Blackhawks fall by one point
BINGHAMTON – Perhaps the most telling of ironies surfaced in the post-game comments of Union Springs coach Tim Darnell after his club’s Section IV, Class C championship game against Oxford Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
“It’s been 24 years since our school has won a sectional basketball title, and 14 years since our school has won any sort of sectional title,” Darnell said after his Wolves eked out a 49-48 victory over the Blackhawks.
While Oxford’s sectional title drought will move to at least 39 years, Union Springs’ ended against the very same school it defeated nearly 2 1/2 decades ago – the Blackhawks. “We had a couple of spells in the fourth quarter where we had empty trips down the floor,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We turned the ball over and they got some points in transition. We also had some shots and didn’t convert them. Other than those empty trips in the fourth, I don’t think our team could have played much better.”
Union Springs made a name for itself in the first two games of postseason on the defensive end. Holding Oxford without a point for two three-minute stretches in the fourth quarter, the Wolves led by as many as six points in the last stanza. Nick Schooley hit two free throws with 18 seconds left to up Union Springs’ lead to 47-43.
Alex Champlin scored just 6.2 seconds later for Oxford (19-4), and the Blackhawks’ Champlin fouled immediately on the ensuing inbounds play. Unfortunately, it was not the ideal player for the Blackhawks to place on the line at such a critical juncture.
Pat Chandler, he of the game-high 16 points including four three-point daggers in the corner, drained two more freebies at the charity stripe to all but seal the win. “Chandler was not the one we wanted to foul, and I pretty much knew he would make both free throws,” Davis said.
Oxford sophomore Cory Seiler hit a three-pointer with under a second to play, and at that moment, he seemed to have a glimmer of hope, but Seiler’s head sunk as he watched the clock and the Blackhawks’ season run out – just one point short.
“We came in as the 16th ranked team in the state and Oxford was the 17th ranked team,” Darnell said. “Oxford is a excellent team that is well coached, and we definitely didn’t think that it would be easy. We knew it would be a fight to the end.”
Champlin, who led Oxford with 10 points to go with a slew of assists, was coming off a 30-point night in the Blackhawks’ semifinals blowout win over Candor. He managed just six shots in the contest. “They seemed to key on me and stayed right in my face,” Champlin said. “But we knew that coming in. They did the same thing to (Patrick) O’Brien when they played Walton. It wasn’t a surprise to us.”
Oxford’s offensive efficiency in the first half forced Union Springs out of its staple man-to-man defense.
Jeff Champlin, Tom Gould, and Robert Amor consistently found open looks, while also punishing Union Springs on the glass. The powerful inside trio combined for 14 points in the first half, and combined with Scott Seiler’s two three balls in the latter stages of the first half, the Blackhawks led 27-21.
Union Springs mixed and matched its defenses from man-to-man to zone, but returned to man defense full time over the final two quarters. No real adjustments were made, Darnell said, just better execution on both ends of the floor. “The biggest key for us in the second half was rebounding,” Darnell said. “They pounded us on the glass in the first half, but we did a good job of limiting them to one shot. We also started to make shots in the second half that we were not going in in the first half, and they were missing shots in the second half that they were making in the first.”
After Alex Champlin, Scott Seiler had nine points, that in spite of suffering a bone bruise on his shooting hand after a first-half tumble. Jeff Champlin scored eight and Cory Seiler netted seven. Amor and Gould bucketed six points apiece.
Oxford: Cory Seiler, 2-6 1-2-7; Andrew Hubman, 0-1 0-0-0; Scott Seiler, 3-11 0-0-9; Tom Gould, 3-8 0-0-6; Alex Champlin, 4-6 0-1-10; Jeff Champlin, 4-11 0-0-8; Robert Amor, 3-8 0-1-6; Hugh Witchella, 1-2 0-0-2. Totals: 20-53-1-4-48
Union Springs: Jim Burns, 1-2 0-0-2; Pat Chandler, 5-13 2-2-16; Julius McClary, 3-10 2-6-8; Mike Howell, 0-8 2-2-2; Devon Bradley, 4-8 0-1-10; Nick Schooley, 2-4 2-2-6; Mike Bean, 2-5 0-0-5. Totals: 17-50 8-12-49.
Score by quarters
Oxf. 15 12 9 12–48
U.S. 11 12 16 12–49
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (O) 11, (US) 12. Three-point goals: (O) 7-for-17 (A. Champlin, 2-4, C. Seiler, 2-5, S. Seiler, 3-8), (US) 6-for-13 (Chandler, 4-8, Bean, 1-1, bradley, 1-2, Howell, 0-2).
