OXFORD – A strong second half allowed the Unadilla Valley Storm to grow their lead from five to 22 points to win their eighth MAC league game Thursday night against the host Oxford Blackhawks with a final 59-37.
Oxford led for nearly the first 12 minutes of the contest behind a strong defensive effort. But that was until the Storm took control later in the second stanza. UV’s Dante Dye led the quarter with five points, three coming from beyond the arc. Teammate Levi Rifanburg chipped in four of his game-high 12 in the same quarter.
Andrew Jackson’s seven along with Rifanburg’s six paced the Storm in the second half as Unadilla Valley’s defense created their offense.
Oxford had too many early turnovers after the break, leading to UV in transition baskets and making it hard for the Blackhawks to claw back from.
UV finished with five players scoring in double-digits. Led by Rifanburg’s 12, Jackson and Caleb Parker ended the night with 11 each and Dye tallied 10 for the contest.
Chris Martin scored nine points to lead the Blackhawks while Brad Beckwith scored eight points in the loss.
Unadilla Valley will play its final regular season game at 7:15 p.m. at home on Wednesday, February 7 against Greene while Oxford travels to Afton on Tuesday, February 6 for a 7:30 p.m. start.
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 5 0-0-11; Dante Dye 4 0-1-10; Sam Loeffler 1 0-0-2; Charles Morgan 0 1-2-1; Payton Stirone 0; Caleb Parker 5 1-2-11; Spencer Meade 0; Levi Rifanburg 6 0-2-12; Bob Anderson 0; Wyatt Grey 4 0-0-10; Brady George 0; Cameron Osborne 0; Teddy Postma 1 0-0-2. Totals: 26 2-7-59.
Oxford: Jacob Murrer 1 0-0-3; Jason Davis 1 0-0-3; Xavier Cruise 2 1-5-5; Chris Martin 4 1-5-9; Matt Roach 1 0-0-3; C.J. Smith 3 0-0-6; Brad Beckwith 4 0-0-8. Totals: 16 2-10 37.
UV 9 16 15 19 – 59
O 12 8 6 11 – 37
Fouled out: . Three-point goals: (UV) Grey 2; Dye 2; Jackson 1; (O) Murrer 1; Davis 1; Roach 1. Officials: T. Davis and Reynolds
Sherburne-Earlville 47, Canastota 44
CANASTOTA – Playing against a big team – size wise – Sherburne-Earlville needed to swing the tempo in the favor in Thursday’s game on the road against Canastota. Once the Marauders’ started playing with a faster past, the game turned to favor S-E in their three point win over the Raiders.
Down 12-7 after one, Sherburne-Earlville’s defense was the key to keep them in the contention.
That was until Marauder Hunter Lane turned from cold to hot, scoring 10 in the second quarter to help his team grab a one point lead going into the intermission.
Sherburne-Earlville missed just one free-throw, shooting 7-for-8 in the third quarter. The made foul shots accounted for just about half of the Marauders’ points in the eight minute span, helping the team hold the lead going into the fourth.
Lane again caught fire in the final stanza, this time from long-range. Lane hit three from the three-point line to pace S-E in the fourth. Lane finished with game-high 29 points.
“We really had a hard time scoring the ball until Hunter got hot,” said Marauders’ head coach Kevin Vibbard. “We played some good defense to keep ourselves in the game until we started to hit some shots.”
The Marauders host Clinton on Monday, February 5. Before the game, Sherburne-Earlville will honor their seniors and tip-off will follow.
Otselic Valley 44, Stockbridge Valley 26
OTSELIC – With all aspects of the game being taken to another level for Otselic Valley, the Vikings won their first game in three years on Thursday, taking a 18 point win over Stockbridge Valley.
Taking an early 13-9 lead after the first, Stockbridge Valley fought back outscoring the home team 8-5 in the second to bring in the game within one point at halftime.
But the Vikings defensive effort held the Cougars to just nine points in both quarters after the break.
In the final eight minutes, the offense really controlled the game for OV as the tallied their highest scoring quarter of the contest with 18 points to finish the game on a high note and taking the win.
“The OV boys basketball team learned that we can play hard,” said head coach Jacob Preston. “When we do so, we get rewarded.”
It was senior night at Otselic Valley Thursday night. The Viking seniors step into roles that they have not done before. “Tanner Costa, a senior, became more of a facilitator tonight which was needed, Jonah VanVoorhis took good shots in the flow of the offense. Clayton O’Hara did some dirty work for use getting to lose balls.”
Dakota Adams lead the team with nine boards and added seven points to his statline. His numbers were shown by lot of hustle throughout the game according to Preston.
Lane Adams scored a team-high 10 points while VanVoorhis finished with eight and four rebounds and O’Hara added nine points.
“I was proud to see the group work as a team, cheering for the team to reach a common goal. “We were able to do that tonight,” said Preston.
Otselic Valley’s next game is on the road at Poland on Wednesday, February 7. Game is slated for a 7:15 p.m. start.
Greene 51, Bainbridge Guilford 30
GREENE – The Trojans limited themselves to just 10 turnovers in Thursday’s game against MAC opponent Bainbridge-Guilford, taking a 51-30 win. Ryan smith our 6’6 kid played big. Barry had
Greene jumped out of the gates with an 18-3 run to start.
