Johnson City eliminates Norwich from playoffs
Evening Sun Report
Boys’ Basketball
Johnson City 75, Norwich 48
NORWICH – Norwich devised plan after plan to defeat Johnson City, and every time, the Wildcats had a new way to beat the Tornado.
Norwich’s season ended Saturday night at home when JC picked up their third win over the Tornado in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Norwich finished the season with a 15-4 record losing three of four times to their nemesis to the south. “We have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “Our four losses (one to Seton Catholic as well) came to teams who have a great chance at winning sectional championships.”
As it did in the most recent meeting, Norwich stayed tight with Johnson City for a good portion of the opening quarter. Jacob Kelly’s two free throws put Norwich in front 9-8. Johnson ended the quarter on a 13-0 run, seven of those points coming from Grant Vicks, who had 10 of his 15 points in the opening stanza. Vicks had all of his points by halftime, and the Wildcats maintained a 34-22 halftime lead despite top scoring guard Ian Pettiford’s spot on the bench due to foul trouble.
“That just shows the depth that Johnson City has offensively,” Abbott said. “Vicks had 15 points in this game, and just a total of six in the previous three meetings.”
While Vicks was scoreless the rest of the way, he had other teammates – Troy Robinson and Pettiford – pick up the slack. Robinson had the first seven points of the third quarter and 10 in the eight-minute period on his way to a 21-point night. Pettiford, held in check most of the game, poured in 13 points in the last quarter to also finish with 21 points.
Rashawn Powell, who scored 39 combined points in the previous two JC wins over Norwich, scored just eight in the two clubs’ final meeting. “We really had ideas we thought would work against them,” Abbott said. “But guys made plays we weren’t counting on. They are very, very good.”
Josh Favaloro was the lone Tornado player in double figures finishing with 10 points, and Jon Foulds added nine. “It’s been a heck of a three years for us,” Abbott said, noting his club has gone 54-12 in that span. “We have had to replace a lot of quality players, but our program speaks for itself, and the younger players see the success we’ve had, and the amount of time and energy it takes to achieve that. They also want to be a part of that.
“This group had worked very hard and they are outstanding young men. They have been a real pleasure to work with, and they certainly have a lot to be proud of. I know I am proud of them.”
Johnson City: Macon, 0 0-0 0, Arvantakis, 0 0-0 0, Safavi, 1 0-0 3, Vicks, 6 0-0 15, Robinson, 10 0-0 21, Washington 1 0-0 3, Pettiford, 8 3-7 21, Ehrets, 1 0-0 2, Powell 1 6-6 8, Jones, 1 0-0 2 Totals: 29 9-13 75
Norwich: Edwards, 0 0-0 0, Ashton 0 0-0 0, Oralls, 3 0-0 7, Favaloro, 4 0-0 10, Kelly, 2 2-2 7, Somich, 3 0-0 8, Weaver, 1 0-0 2, Thompson, 0 0-0 0, Thomsen, 1 2-2 4, Foulds, 3 0-0 9, Wheeler, 0 0-0 0, Walling, 0 0-0 0, Brightman, 0 0-0 0, Martinson, 0 1-2 1 Totals: 17 5-6 48.
Score by quarters
J.C. 21 13 18 23–75
NHS 9 13 5 21–48
Team fouls: (N) 9, (JC) 10. Three-point goals: (JC) Vicks 3, Pettiford 2, Robinson 1, Safavi 1, Washington1. (N) Foulds 3, Favaloro 2, Somich 2, Kelly 1, Oralls 1. Officials: S. Berg, Linehan.
Edmeston 54, G-MU 37
EDMESTON – Edmeston jumped on G-MU early building a 17-point halftime lead en route to a Section IV Class D tournament victory Saturday.
It was the third meeting between the two Tri-Valley League foes, and the first one that did not go down to the wire. “We just got steamrolled. Edmeston came out ready to play,” said G-MU coach Bill Hartman “We wanted to take the ball to their bigs and get to the foul line. What we did was pass it around and settle for jump shots. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half.”
Edmeston’s balanced offensive attack led it to a 26-9 halftime lead. The Panthers had a similar lead over G-MU in the clubs’ most recent meeting, a lead the Raiders erased to force overtime.
