Bobcats can’t weather the Storm; UV to make first Section IV Finals appearance since 2006
Frank Speziale Photo
CORTLAND – After being held to 10 points for the first two quarters, the Lansing Bobcats made a strong comeback attempt but the Storm of Unadilla Valley held onto its big first half lead to win 51-40 and secure a spot in the Section IV Class C Finals.
UV’s Andrew Jackson hit a long two for the first points of the game. The Storm were the only team to score in the quarter, finishing with an 11-0 run.
Head Coach Matt Osborne said before the game his guys needed to control the boards and they did so, forcing the Bobcats to one-and-done possessions nearly every trip up the court.
All five Unadilla Valley players were getting into the action in the first quarter. Youngster Cameron Osborne finished strong at the rim and got the foul to finish the scoring run in the first.
At the 7:09 mark, Lansing’s Griffin Nelson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Bobcats their first points of the contest.
The Storm showed no signs of calming in the second. That was until two UV players were in foul trouble. Dante Dye was already on the bench in the first with two fouls. With 5:42 left in the half Jackson was sidelined with three.
With Jackson out, Dye finished out the quarter controlling the offense while keeping his foul count remained the same. Dye was looking inside to go to teammate Levi Rifanburg and he was successful. Rifanburg finished the first half with 10 of UV’s 23 points.
But he was also doing big things on the defensive end. One a single Lansing offensive possession, Rifanburg had back-to-back blocks, the second landed in the hands of one of his teammates and the Storm’s Wyatt Grey finished with a baseline drive.
It seemed that every Unadilla Valley player had their hand in the play on both ends of the floor. From coming up with the loose back, getting a defelection or a tip on the ball, getting a block or pulling down the board, all players were grinding it out.
This contributed to the Storm’s 23-10 intermission lead. Lansing was able to go on a small run to close out the half on a 7-0 run.
“We held them to 10 in the first half, which I was pretty happy about that. I just wished we would have had more than 23. I felt like we had a lot of good offensive stuff, we just didn’t put the ball in the basket,” said Osborne.
The Bobcats carried the late half momentum into the second half, going on a 13-9 quarter run. During the run, Lansing went to the free-throw line for 10 attempts, making nine of them. Reason for so many trips to the line was because of the Storm’s fouls.
By late in the third quarter, Lansing had reached the double bonus to give the Bobcats two shots on every foul for the rest of the game. Both Jackson and Dye were on the bench with four fouls by 1:22 remaining the third.
“We got into some pretty heavy foul trouble early on, taking Andrew [Jackson] and Dante [Dye] out,” said coach Osborne.
At this point with those two out, UV didn’t have a true point on the floor. And Lansing was not about to roll over and give the game to the Storm.
“[Lansing] got a little momentum from drives to the basket. We didn’t do a good job of keeping our spacing very in the zone defense we were playing,” said Osborne.
Clawing their way back in, the Bobcats pulled to withing five points with 6:30 remaining in the contest by using a trap defense and forcing Unadilla Valley turnovers. Following the steals, Lansing was hitting their shots in the front court.
A five point game with five minuntes left, UV went on a small 6-1 run to extend their lead to double-digits again.
“We played a pretty tough schedule this season, including some pretty strong Class D schools like South Kortright and VVS. That helped us prepare for this.
“And these guys don’t want to lose. We got some good contributions out of some guys off the bench.” said Osborne.
For the rest of the game, the lead flirted with the nine point mark as Grey hit a three following a Bobcats steal and finish.
With Lansing fouling to the stop the clock, the Storm reached the double bonus. Down the stretch, UV shot 5-for-8 at the line, helping seal their victory. For the game however, they went 14-for-24 (58 percent).
Lansing shot a game-total 14-for-16 (87.5 percent). Their Langston Hopkins finished a perfect 8-for-8, finishing with a team-high 12 points. Nelson chipped in 10 and Winslow was held to 7, six of his points coming free-throws as he went 6-for-7.