The Bobcats answered with a 18-6 run of their own the second quarter, led by Xavier Cherniak’s 10 points, to trail by three at the break.
But Bainbridge-Guilford went through a scoring drought in the second half, only adding nine points total through the 16 minutes.
Greene added 12 in the third, all from their six-foot-six big Ryan Smith. Smith finished with four buckets the rim and a perfect 100-percent from the foul line on four trips in the stanza.
His lone basket in the first half gave him a total of 14 for the game.
Mitchell Walters, playing through an ankle injury, had a nice game adding 10 for Greene. Nate Erickson controlled both ends of the floor, taking four ball from the Bobcats while setting up the half court set for the Trojans.
“We have been hurting with flu and injuries and are playing through it,” said Greene’s head coach Chris Rice. “Tonight, the whole team stepped up. Our bench is growing and it’s a good feeling.”
Bainbridge-Guilford’s Devon Scherhaufer and Tom Palmatier each added six in the loss.
Greene travels to Unadilla Valley on Wednesday, February 7 for their final regular season game of the season. The scheduled start time for the contest is 7:15 p.m. The Bobcats host Sidney on the game night for their last game of the regular season as well.
Wrestling
Sherburne-Earlville 51, Cortland 24
CORTLAND – Cortland kicked off the home dual meet against the Marauders with three consecutive win by way of forfeit – 99, 106 and 113 pound matches – but only won one more match ads Sherburne-Earlville took 10 of the last 11 matches to with 51-24 in their last meet of the ‘17-’18 season.
Giovanni Cinquanti of the Purple Tigers pinned S-E’s Tegan Campbell I the first period at the 145 pound match for Cortland’s only action win of the meet.
Jason Price started the Marauders’ winning at 120 pounds by pinning his opponent in just 33 seconds.
With no match at 126, Morgan Lakin of Sherburne-Earlville took to the mat against Cortland’s Aaron Kelchner , a senior for the Tigers who has only lost one match in 2018. Lakin took him the full length of the match, handing Kelchner his second loss with a 9-4 decision.
Still trailing, Mike Doeberl of the Marauders scored three points for his by winning a 13-9 decision match of Cortland’s Noah Wurst, cutting into the Tigers’ lead.
Vinny Albertina wrestled at 152 pounds for S-E against the Purple Tigers Bali Cornell. Helping his team secure another six points, Albertina pinned Cornell late in the third period of the match.
Keith Rood pinned his opponent in 21 seconds to completely erase the Tigers margin, tying the meet at 24-24.
Sherburne-Earlville won with forfeits in the 170, 182 and 220 pound weight classes, easily securing the meet win as it left just two matches to be wrestled. Even if Cortland won the two remaining matches by pins, it would not be enough to overcome the Marauders.
S-E’s Jesse Lynch went the full three periods in his match before taking a 8-2 decision win. The last match of the night featured Colby Spavin of the Marauders and Cortland’s Tahik Dennis.
Spavin took no time at all to win his match, pinning Dennis in just 39 seconds, giving Sherburne-Earlville a final score of 51-24 for the match win.
S-E wrestlers are next in action on Saturday, at Cooperstown for the Section III Class D Championships. Wrestling is slated to being at 10 a.m.
Bowling
Boys
Bainbridge-Guilford 3, Hancock 1
Girls
Hancock 3, Bainbridge-Guilford 1
HANCOCK – The Bobcat bowlers were in action again on Tuesday as they traveled to Fox Bowling Center to face the host Hancock Wildcats.
The Bainbridge-Guilford boys took their match against the Wildcats, 3-1. Hancock edged out B-G in game one of the match with a final of 666-655 behind Shane McAndrew’s game-high 202.
But the Bobcats took game two with Ed Fuller’s 201, the highest game bowled of the match. His teammate Dadeon Canfield also rolled a 207 in the second game.
Game three of the match also went to the Bainbridge-Guilford as Canfield’s 170 led the Bobcats. Hancock’s Ronne Ellis’ 189 rolled the highest score of the last game of the afternoon.
Fuller bowled a high-series563 for the match while Canfield finished with a 508 for the afternoon.
Bobcats’ Jon Castle, Ryan Cooper and Trent Sullivan also had a great day as each bowled a 448, a 393 and a 435, aiding in the win.
For the girls match, Hancock’s Brenna Gleim bowled back-to-back game highs, leading her team to a 3-1 win over the Lady Bobcats.
Gleim rolled a high-series 646 with her 217 in game one and 279 in game two. Her second game was the highest single game of the girls match. Wildcats’ Ashley Hanstine bowled a 200 to help win the second game.
B-G took the final game of the afternoon with a final of 755 pins to Hancock’s 658. Courtney Delello’s 190 paced the Bobcats in that game. Delello bowled a team-high 497 series in the loss.
Other games from Thursday night included Norwich girls losing to Seton for the second game of two, 65-41 and the Lady Vikings taking a 66-38 loss from Brookfield on the road. These games along with the missing box scores will be included in ‘Sports Monday’ next week.