Over the final two periods, G-MU’s offensive execution was better, but the Raiders did not come closer than 13 points. “We did a much better job offensively in the second half, we just couldn’t get the defensive stops when we had to have them,” Hartman said.
Justin Kucera scored 13 for Edmeston and Derek Schoellig netted 12.
DeMario Reed scored 13 and senior Ian Edwards had 11 for the Raiders, who finished 14-6. “Nobody even mentioned us (in the league) at the start of the year,” Hartman said. “When the sting of the loss goes away, we can look back on the season and see that we had a good year.”
G-MU: DeMario Reed, 5 2-3-13; Kevin Davis, 0; Greg Delaney, 1 0-0-3; Jon Scofield, 0 3-6-3; Eddie Ray Cotton, 1 3-3-5; Ian Edwards, 3 4-6-11; Chris Steckline, 0; Nate Beach, 0; Andrew Delmar, 1 0-0-2; Nick Sebeck, 0. Totals: 11 12-18-37.
Edmeston: Logan Vibbard, 0; Blake Vibbard, 3 2-2-9, Vic. Fuglsang, 0; Derek Schoellig, 6 0-0-12, Dan Schoellig, 0, Nick DeGristina , 0, Thomas Parker, 1 0-0-3, Zak Ruffles, 4 0-0-8, Charlie D'Angelo, 3 1-2-7, Justin Kucera, 6 1-2-13, Brandon Fallon, 1 0-0-2; Clayton Hawes, 0; Tyler Hall, 0. Totals: 24 4-6-54.
Edm. 11 15 12 16–54
GMU 2 7 13 15–37
Three-point goals: (E) Blake Vibbard, Thomas Parker. (G) Reed, Delaney, Edwards. Officials: Brady, R. Mudge
Girls’ Basketball
Norwich 49, Owego 44
NORWICH – Norwich coach described the third contest with Owego this season as “another war.”
Norwich scrapped back into a game it was poised to lose erasing a seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to advance to the Section IV Class A finals Thursday night against Maine-Endwell.
“We hadn’t put any points on the board in six or seven minutes,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We made some defensive stops and had some really clutch plays from Molly (DeMellier) and Bryn (Loomis).”
DeMellier drained a three from the right corner to end Norwich’s scoring drought and Loomis added a three from the right wing closing the deficit to one. DeMellier had a steal on the next possession, and she pulled up from about 12 feet to hit the go-ahead jumper. Down the stretch, Norwich senior Hannah Runyon went 9-for-10 from the foul line – the only miss her last attempt to hold off the Indians.
“They had a great game plan defensively against us, but we were able to prepare for everything they threw at us,” Bennett said. “We weren’t worried about them doing something we hadn’t seen. We just made some adjustments at halftime, and we were finally able to put some points on the board.”
Runyon had 18 points for the Tornado (15-4), and Loomis, despite being blanketed all game by the Indians’ Sam Watson, finished with 10.
“Both teams were just so familiar with each other, and it came down to who played better,” Bennett said. “We were able to make more plays at the end of the game than they did.”
Norwich will play the Spartans at 6 p.m. at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Tornado are looking for their third overall Section IV title and first since the 2005-2006 season.
Owego: Caitlin Simpson, 1 0-0-2; Alaina Jenkins, 0; Courtney Malia, 3 0-2-7; Olivia Bishop, 0 4-4-4; Brittany Rando, 4 7-8-17; Rachel Merrill, 4 6-10-14; Bridget Quaranta, 0; Sam Watson, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 12 17-24-44.
Norwich: Jennifer Borfitz, 0; Brooke Bonney, 1 0-0-2; Cassie Sutton, 3 0-0-6; Molly DeMellier, 3 0-2-7; Bryn Loomis, 4 1-2-10; Hailey Dietrich, 1 1-2-3; Sophie Stewart, 1 1-1-3; Hannah Runyon, 3 11-12-18. Totals: 16 14-19-49.
Owg. 8 8 14 14–45
NHS 10 9 11 19–49
Fouled out: (O) Malia, Watson. Three-point goals: (N) Runyon, DeMellier, Loomis, (O) Rando 2, Malia.
B-G 44, Marathon 37
MARATHON – Bainbridge-Guilford built a 13-point lead after three quarters, and survived a shaky fourth quarter to move into the Section IV Class C semifinals.
