Frank Speziale Photo

CORTLAND – Repeating their performance from Tuesday night, the Unadilla Valley Storm jumped out to an early first quarter lead. That lead was tested a few times throughout the contest but the Storm grinded out the win, crowning themselves the Section IV Class C champions for the first time the Unadilla Valley program history by taking down the four-seed Tioga, 58-48.
Striking first was Dante Dye, draining a deep three from the right side wing. Andrew Jackson followed up with a tip in off an offensive rebound, making the score 5-0
On the next offensive possession, Jackson hit a three of his own. A block by Levi Rifanburg led to another Jackson basket.
With Tioga scoring on only two trips up the floor, Dye hit another three and the Storm led 13-4.
Both teams played without a foul called until 2:10 left in the first quarter.
Rifanburg and Jackson finished out the first quarter scoring for Unadilla Valley as they took a 10 point lead after the first stanza.
Jackson tallied nine in the quarter, outscoring the Tigers on his own.
The run for the Storm didn’t stop at the end of the quarter. Rifanburg added a baseline jumper and Jackson finished with strong between two defenders. At that point, the game was 21-7.
But Tioga wasn’t going down without a fight. The Tigers answered with a 10-0 run, led by their big man Connor Hutchinson getting to the rim on three straight possession.
To end the run, Jackson hit a deep three right before the half.
Unadilla Valley took a 24-27 lead into the intermission.
Needing to find a way to stop Tioga, UV head coach Matt Osborne switched his man-to-man defense to a 3-2 zone to start the second half.
“We always start in man no matter who we are playing, even if it’s a mismatch, just to see what we can do,” said Osborne of his defensive adjustment. “3-2 [zone] has been kind of out bread and butter after a quarter or so, just because it’s confusing.
“We are long and have three or four guys that are 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 with long arms. We can cover a lot of area. They were getting the basket way too easy so we had to do something different.
“I was worried about rebounding out of it but did a pretty good job on the glass. We were trying to keep them from driving to the basket and that’s pretty much what we did.”
In the third quarter, UV was able to keep Tioga out of the paint but the two teams answered basket for basket. The Storm’s Wyatt Grey came up big in the stanza, dialing in from long-distance for two three-points on back-to-back possessions.
Holding onto their lead, Unadilla Valley went into the final quarter up eight points.
After a Jackson turnaround jumper fell, the Tigers chipped away at the Storm lead. With 6:08 left to play, Tioga trailed by eight.
With 3:43 remaining, the game was tied after the Tigers’ Pierce Hendershot nailed his third consecutive three-pointer from the left corner.
The next trip down the floor for Tioga, Hendershot was sitting in the corner ready to knock down his fourth. Out of nowhere, Grey sends the shot out of bounds, coming up with the huge block.
The Storm fans, on their feet, were nearly uncontrollable after Grey’s big defensive stop.
After taking an accidental hand to the face, Dye was on the bench and Caleb Parker subbed in for him. Coming in ice cold, Parker received a pass from Jackson and finished strong at the rim.
On four straight possessions, Jackson tallied an assist and his teammates were knocking down the shots. Rifanburg under the rim, scored four straight points and Grey drilled home his third three of the game, putting the nail in the coffin as the Storm went up eight for good.
After a few free-throws, the final score was 58-48 and UV claimed the Section IV Class C title.
Jackson finished the game with a double-double, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He also tallied seven assists.
“I think it’s just how badly I wanted it,” said Jackson. “Just to fuel my teammates, be a leader on the floor, just know that we had one of the greatest teams in the section, in the state. And that, you know, I was a great part of that and I was able to make my teammates a better part of it. So I was thankful for everyone to contribute to our success. It was a team effort.”
Jackson averaged 25 points per game during the Section IV tournament, with one game scoring 40, a new school record.
“We went through some rough stretches in each game, but they held their composure probably better than I did,” said Osborne, who started at the school a year after it merged. “And we just kept playing and playing and we’ve really come together and grown up a lot. A couple guys hit some huge shots late in the game.
“Going on the road I just told them we’re going to be the underdog. Doesn’t mean we’re not very good,” Unadilla Valley head coach Matt Osborne said. “We have a tough schedule this year. I knew we were better than what we were seeded.
“It’s a little bit less pressure I think being the underdog because you’re not supposed to win, but I told them we’re here we might as well win it.”
Unadilla Valley will move on into the regional round of NYSPHSAA state boys basketball bracket. Unadilla Valley will play Tully, who topped the 1-seed Weedsport last Saturday and took down 2-seeded powerhouse Cooperstown in the Section III title game Sunday. Game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday at the SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College.
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 9 4-4-25; Dante Dye 2 1-2-7; Caleb Parker 1 1-2-3; Levi Rifanburg 7 0-0-14; Wyatt Grey 3 0-0-9; Cameron Osborne 0. Totals: 22 6-8-58.
Tioga: Connor Hutchinson 7 3-6-17; Sam Taylor 0; Nick Klossner 3 4-4-10; Pierce Hendershot 4 1-2-12; Scott Siberski 2 0-1-4; Lucas Klossner 2 0-0-5. Totals: 18 8-13-48.
UV 17 7 17 17 – 58
T 7 10 16 15 – 48
Fouled out: L. Klossner (T). Three-point goals: (UV) Jackson 3, Dye 2, Grey 3; (T) Hendershot 3, L. Klossner 1.