“It’s been 24 years since our school has won a sectional basketball title, and 14 years since our school has won any sort of sectional title,” Darnell said after his Wolves eked out a 49-48 victory over the Blackhawks.
While Oxford’s sectional title drought will move to at least 39 years, Union Springs’ ended against the very same school it defeated nearly 2 1/2 decades ago – the Blackhawks. “We had a couple of spells in the fourth quarter where we had empty trips down the floor,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We turned the ball over and they got some points in transition. We also had some shots and didn’t convert them. Other than those empty trips in the fourth, I don’t think our team could have played much better.”
Union Springs made a name for itself in the first two games of postseason on the defensive end. Holding Oxford without a point for two three-minute stretches in the fourth quarter, the Wolves led by as many as six points in the last stanza. Nick Schooley hit two free throws with 18 seconds left to up Union Springs’ lead to 47-43.
Alex Champlin scored just 6.2 seconds later for Oxford (19-4), and the Blackhawks’ Champlin fouled immediately on the ensuing inbounds play. Unfortunately, it was not the ideal player for the Blackhawks to place on the line at such a critical juncture.
Pat Chandler, he of the game-high 16 points including four three-point daggers in the corner, drained two more freebies at the charity stripe to all but seal the win. “Chandler was not the one we wanted to foul, and I pretty much knew he would make both free throws,” Davis said.
Oxford sophomore Cory Seiler hit a three-pointer with under a second to play, and at that moment, he seemed to have a glimmer of hope, but Seiler’s head sunk as he watched the clock and the Blackhawks’ season run out – just one point short.
“We came in as the 16th ranked team in the state and Oxford was the 17th ranked team,” Darnell said. “Oxford is a excellent team that is well coached, and we definitely didn’t think that it would be easy. We knew it would be a fight to the end.”
Champlin, who led Oxford with 10 points to go with a slew of assists, was coming off a 30-point night in the Blackhawks’ semifinals blowout win over Candor. He managed just six shots in the contest. “They seemed to key on me and stayed right in my face,” Champlin said. “But we knew that coming in. They did the same thing to (Patrick) O’Brien when they played Walton. It wasn’t a surprise to us.”
Oxford’s offensive efficiency in the first half forced Union Springs out of its staple man-to-man defense.
Jeff Champlin, Tom Gould, and Robert Amor consistently found open looks, while also punishing Union Springs on the glass. The powerful inside trio combined for 14 points in the first half, and combined with Scott Seiler’s two three balls in the latter stages of the first half, the Blackhawks led 27-21.
Union Springs mixed and matched its defenses from man-to-man to zone, but returned to man defense full time over the final two quarters. No real adjustments were made, Darnell said, just better execution on both ends of the floor. “The biggest key for us in the second half was rebounding,” Darnell said. “They pounded us on the glass in the first half, but we did a good job of limiting them to one shot. We also started to make shots in the second half that we were not going in in the first half, and they were missing shots in the second half that they were making in the first.”
After Alex Champlin, Scott Seiler had nine points, that in spite of suffering a bone bruise on his shooting hand after a first-half tumble. Jeff Champlin scored eight and Cory Seiler netted seven. Amor and Gould bucketed six points apiece.
Oxford: Cory Seiler, 2-6 1-2-7; Andrew Hubman, 0-1 0-0-0; Scott Seiler, 3-11 0-0-9; Tom Gould, 3-8 0-0-6; Alex Champlin, 4-6 0-1-10; Jeff Champlin, 4-11 0-0-8; Robert Amor, 3-8 0-1-6; Hugh Witchella, 1-2 0-0-2. Totals: 20-53-1-4-48
Union Springs: Jim Burns, 1-2 0-0-2; Pat Chandler, 5-13 2-2-16; Julius McClary, 3-10 2-6-8; Mike Howell, 0-8 2-2-2; Devon Bradley, 4-8 0-1-10; Nick Schooley, 2-4 2-2-6; Mike Bean, 2-5 0-0-5. Totals: 17-50 8-12-49.
Score by quarters
Oxf. 15 12 9 12–48
U.S. 11 12 16 12–49
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (O) 11, (US) 12. Three-point goals: (O) 7-for-17 (A. Champlin, 2-4, C. Seiler, 2-5, S. Seiler, 3-8), (US) 6-for-13 (Chandler, 4-8, Bean, 1-1, bradley, 1-2, Howell, 0-2).
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