Randi Conway scored a game-high 19 points for the Bobcats, 15 of those coming in the first half. Shania Vandermark had her best game in at least two weeks finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
“We just did some crazy things in the last quarter, and kind of let them back into the game,” said B-G coach Bob Conway.
Marathon capitalized on some ill-timed fouls by B-G making 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the last quarter.
The Bobcats did not trail in the game after jumping out to an 8-1 lead. Vandermark and Conway each had a pair of buckets, but Vandermark ending up picking up two fouls, and sat 12 of the 16 minutes in the first half. Randi Conway spurred the B-G offense with 10 points in the second quarter.
“Randi just had a good game all around,” said Coach Conway. “She took it to the rim and played exceptionally well.”
The Bobcats play at top-seeded Tioga on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
B-G: Shania Vandermark, 5 0-0-10; Randi Conway, 7 4-6-19; Corrine Riegel, 1 0-0-2; Chelsi Rosa, 3 1-2-7; Raileigh Hall, 0; Taylor Decker, 0; Chelsea Tewksbury, 3 0-0-6; Kayla Davis, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 19 5-7-44.
Marathon: Samantha Courtney, 2 6-9-10; Margaret Thonn, 0; Alexa Barber, 0 2-2-2; Emily Icenogle, 2 3-4-9; Elena Holl, 3 2-7-8; Lindsay Peri, 1 0-1-2; Amanda Horton, 3 0-0-6; Emily Reynolds, 0. Totals: 11 13-23-37.
B-G 16 12 12 4–44
Mar. 10 12 5 10–37
Fouled out: (BG) Rosa. Three-point goals: ((BG) Conway, (M) Icenogle.
G-MU 49, Jefferson 45
COPES CORNERS – G-MU’s basketball team is following in the footsteps of the 2005-2006 team that won a league title and reached the Section IV semifinals.
This year’s Raiders crew advanced to the semis with its second straight four-point victory. Against a game Jefferson team, the final score ended up as the biggest Raiders lead of the game.
The two clubs traded baskets late in the fourth as the game remained tied at 43-43 and 45-45. G-MU gained the lead for good when Sabrina Brooks hit the first of two free throws. After missing the second freebie, the ball was knocked out of bounds by Jefferson with 14 seconds left.
G-MU needed to avoid a turnover, and it did as Brooks received the ball near the three-point shot, and stroked in the three-point shot. Shooting the ball at the point was not necessary, but Raiders head coach Jim Johnson welcomed the points. “You’re saying, ‘no no no’ when the shot goes up,” he said. “But I was glad it worked out. It was one of those mistakes that works out in your favor.”
Jefferson led at the halfcourt break paced by Bess Slicer’s 16 points. Bri Lambert played shutdown defense in the second half allowing Slicer just five more points, while Miranda Hill contained sharpshooter Vanessa Steinburg allowing just nine points.
Tanya Barnes carried a large chunk of the G-MU load scoring 25 points, and Blake Stensland had her second straight double figures game in playoff competition adding 10.
“Everyone is coming through and did what they were supposed to do,” Johnson said, whose club will play top-seeded South Kortright on Tuesday at a site to be announced. Earlier this season, the Rams beat G-MU by three points.
Jefferson: Kristen Starheim, 3 1-2-7; Amy Thonnesen, 2 0-0-4; Elisa Starheim, 1 0-0-2; Bess Slicer, 8 5-6-21; Vanessa Steinburg, 3 0-0-9; Alyssa Jonker, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 18 6-8-45.
G-MU: Miranda Hill, 1 0-2-2; Sabrina Brooks, 1 1-2-4; Blake Stensland, 3 4-6-10; Brianne Lambert, 3 0-2-6; Logan Eltz, 1 0-0-2; Kristen Barnes, 0; Katie Bakhuizen, 0; Tanya Barnes, 10 1-2-25. Totals: 19 6-14-49.
Jeff. 15 13 11 6–45
GMU 15 8 14 12–49
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (J) 11, (G) 12. Three-point goals: (G) T. Barnes 4, Brooks. (J) V. Steinburg 3.
Tioga 52, Oxford 35
TIOGA – The third time was not the charm for the Blackhawks, who lost to Tioga in the Section IV playoffs for the third straight season Saturday afternoon.
