Loss means layoff for some, end for three Beacon seniors

Great run huge for team, community

By Sean T. McMann
Poughkeepsie Journal

GLENS FALLS -- When the final bell rings Monday afternoon, dismissing class for the day, Roberto Macklin isn't sure what he'll do.

''It's going to be weird,'' said Macklin, a senior at Beacon High School who has played in the Bulldogs' boys basketball program since he was in eighth grade. ''I've always looked forward to going to practice.''

But there will be no practice for Macklin and his teammates Monday. No more lay-ups until next fall.

That's because Beacon (20-5 overall) fell to Section 11's Amityville Saturday in the Bulldogs' first-ever state Class B semifinal game, 65-59.

For younger players, like junior Josh Fullerton, there's always hope for next season.

''We'll be back,'' Fullerton said following the season-ending loss. ''We're going to get better as a team.''

Macklin and fellow seniors Bryan Ortquist and Collin Powers, however, have no more practices to look forward to, no more seasons to again overachieve.

Instead, as they walked off the Glens Falls Civic Center floor early Saturday afternoon, the trio took with them memories for a lifetime.

''This is by far the best season of my life, and probably any of my teammates' (lives),'' Powers said. ''We put like eight, nine trophies in our trophy case.''

Among Beacon's accomplishments:

n The Bulldogs won the Dutchess County Coaches Association's holiday tournament, on the way to a 9-0 start.

n Winners of their own tournament, renamed the Terrence Wright Memorial.

n Became the school's first Section One champions since 1973.

n Earned a victory over Section Nine's Red Hook in the school's first-ever regional final and advanced to Beacon's first-ever state Class B Final Four.

''We can say we're the best team that came out of Beacon,'' Ortquist said. ''We can say that for years.''

Beacon's senior center, Ortquist said that when his team first practiced on Nov. 11, he knew his final year in blue and yellow was going to be special.

''From the beginning of the season, I felt confident,'' he said. ''Last year, we had a lot of cliques that were off to the side. This year, we played together. We hung out together. We trusted each other.''

Unity key to success

Macklin said that team togetherness, which was lacking a year ago when the Bulldogs started with a 4-1 record before losing its final 15 games, made this year's success all the more enjoyable.

''I'll remember all the fun we had as a team, our unity on the team,'' Macklin said. ''Mainly, this season was all about friendship. The basketball was a bonus.''

As was the support that the Bulldogs received throughout their successful season, Powers said.

''With the new high school, the great record, the community really came together,'' the forward said. ''A lot of people were dedicated.''

None more than himself, Ortquist and Macklin, according to Powers' father.

Coach Tom Powers said that his upperclassmen made this year his most enjoyable in recent memory.

''This season, it was special because of those three guys,'' said Tom Powers, who also wasn't sure what to do come Monday. ''I probably won't know what to do with myself.''

Ortquist's next season begins Monday when the 6-foot-4 athlete will begin his pursuit of another state title -- this one in the pentathlon.

''I have track season,'' Ortquist said. "That's my next step."