigers on Wednesday December 18th and will go to Monroe-Woodbury to play the Crusaders on Friday December 20th, in two Class AA crossover matchups.

Valley Central (0-3 Overall; 0-2 Class AA Division 2) will travel to Newburgh on Tuesday December 17th and will host Kingston on Friday, December 20.