Kara McDuffie had 21 points for the Tigers, who are two victories away from repeating as Class C champions. “Last year they were a state finalist, and they are a veteran team that has played in a lot of big games,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer. “We played hard, and the effort was all I could ask for. “We turned it over a few too many times, and that has been our Achilles’ heel all season.”
Oxford was down by 10 at halftime, and remained within seven points in the first two minutes of the second half. Coming out of a timeout, Tioga scored seven straight points in a 54-second span. Kacie Hoyt hit a three-pointer with the 30-second shot clock near zero to start the run, and Natalie Burns ended the streak with a layup.
Oxford played its best defense in the second quarter limiting Tioga to just nine points, seven of those from McDuffie; however, in spite of that defensive effort, Tioga was able to extend its lead. “We went to man-to-man in the second quarter and did a decent job against a high scoring team,” Palmer said. “We got almost nothing offensively, and turnovers continued to hurt us.”
Oxford had 12 turnovers in the first half and finished with 20 according to unofficial team statistics.
Haley Witchella led Oxford with 12 points, and finishes as the second all-time leading girls’ basketball scorer with 1,130 points. Jackie Heggie added nine points and Julie Heggie tossed in eight.
Oxford: Emily Smith, 0, Allie Nelson, 0 2-2-2; Ginny Burdick, 1 0-0-2, Jackie Heggie, 4 1-2-9, Julie Heggie, 4 0-1-8; Kayla Golden, 0; Lacey Barry, 1 0-0-2, Brooke Noble, 0, Haley Witchella, 5 2-2-12. Totals: 15 5-7-35.
Tioga: Sarah Wayson, 0; Allie Richter, 2 2-4-6; Kara McDuffie, 7 7-8-21; Korin Eckstrom, 2 0-2-4; Sarah Whitney, 0; Kacie Hoyt, 3 2-2-11; Kelly Patsellis, 1 2-2-4; Natalie Burns, 2 2-2-6; Kylie Hunt, 0. Totals: 17 15-20-52.
Oxfd. 10 4 10 11–35
Tiot. 15 9 11 17–52
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (O) none. (T) Hoyt 3. J. Perez, J. Chelley.
Boys’ Basketball
Johnson City 75, Norwich 48
NORWICH – Norwich devised plan after plan to defeat Johnson City, and every time, the Wildcats had a new way to beat the Tornado.
Norwich’s season ended Saturday night at home when JC picked up their third win over the Tornado in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Norwich finished the season with a 15-4 record losing three of four times to their nemesis to the south. “We have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “Our four losses (one to Seton Catholic as well) came to teams who have a great chance at winning sectional championships.”
As it did in the most recent meeting, Norwich stayed tight with Johnson City for a good portion of the opening quarter. Jacob Kelly’s two free throws put Norwich in front 9-8. Johnson ended the quarter on a 13-0 run, seven of those points coming from Grant Vicks, who had 10 of his 15 points in the opening stanza. Vicks had all of his points by halftime, and the Wildcats maintained a 34-22 halftime lead despite top scoring guard Ian Pettiford’s spot on the bench due to foul trouble.
“That just shows the depth that Johnson City has offensively,” Abbott said. “Vicks had 15 points in this game, and just a total of six in the previous three meetings.”
While Vicks was scoreless the rest of the way, he had other teammates – Troy Robinson and Pettiford – pick up the slack. Robinson had the first seven points of the third quarter and 10 in the eight-minute period on his way to a 21-point night. Pettiford, held in check most of the game, poured in 13 points in the last quarter to also finish with 21 points.
Rashawn Powell, who scored 39 combined points in the previous two JC wins over Norwich, scored just eight in the two clubs’ final meeting. “We really had ideas we thought would work against them,” Abbott said. “But guys made plays we weren’t counting on. They are very, very good.”
Josh Favaloro was the lone Tornado player in double figures finishing with 10 points, and Jon Foulds added nine. “It’s been a heck of a three years for us,” Abbott said, noting his club has gone 54-12 in that span. “We have had to replace a lot of quality players, but our program speaks for itself, and the younger players see the success we’ve had, and the amount of time and energy it takes to achieve that. They also want to be a part of that.
“This group had worked very hard and they are outstanding young men. They have been a real pleasure to work with, and they certainly have a lot to be proud of. I know I am proud of them.”
