LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — How sweet it is!

The first time they squared off against each other this season, Eldred defeated the Bulldogs of Sullivan West 48-46 in the opening round of the O’Neill tourney on December 27, 2016.

Down by 17 points in the third frame, the Yellow Jackets won with 10-seconds left of the game clock on a bucket by Erek Binkowski.

But on Thursday, January 12, the Bulldogs (3-7) boys varsity bucketeers turned the tables on Eldred (2-6) as they defeated their rivals 45-33 despite a final frame surge by the Yellow Jackets.

In the first half, the Dawgs outpaced the opposition by 14 points, on the way to taking a 30-18 lead into the locker room at the half.

Both squads scored equally in the first and second periods as they racked up 15 points and 9 points respectively (15-9 and 15-9).

Sullivan West’s Kyle Reimer scored from outside the arc as the buzzer sounded the end of the first frame.

In the third period, Eldred was outgunned 8-4, but in the closing frame came back 11-7 in the non-league matchup.

Top guns for Sullivan West: Kyle Reimer (17 points including two threes), Austin Melchink (13 including two  threes), Alex Unser (9).

Leading scorers for Eldred: ErekBinkowski (18 with a pair of threes), Joe Santoro (10), Jacob McKean contribute a  three from outside the three-point line.

Stats from the FTL: SWCD 13/26 (50%), ECS 8/14 (57%).

And from the captain’s corner:

“We’re trying to score as a team,” said Melchick, a 16-year old senior co-captain of the Bulldogs. “We’re working together, pushing in the right direction.”

Erek Binkowski is a 17-year-old senior co-captain at Eldred. “It was a rough game. We came out cold [and] had to struggle to fight back in the second half… we have to be mentally prepared,” he said.

Looking ahead to the future, both Melchick and Binkowski said they hope their teams make it to sectionals… and perhaps beyond.

David Binkowski, second-season coach of the Yellow Jackets, said his team “didn’t score in the first half, and didn’t stop them defensively.

“They wanted it more than we did… they came out aggressively and hungry.”

A halftime locker room talk by the coach seemed to help.

“In the second half, the guys got fired up a little and started playing the way that could win us games,” said Binkowski.

What does it take to be a scholar athlete?

As an example, Eldred’s coach noted that a player who fell a bit behind in his grades got so inspired to get back on the team that in just a few days he boosted his classroom performance to regain athletic eligibility.

John Meyer, coach of the Bulldogs hoopsters, said his team still needs “to take better care of the basketball” and use the clock to their advantage, adding that things are moving in the right direction.

“We’re starting to understand... we got good shots and made them,” he said.

“With Austin [Melchick] and Kyle [Reimer] scoring, that’s going to get us going... and the big guys are doing their job underneath.

“I can put Collin (Hauschild) on anybody, and he shuts ‘em down,” said Meyer.