UV was led by Rifanburg’s 14, Jackson’s 13 and Grey’s 12. Rifanburg and Osborne led the team with seven rebounds each. Jackson dished out four assists and ended the game with four recorded steals.
The Storm will now face fourth-seeded Tioga, who is also ranked No. 15 in the New York State Class C Top 20. The Tioga Tigers topped the No. 1 seed Walton in overtime 58-52.
“[Tioga] is really quick. We have to keep their point guard out of the lane because he does a lot of good stuff once he gets their. He finds people to pass to. He can score in there. He has a big and strong upper body.
“Plus they have a couple of guys that can shoot the three. They are going to be a tough match-up for us and hopefully we can play better defense, stay out of foul trouble and shoot the ball a little better on Sunday,” said Osborne when asked about the finals.
This is the first time that Unadilla Valley has reached the finals of the sectional tournament since 2006.
The game will take place back at SUNY Cortland on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and adults and $4 for adults 65 or older. Children under 10 are free.
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 4 4-4-13; Dante Dye 1 1-2-3; Charles Morgan 0 0-1-0; Payton Stirone 1 0-0-2; Caleb Parker 0 2-2-2; Levi Rifanburg 6 2-6-14; Wyatt Grey 4 3-4-12; Cameron Osborne 1 2-5-4. Totals: 17 14-24-50.
Lansing: Joe Miller-LaBar 1 0-0-2; Matt Rebera 0; Luke Winslow 1 5-6-7; Griffin Nelson 4 0-0-10; David Waldman 0; Langston Hopkins 2 8-8-12; Garrett Bell 0; Jack Babuka 1 1-2-3; Trey McDonald 1 0-0-3; Ethan Burt 2 0-0-4. Totals: 12 14-16-41.
UV 11 12 9 18 – 50
L 0 10 13 18 – 41
Fouled out: (UV) Dye; (L) Miller-LaBar, Winslow, and Hopkins. Three-point goals: (UV) Jackson 1, Grey 1; (L) Nelson 2, McDonald 1.
CORTLAND – After being held to 10 points for the first two quarters, the Lansing Bobcats made a strong comeback attempt but the Storm of Unadilla Valley held onto its big first half lead to win 51-40 and secure a spot in the Section IV Class C Finals.
UV’s Andrew Jackson hit a long two for the first points of the game. The Storm were the only team to score in the quarter, finishing with an 11-0 run.
Head Coach Matt Osborne said before the game his guys needed to control the boards and they did so, forcing the Bobcats to one-and-done possessions nearly every trip up the court.
All five Unadilla Valley players were getting into the action in the first quarter. Youngster Cameron Osborne finished strong at the rim and got the foul to finish the scoring run in the first.
At the 7:09 mark, Lansing’s Griffin Nelson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Bobcats their first points of the contest.
The Storm showed no signs of calming in the second. That was until two UV players were in foul trouble. Dante Dye was already on the bench in the first with two fouls. With 5:42 left in the half Jackson was sidelined with three.
With Jackson out, Dye finished out the quarter controlling the offense while keeping his foul count remained the same. Dye was looking inside to go to teammate Levi Rifanburg and he was successful. Rifanburg finished the first half with 10 of UV’s 23 points.
But he was also doing big things on the defensive end. One a single Lansing offensive possession, Rifanburg had back-to-back blocks, the second landed in the hands of one of his teammates and the Storm’s Wyatt Grey finished with a baseline drive.
It seemed that every Unadilla Valley player had their hand in the play on both ends of the floor. From coming up with the loose back, getting a defelection or a tip on the ball, getting a block or pulling down the board, all players were grinding it out.
This contributed to the Storm’s 23-10 intermission lead. Lansing was able to go on a small run to close out the half on a 7-0 run.
“We held them to 10 in the first half, which I was pretty happy about that. I just wished we would have had more than 23. I felt like we had a lot of good offensive stuff, we just didn’t put the ball in the basket,” said Osborne.