Johnson City: Macon, 0 0-0 0, Arvantakis, 0 0-0 0, Safavi, 1 0-0 3, Vicks, 6 0-0 15, Robinson, 10 0-0 21, Washington 1 0-0 3, Pettiford, 8 3-7 21, Ehrets, 1 0-0 2, Powell 1 6-6 8, Jones, 1 0-0 2 Totals: 29 9-13 75
Norwich: Edwards, 0 0-0 0, Ashton 0 0-0 0, Oralls, 3 0-0 7, Favaloro, 4 0-0 10, Kelly, 2 2-2 7, Somich, 3 0-0 8, Weaver, 1 0-0 2, Thompson, 0 0-0 0, Thomsen, 1 2-2 4, Foulds, 3 0-0 9, Wheeler, 0 0-0 0, Walling, 0 0-0 0, Brightman, 0 0-0 0, Martinson, 0 1-2 1 Totals: 17 5-6 48.
Score by quarters
J.C. 21 13 18 23–75
NHS 9 13 5 21–48
Team fouls: (N) 9, (JC) 10. Three-point goals: (JC) Vicks 3, Pettiford 2, Robinson 1, Safavi 1, Washington1. (N) Foulds 3, Favaloro 2, Somich 2, Kelly 1, Oralls 1. Officials: S. Berg, Linehan.
Edmeston 54, G-MU 37
EDMESTON – Edmeston jumped on G-MU early building a 17-point halftime lead en route to a Section IV Class D tournament victory Saturday.
It was the third meeting between the two Tri-Valley League foes, and the first one that did not go down to the wire. “We just got steamrolled. Edmeston came out ready to play,” said G-MU coach Bill Hartman “We wanted to take the ball to their bigs and get to the foul line. What we did was pass it around and settle for jump shots. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half.”
Edmeston’s balanced offensive attack led it to a 26-9 halftime lead. The Panthers had a similar lead over G-MU in the clubs’ most recent meeting, a lead the Raiders erased to force overtime.
Over the final two periods, G-MU’s offensive execution was better, but the Raiders did not come closer than 13 points. “We did a much better job offensively in the second half, we just couldn’t get the defensive stops when we had to have them,” Hartman said.
Justin Kucera scored 13 for Edmeston and Derek Schoellig netted 12.
DeMario Reed scored 13 and senior Ian Edwards had 11 for the Raiders, who finished 14-6. “Nobody even mentioned us (in the league) at the start of the year,” Hartman said. “When the sting of the loss goes away, we can look back on the season and see that we had a good year.”
G-MU: DeMario Reed, 5 2-3-13; Kevin Davis, 0; Greg Delaney, 1 0-0-3; Jon Scofield, 0 3-6-3; Eddie Ray Cotton, 1 3-3-5; Ian Edwards, 3 4-6-11; Chris Steckline, 0; Nate Beach, 0; Andrew Delmar, 1 0-0-2; Nick Sebeck, 0. Totals: 11 12-18-37.
Edmeston: Logan Vibbard, 0; Blake Vibbard, 3 2-2-9, Vic. Fuglsang, 0; Derek Schoellig, 6 0-0-12, Dan Schoellig, 0, Nick DeGristina , 0, Thomas Parker, 1 0-0-3, Zak Ruffles, 4 0-0-8, Charlie D'Angelo, 3 1-2-7, Justin Kucera, 6 1-2-13, Brandon Fallon, 1 0-0-2; Clayton Hawes, 0; Tyler Hall, 0. Totals: 24 4-6-54.
Edm. 11 15 12 16–54
GMU 2 7 13 15–37
Three-point goals: (E) Blake Vibbard, Thomas Parker. (G) Reed, Delaney, Edwards. Officials: Brady, R. Mudge
Girls’ Basketball
Norwich 49, Owego 44
NORWICH – Norwich coach described the third contest with Owego this season as “another war.”
Norwich scrapped back into a game it was poised to lose erasing a seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to advance to the Section IV Class A finals Thursday night against Maine-Endwell.
“We hadn’t put any points on the board in six or seven minutes,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We made some defensive stops and had some really clutch plays from Molly (DeMellier) and Bryn (Loomis).”
