GAME OF THE WEEK: Poughkeepsie Wins Tournament Championship [VIDEO]

By Charlie Cornacchio

It isn't always pretty, but early season basketball is always entertaining! The Poughkeepsie Pioneers played the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders in the championship game of the Terrence Wright Memorial Tournament. Both teams struggled a bit with turnovers, but in the end MW couldn't keep up with Poughkeepsie's fast paced offense which led to a 69-48 championship win.

Sanyjay Ruparelia led the Pioneers with 21 points and received tournament MVP honors. Caval Haylett was right behind Ruparelia with 20 points.  Ruparelia had 9 points on three 3-pointers in the 1st quarter.  He finished with four 3-pointers going 5-7 from the foul line.

"I just felt today I was a leader", reflected the senior forward.

The Pioneers led 35-30 at halftime, but the Crusaders came out on a 8-0 run to start the second half. Then Poughkeepsie controlled the tempo and closed out the 3rd quarter with a 51-46 lead, building on that to finish the game off.

It was Poughkeepsie's first Section Nine win as a new member of the section, since switching over from Section 1.