The Bobcats carried the late half momentum into the second half, going on a 13-9 quarter run. During the run, Lansing went to the free-throw line for 10 attempts, making nine of them. Reason for so many trips to the line was because of the Storm’s fouls.
By late in the third quarter, Lansing had reached the double bonus to give the Bobcats two shots on every foul for the rest of the game. Both Jackson and Dye were on the bench with four fouls by 1:22 remaining the third.
“We got into some pretty heavy foul trouble early on, taking Andrew [Jackson] and Dante [Dye] out,” said coach Osborne.
At this point with those two out, UV didn’t have a true point on the floor. And Lansing was not about to roll over and give the game to the Storm.
“[Lansing] got a little momentum from drives to the basket. We didn’t do a good job of keeping our spacing very in the zone defense we were playing,” said Osborne.
Clawing their way back in, the Bobcats pulled to withing five points with 6:30 remaining in the contest by using a trap defense and forcing Unadilla Valley turnovers. Following the steals, Lansing was hitting their shots in the front court.
A five point game with five minuntes left, UV went on a small 6-1 run to extend their lead to double-digits again.
“We played a pretty tough schedule this season, including some pretty strong Class D schools like South Kortright and VVS. That helped us prepare for this.
“And these guys don’t want to lose. We got some good contributions out of some guys off the bench.” said Osborne.
For the rest of the game, the lead flirted with the nine point mark as Grey hit a three following a Bobcats steal and finish.
With Lansing fouling to the stop the clock, the Storm reached the double bonus. Down the stretch, UV shot 5-for-8 at the line, helping seal their victory. For the game however, they went 14-for-24 (58 percent).
Lansing shot a game-total 14-for-16 (87.5 percent). Their Langston Hopkins finished a perfect 8-for-8, finishing with a team-high 12 points. Nelson chipped in 10 and Winslow was held to 7, six of his points coming free-throws as he went 6-for-7.
UV was led by Rifanburg’s 14, Jackson’s 13 and Grey’s 12. Rifanburg and Osborne led the team with seven rebounds each. Jackson dished out four assists and ended the game with four recorded steals.
The Storm will now face fourth-seeded Tioga, who is also ranked No. 15 in the New York State Class C Top 20. The Tioga Tigers topped the No. 1 seed Walton in overtime 58-52.
“[Tioga] is really quick. We have to keep their point guard out of the lane because he does a lot of good stuff once he gets their. He finds people to pass to. He can score in there. He has a big and strong upper body.
“Plus they have a couple of guys that can shoot the three. They are going to be a tough match-up for us and hopefully we can play better defense, stay out of foul trouble and shoot the ball a little better on Sunday,” said Osborne when asked about the finals.
This is the first time that Unadilla Valley has reached the finals of the sectional tournament since 2006.
The game will take place back at SUNY Cortland on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and adults and $4 for adults 65 or older. Children under 10 are free.
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 4 4-4-13; Dante Dye 1 1-2-3; Charles Morgan 0 0-1-0; Payton Stirone 1 0-0-2; Caleb Parker 0 2-2-2; Levi Rifanburg 6 2-6-14; Wyatt Grey 4 3-4-12; Cameron Osborne 1 2-5-4. Totals: 17 14-24-50.
Lansing: Joe Miller-LaBar 1 0-0-2; Matt Rebera 0; Luke Winslow 1 5-6-7; Griffin Nelson 4 0-0-10; David Waldman 0; Langston Hopkins 2 8-8-12; Garrett Bell 0; Jack Babuka 1 1-2-3; Trey McDonald 1 0-0-3; Ethan Burt 2 0-0-4. Totals: 12 14-16-41.
UV 11 12 9 18 – 50
L 0 10 13 18 – 41
Fouled out: (UV) Dye; (L) Miller-LaBar, Winslow, and Hopkins. Three-point goals: (UV) Jackson 1, Grey 1; (L) Nelson 2, McDonald 1.
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