DeMellier drained a three from the right corner to end Norwich’s scoring drought and Loomis added a three from the right wing closing the deficit to one. DeMellier had a steal on the next possession, and she pulled up from about 12 feet to hit the go-ahead jumper. Down the stretch, Norwich senior Hannah Runyon went 9-for-10 from the foul line – the only miss her last attempt to hold off the Indians.
“They had a great game plan defensively against us, but we were able to prepare for everything they threw at us,” Bennett said. “We weren’t worried about them doing something we hadn’t seen. We just made some adjustments at halftime, and we were finally able to put some points on the board.”
Runyon had 18 points for the Tornado (15-4), and Loomis, despite being blanketed all game by the Indians’ Sam Watson, finished with 10.
“Both teams were just so familiar with each other, and it came down to who played better,” Bennett said. “We were able to make more plays at the end of the game than they did.”
Norwich will play the Spartans at 6 p.m. at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Tornado are looking for their third overall Section IV title and first since the 2005-2006 season.
Owego: Caitlin Simpson, 1 0-0-2; Alaina Jenkins, 0; Courtney Malia, 3 0-2-7; Olivia Bishop, 0 4-4-4; Brittany Rando, 4 7-8-17; Rachel Merrill, 4 6-10-14; Bridget Quaranta, 0; Sam Watson, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 12 17-24-44.
Norwich: Jennifer Borfitz, 0; Brooke Bonney, 1 0-0-2; Cassie Sutton, 3 0-0-6; Molly DeMellier, 3 0-2-7; Bryn Loomis, 4 1-2-10; Hailey Dietrich, 1 1-2-3; Sophie Stewart, 1 1-1-3; Hannah Runyon, 3 11-12-18. Totals: 16 14-19-49.
Owg. 8 8 14 14–45
NHS 10 9 11 19–49
Fouled out: (O) Malia, Watson. Three-point goals: (N) Runyon, DeMellier, Loomis, (O) Rando 2, Malia.
B-G 44, Marathon 37
MARATHON – Bainbridge-Guilford built a 13-point lead after three quarters, and survived a shaky fourth quarter to move into the Section IV Class C semifinals.
Randi Conway scored a game-high 19 points for the Bobcats, 15 of those coming in the first half. Shania Vandermark had her best game in at least two weeks finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
“We just did some crazy things in the last quarter, and kind of let them back into the game,” said B-G coach Bob Conway.
Marathon capitalized on some ill-timed fouls by B-G making 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the last quarter.
The Bobcats did not trail in the game after jumping out to an 8-1 lead. Vandermark and Conway each had a pair of buckets, but Vandermark ending up picking up two fouls, and sat 12 of the 16 minutes in the first half. Randi Conway spurred the B-G offense with 10 points in the second quarter.
“Randi just had a good game all around,” said Coach Conway. “She took it to the rim and played exceptionally well.”
The Bobcats play at top-seeded Tioga on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
B-G: Shania Vandermark, 5 0-0-10; Randi Conway, 7 4-6-19; Corrine Riegel, 1 0-0-2; Chelsi Rosa, 3 1-2-7; Raileigh Hall, 0; Taylor Decker, 0; Chelsea Tewksbury, 3 0-0-6; Kayla Davis, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 19 5-7-44.
Marathon: Samantha Courtney, 2 6-9-10; Margaret Thonn, 0; Alexa Barber, 0 2-2-2; Emily Icenogle, 2 3-4-9; Elena Holl, 3 2-7-8; Lindsay Peri, 1 0-1-2; Amanda Horton, 3 0-0-6; Emily Reynolds, 0. Totals: 11 13-23-37.
B-G 16 12 12 4–44
Mar. 10 12 5 10–37
Fouled out: (BG) Rosa. Three-point goals: ((BG) Conway, (M) Icenogle.
G-MU 49, Jefferson 45
COPES CORNERS – G-MU’s basketball team is following in the footsteps of the 2005-2006 team that won a league title and reached the Section IV semifinals.
This year’s Raiders crew advanced to the semis with its second straight four-point victory. Against a game Jefferson team, the final score ended up as the biggest Raiders lead of the game.
The two clubs traded baskets late in the fourth as the game remained tied at 43-43 and 45-45. G-MU gained the lead for good when Sabrina Brooks hit the first of two free throws. After missing the second freebie, the ball was knocked out of bounds by Jefferson with 14 seconds left.
