BOYS BASKETBALL: Edwards senses an overconfident opponent in Coleman

BY Jake Williams |  STAFF WRITER

To Greenport Coach Al Edwards, Wednesday's Class D Southeast Region semifinal against Section IX champion John A. Coleman Catholic has all the makings of a trap game, where one team is caught looking ahead to the next game before playing the one at hand.

This will be the fourth consecutive year in which the two teams will meet in the playoffs. The tip-off time is 5 p.m. at Center Moriches High School.

For three straight years, Greenport has defeated Coleman. But Edwards does not think the Porters will be the ones to fall into the trap. Instead, he thinks, and is hoping, that the Statesmen are setting themselves up for yet another fall.

Part of Edwards' scouting of Coleman has been by way of the Kingston Daily Freeman newspaper, where he found all the bulletin board material he could have asked for. He has not been shy about sharing the comments with the Porters.

On the Freeman's Web site is a short video comment from Coleman's senior point guard Jake Palmer.

"Our goal is to get to the state championship," Palmer said. "Anything short of that is nothing."

Coleman (17-2) enters the regional semifinal looking like a wrecking crew. The Statesmen's only losses were to Red Hook, the state's second-ranked Class A team. The Statesmen are ranked sixth in the state's Class D rankings. Greenport (14-7) is 20th.

Coleman beat Livingston Manor, 78-45, in the sectional semifinals. In Friday's sectional final, Coleman led by 22-20 at halftime. When the Statesmen returned to the court, they outscored Chapel Field, 24-11, in the third quarter on the way to a 17-point win. Palmer led the team with 23 points. He averaged 25.4 points per game for the season.

Edwards said he feels his team is being underestimated. He suspects that Palmer and his Coleman teammates think their main stumbling block in trying to beat Greenport the past three years was 2009 Greenport graduate Ryan Creighton. Creighton, who is Long Island's all-time leading scorer, led the Porters with 36 points in their 72-59 defeat of the Statesmen in last year's regional semifinals.

"They're not worried about anyone we have right now," Edwards said. "It's not about what we have. It's all about what we don't have. We're up for the challenge. Hopefully they're looking beyond us. We're not looking beyond them."

To get past the Coleman game, the Porters will have to stop a team similar to The Stony Brook School team that beat them in the Section XI Class C-D qualifier game two weeks ago. Edwards said Palmer is similar to the Bears� standout guard Tim Pandolfi in that he can take over the floor with both his shooting and passing abilities. Pandolfi gave the Porters headaches this season, scoring 58 points in the teams' three meetings.

Of Palmer, Edwards said, "We have to make sure we don't get so focused on him that we forget about the other players and give up easy shots inside."

The Statesmen prefer an uptempo game and score a lot of points on the easiest inside shots of all, fast-break layups.

Trying to slow the tempo down by taking their time offensively will not work for the Porters. Edwards said that would only cause more problems, possibly creating more Greenport turnovers leading to more Coleman fast breaks.

Instead, the Porters will have to maintain a delicate balance between moving to get back on defense while at the same time attacking the offensive glass to create second and third chances.

The most effective way to make that happen, Edwards said, will be what has become a frequent theme. The Porters need a balanced scoring attack to keep Coleman from keying on Greenport 's top scorer, Dantre Langhorne. So Edwards will keep telling them that if they have an open shot, take it.

Greenport is anxious to hit the floor, having not played since Feb. 24. Meanwhile, the Statesmen will come in having had four days off since their last game. That will be to Coleman's advantage, Edwards said.

"We can't let that get us down," he added. "This is what we've been playing for all year."

jwilliams@northshoresun.com