By ROB JONAS

DELANSON – Jakob Stahl had himself a game for the Duanesburg boys basketball team.

Stahl made four three-pointers on his way to a 25-point evening as he led the Eagles to a 53-43 victory over Berne-Knox-Westerlo Friday, Jan. 4, in a Western Athletic Conference contest.

“That’s a by-product of our guys moving the ball around, and Jake doing a good job of moving without the ball to get into positions where he could shoot,” said Duanesburg head coach John Johnson. “I thought Jake showed a lot of composure, as did the entire team.”

Stahl timed his three-pointers for maximum effect. He drilled a three late in the first quarter to give Duanesburg a 15-8 lead. Then, he hit another three-pointer towards the end of the second quarter to help put the Eagles ahead 26-20 at halftime.

BKW closed the gap to three points in the third quarter before Duanesburg went on a 9-2 run, which Stahl capped with another three-pointer. The Eagles never led by less than nine points the rest of the evening.

“The kid’s a good player,” BKW head coach Andy Wright said of Stahl. “He’s got ability, and if he works at it, he could stick on a roster after high school.”

Zeke Pulliam had 15 points to lead the Bulldogs, with most of those points coming from the free throw line, where he made 11 of his 15 attempts. He was otherwise ice cold from the field, as he made only two field goals and missed all of his three-pointers.

“We’re not going to be in too many games if he’s not pushing 20 [points],” said Wright.

It wasn’t just Pulliam who was having trouble making shots. The rest of the Bulldogs found it difficult to find the range against Duanesburg’s zone defense.

“We could not get into any rhythm,” said Wright. “Their 2-3 really bothered us. We were very deliberate with the ball.”

“Our guys have been working very hard to improve playing together and sharing the basketball,” said Johnson.

Photos by Rob Jonas