G-MU needed to avoid a turnover, and it did as Brooks received the ball near the three-point shot, and stroked in the three-point shot. Shooting the ball at the point was not necessary, but Raiders head coach Jim Johnson welcomed the points. “You’re saying, ‘no no no’ when the shot goes up,” he said. “But I was glad it worked out. It was one of those mistakes that works out in your favor.”
Jefferson led at the halfcourt break paced by Bess Slicer’s 16 points. Bri Lambert played shutdown defense in the second half allowing Slicer just five more points, while Miranda Hill contained sharpshooter Vanessa Steinburg allowing just nine points.
Tanya Barnes carried a large chunk of the G-MU load scoring 25 points, and Blake Stensland had her second straight double figures game in playoff competition adding 10.
“Everyone is coming through and did what they were supposed to do,” Johnson said, whose club will play top-seeded South Kortright on Tuesday at a site to be announced. Earlier this season, the Rams beat G-MU by three points.
Jefferson: Kristen Starheim, 3 1-2-7; Amy Thonnesen, 2 0-0-4; Elisa Starheim, 1 0-0-2; Bess Slicer, 8 5-6-21; Vanessa Steinburg, 3 0-0-9; Alyssa Jonker, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 18 6-8-45.
G-MU: Miranda Hill, 1 0-2-2; Sabrina Brooks, 1 1-2-4; Blake Stensland, 3 4-6-10; Brianne Lambert, 3 0-2-6; Logan Eltz, 1 0-0-2; Kristen Barnes, 0; Katie Bakhuizen, 0; Tanya Barnes, 10 1-2-25. Totals: 19 6-14-49.
Jeff. 15 13 11 6–45
GMU 15 8 14 12–49
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (J) 11, (G) 12. Three-point goals: (G) T. Barnes 4, Brooks. (J) V. Steinburg 3.
Tioga 52, Oxford 35
TIOGA – The third time was not the charm for the Blackhawks, who lost to Tioga in the Section IV playoffs for the third straight season Saturday afternoon.
Kara McDuffie had 21 points for the Tigers, who are two victories away from repeating as Class C champions. “Last year they were a state finalist, and they are a veteran team that has played in a lot of big games,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer. “We played hard, and the effort was all I could ask for. “We turned it over a few too many times, and that has been our Achilles’ heel all season.”
Oxford was down by 10 at halftime, and remained within seven points in the first two minutes of the second half. Coming out of a timeout, Tioga scored seven straight points in a 54-second span. Kacie Hoyt hit a three-pointer with the 30-second shot clock near zero to start the run, and Natalie Burns ended the streak with a layup.
Oxford played its best defense in the second quarter limiting Tioga to just nine points, seven of those from McDuffie; however, in spite of that defensive effort, Tioga was able to extend its lead. “We went to man-to-man in the second quarter and did a decent job against a high scoring team,” Palmer said. “We got almost nothing offensively, and turnovers continued to hurt us.”
Oxford had 12 turnovers in the first half and finished with 20 according to unofficial team statistics.
Haley Witchella led Oxford with 12 points, and finishes as the second all-time leading girls’ basketball scorer with 1,130 points. Jackie Heggie added nine points and Julie Heggie tossed in eight.
Oxford: Emily Smith, 0, Allie Nelson, 0 2-2-2; Ginny Burdick, 1 0-0-2, Jackie Heggie, 4 1-2-9, Julie Heggie, 4 0-1-8; Kayla Golden, 0; Lacey Barry, 1 0-0-2, Brooke Noble, 0, Haley Witchella, 5 2-2-12. Totals: 15 5-7-35.
Tioga: Sarah Wayson, 0; Allie Richter, 2 2-4-6; Kara McDuffie, 7 7-8-21; Korin Eckstrom, 2 0-2-4; Sarah Whitney, 0; Kacie Hoyt, 3 2-2-11; Kelly Patsellis, 1 2-2-4; Natalie Burns, 2 2-2-6; Kylie Hunt, 0. Totals: 17 15-20-52.
Oxfd. 10 4 10 11–35
Tiot. 15 9 11 17–52
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (O) none. (T) Hoyt 3. J. Perez, J. Chelley.
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