WILKES-BARRE — For the fourth time in seven games this season, Meyers couldn’t fully close out a victory during regulation.
This time, the Mohawks were just seconds away from completing an upset to change the course of their slow start. Meyers came up short in a 44-41 loss to undefeated Abington Heights Tuesday in the Mohawk Holiday Tournament championship tilt.
It marked the fourth time the Mohawks came short by four or fewer points in 2015-16. Meyers lost by one to Holy Cross, two to Crestwood and three to Coughlin.
“I would rather play a bunch of these games to get ready for the regular season,” Meyers coach Pat Toole said. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t know if there is a better 2-5 team out there than us.
“It’s a good test for us and I’m looking forward to getting to the regular season.”
Meyers used a 10-point run in the third quarter to turn a game that seemed on the verge of an Abington Heights blowout to a back-and-forth battle to the finish.
The Mohawks led for most of the final three minutes. Omar Kelly gave Meyers a 41-40 lead with 18 seconds remaining. A quick foul allowed Jordan Hollander to make a pair of free throws to go ahead 42-41 with 13.7 seconds remaining.
Meyers’ upset chances began and end on the inbounds. On their first try, Meyers couldn’t get the ball in play, forcing a timeout. On the second chance, the inbounds pass bounced off Kelly’s knee and out of bounds.
“Matt (Dessoye) was trying to do a handoff,” Toole said. “Omar was looking to turn the corner and didn’t expect to get the ball. It’s the little things. You have to execute at the end of games. We didn’t have a clean look.”
The Comets’ Seth Maxwell drained a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game with 12.2 seconds left. On the Mohawks’ inbounds chance on their end of the court with three seconds left, they were unable to get a clean pass to a long-range shooter and the buzzer-beater went long.
Dessoye made a spectacular move to give Meyers a 37-34 lead with 2:46 left, scoring on an underhand layup in traffic while being fouled to give a shot at an old-fashioned three-point play.
Abington Heights’ Tim Toro dominated in the paint and scored 20 points en route to a tournament MVP award.
“They’re a very good team. Timmy Toro is just an outstanding talent,” Toole said. “Some small (Division I) teams are making a mistake not looking at that boy. I thought we did a pretty decent job on him.”
Meyers was led by Dessoye’s 14 points. Kelly added 11 for the Mohawks.
Kelly was selected to the all-tournament team for Meyers. Ryan Wasley received the Sportsmanship award. The Comets’ Jackson Danzig and Jordan Hollander made the all-tournament team.