OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk’s Donavan Lockett drives to the basket while being defended by Southwestern’s Calvin Ricker during Monday’s Division 1 West basketball game.

DUNKIRK — The Dunkirk boys basketball game continues to be forced to grow on the fly, a young team trying to come together with practice limitations due to COVID-19.

On Monday night, the experienced Southwestern Trojans taught the young Marauders a lesson, but it was a new lesson for the hosts, even when they get down, they can fight and claw their way back.

While the Trojans prevailed, 59-47, in a Division 1 West game, Dunkirk made it interesting, cutting the deficit to four ponts late in the fourth quarter, but the Trojans went on a run down the stretch to seal the victory.

The game was tightly played in the first quarter. Southwestern scored the first five points, but Dunkirk was able to answer every shot, eventually tying the game at eight, with six of those points coming from Marcel Carter, who had just returned from injury for the Marauders. Unfortunately, he left the game in the first quarter with an apparent non-contact knee injury when he tried a crossover at the top of the key.

“A lot of the things we do are predicated on having guard play like that,” said Dunkirk coach Luke Gullo. “We’re very proud of him, he’s fought through a lot, and when he’s back, he’ll be better than ever.”

Despite losing their starting point guard, the Marauders closed out the quarter strong, trading buckets with the Trojans, with Southwestern hitting a buzzer-beating putback to end the first quarter up 14-12. Tim Brown scored a quick basket at the start of the second to knot the game at 14.

For the rest of the second quarter, it was all Trojans.

The Trojans ripped off 18 straight points, as a perfect storm of hot shooting, offensive rebounds and Dunkirk turnovers put them in complete control of the game. It was the kind of run that has plagued Dunkirk a couple times early this season, and something they’re susceptible to as a young team, while the Trojans solved the Dunkirk defense that played them well in the first.

“We really settled down and took our time,” said Southwestern coach Aaron Emley. “We were patient attacking the 1-3-1 zone. It helped we had seen it against Olean in our last game, and on the road, getting those first-quarter jitters out is something to deal with.”

The Marauders were able to score a few points at the end of the half, trailing Southwestern, 32-17 at the break in a game that appeared to get away from them. But unlike Marauders teams in the past, this one has some fight in them.

“I knew we were capable,” Gullo said. “The difference between this year and the last couple is we’re capable. Our kids are putting out effort and will be rewarded. This isn’t a long season, but playing these games is so interesting because you can see kids progressing through stages of basketball life.”

Right out of the half, the Marauders quickly cut the deficit down to six points, as the 3-ball began falling. Amarion Tell hit back to back 3s to bring the score to 36-30 in favor of the Trojans, who then pushed back with a run of their own, scoring 10 of the quarter’s final 13 points, to go into the fourth leading, 46-33.

Similar to the third quarter, Dunkirk came out red hot in the final period. The team hit three straight 3s, two in a row from Carlito Villafane and one by Donnie Lockett, to inch as close as 48-44 in the late stages of the fourth.

“Dunkirk shot the 3 so well in the second half, we needed to press beyond the arc. My guys kept saying how deep their shots were,” Emley said. “But if they can shoot it, they can shoot it, and we had to limit that.”

With Dunkirk comfortably back in the game, the veteran Trojans found one last run in them, ripping off nine straight points to seal the win.

Southwestern used an incredibly balanced attack to fluster the Marauders all night, showing off excellent ball movement and selfless play looking for the open man. Senior captain Nate Johnson led the Trojans with 15 points while Zishan Munir and Aidan Kennedy each had 14. Calvin Ricker, son of former Lady Marauders coach Ken Ricker, had 11.

“Against a zone specifically, we have got to move the ball and get the team’s best shot,” Emley said. “It’s not about who individually can score for us.”

Meanwhile, the Marauders continue to grow, displaying an ability to fight back into games that has eluded them for a little while. In the game, Brown led the Marauders with 11 points and nine rebounds while Donny Lockett scored 8, Tell and Villafane each had 6, and Christian Ortiz and Jamari Terry each scored 5, with Ortiz grabbing 11 rebounds.

“Our team fought back three different times,” Gullo said. “I hate to say we’re knocking, but eventually we’re going to get through. That’s the value of playing in the toughest league in Section VI. We’re learning a lot. We have kids in different positions of needing to do things and we’re working on it. We did it for spurts, but couldn’t sustain it, and it’s where you see an older team like Southwestern exploit us. We’re playing like the other teams in our league, but the other teams in the league have been playing like this for a while.”