25 Years Ago in Bonac Sports: 02.14.19

February 3, 1994

The explosion was inevitable. Pierson High School’s Tyler Ratcliffe, the third-leading scorer in Suffolk last season, had emerged from a shooting slump in a big way over the past three weeks. But his hot shooting then was, it turned out, only a prelude to what was to come Tuesday against Shelter Island.

Playing his next-to-last game on the Whalers’ home court, Ratcliffe turned in one of the most memorable games in Pierson history, notching 46 points in little more than three quarters to lead his team to a 107-62 slaughter of Shelter Island.

The point total was the second highest in the county this year; the last Whaler to break the 40-point barrier was Dawson Giles, who canned 40 against Hampton Bays in 1974.

Credit the left-hander, who canned 18 of his 22 field goal attempts, all six free throws, and all four 3-point attempts. Credit also his unselfish teammates, who repeatedly set their high-scoring teammate up with breathtaking passes as Pierson ripped off fast break after fast break.

The most amazing thing about Ratcliffe’s outburst was how effortlessly it came. He didn’t force a single shot — in fact, Ratcliffe dished off a team-high eight assists and also logged a game-high seven steals. The fact was, every thing he threw up went in — the youngster might have easily set several more marks had he not been pulled from the game on two occasions.

February 10, 1994

Motorists on the Long Island Expressway one day last month might have thought it strange to see a Schaefer school bus rumbling toward La Guardia Airport with a dozen — mostly oversized, 30-to-50-something — happy campers as passengers, headed for a ski trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo.

. . . Abilities ranged from beginner to advanced, East Hampton Village Police Sergeant Mike Tracey said on the group’s return. “We range from being in fair shape to . . . abysmal, I think that’s the word,” said Sergeant Tracey. “Some of us are carrying a lot of extra baggage.”

“Some of us,” Scott Elley, a village police dispatcher, said. 

“He has an eating disorder,” Sergeant Tracey jabbed back, adding that “we all sat on the same side of the plane, which created a strain on the suspension. . . . When we were on the runway, Ken Brown leaned forward and asked one of the passengers how many minutes it had been since they had de-iced the wings. He likes to keep people loose.”

Jackson Hole was more to their liking, with its laid-back western flavor, than Vail, where the group went last year. “The glamorous crowd goes there,” said Sergeant Tracey.

“Women in mink coats, fancy shops,” said Elley. “It was more like here . . . more trendy.”

“And we are not exactly the trendy set,” said Sergeant Tracey.

. . . “It’s so vast out there,” Elley said. “I didn’t realize there was so much open space still left in America. One day, we took a snowmobile trip 100 miles north to Yellowstone. We saw a bald eagle, elk, buffalo, coyotes. . . . It was incredible, the scenery and wildlife. Yellowstone’s mobbed in the summer, so it was a good time to go.”