BAINBRIDGE – The Bobcats took down the only undefeated team left in the Midstate Athletic Conference Wednesday night, holding on to their early lead to come away with the 43-41 win over the Unatego Spartans.
The basketball game turned into a chess match between two legendary coaches in the high school, Bob Conway and Bob Zeh, with less than a minute remaining in the contest.
B-G’s Macie Leizear went to the foul line to shoot two shots with 10.8 seconds remaining in the contest. Missing the first of two, Leizear put the second one in to make the score 42-39. Spartans head coach Bob Zeh took a timeout to set up a play and advance the ball to half court.
Unatego’s Hali Lucia scored out of the half court set to put her team down by one. Bobcat’s coach Bob Conway used a timeout.
The Spartans fouled Bainbridge-Guilford’s Erica Selfridge when they were unable to come away with a steal, sending the Bobcats’ sophomore to the free throw stripe. Selfridge missed the first of two shots, leaving the game at a one possession game with 3.9 seconds left.
Selfridge drained the second, putting her team ahead by two points.
The Spartans quickly inbounded the ball from the far baseline and threw a pass to half court. The pass was advanced up the floor with a few dribbles to the top of the key and kicked to the right win. Waiting for the the ball was Lucia, who then turned and fired an open 3-pointer.
Her shot was off the mark as the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game.
Bainbridge-Guilford’s 16-7 run in the first quarter built the lead early in the contest and the Bobcats never lost that lead. In the opening stanza, B-G’s Abi Selfridge and Leizer combined for all 16 points with Leizear’s 10 pacing the home team.
With a cold shooting first half by Unatego, the Bobcats went into the locker room at halftime holding an 11 point advantage.
However, the Spartans couldn’t be counted out of the contest just yet. Closing out the third quarter on a 10-2 run, Unatego cut the lead down to four points heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Jenna Faulkner of the Spartans scored the first two points of the fourth, putting her team behind by two but Abi Selfridge answered with back-to-back baskets to give B-G a six point lead with five minutes remaining.
Bobcats’ Kori Thornton scored her only points of the game, coming at a crucial time in the contest. Leizear then went 2-for-2 at the foul line, making the score 41-38.
Leizear ended the night with 16 points and four rebounds. Abi Selfridge led all scorers with 18 and added 10 boards for a double-double in the win. Erica Selfridge and Thornton also had big games on the glass, pulling down seven each.
Unatego was led by Dana Stepp’s 14 in the scoring column, six coming during the third quarter run by the Spartans. Lucia added nine points while Morgan Perry chipped in eight and Faulkner finished with seven.
With the win by Bainbridge-Guilford, a five-way tie for the top spot in the MAC standings was created between Greene, Unatego, B-G, Delhi and Walton. With all teams having five to six games remaining on their regular season schedule – three to four being conference game – any of the five teams have a shot to be the top seed heading into the conference tournament.
The Bobcats (10-2, 5-1) remaining MAC games are against Deposit/Hancock, Walton, Oxford and Greene. First, they will host non-league opponent Windsor at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
Bainbridge-Guilford 43, Unatego 41
Tego 7 11 11 12 – 41
B-G 16 13 4 10 – 43
Unatego: Paige McCoy 1 1-2-3; Dana Stepp 6 2-2-14; Jenna Faulkner 2 3-5-7; Meghan Perry 0 0-2-0; Morgan Perry 4 0-0-8; Morgan Newman 0 0-2-0; Hali Lucia 4 0-1-9. TOTALS: 17 6-14-41.
Bainbridge-Guilford: Alli Miller 0; Matraca Harmon 1 0-0-2; Abi Selfridge 8 2-3-18; Erica Selfridge 1 1-2-3; Maice Leizear 4 5-6-16; Isabelle Decker 0 2-2-2; Bailey Hart 0; Kori Thornton 1 0-0-2. TOTALS: 15 10-13-43.
Fouled out: (B-G) A. Selfridge. 3-point goals: (U) Lucia 1; (B-G) Leizear 3. Officials: Fletcher and Sanders. JV Score: B-G won, 37-22.
Greene 39, Harpursville 28
HARPURSVILLE – Tied at 16-16 after the first half, the Lady Trojans of Greene went on a scoring rout to build a lead that they held onto for the remainder of the contest to 39-28 at the Hornet’s nest in Harpursville Wednesday.
Greene’s head coach Dave Gorton said the his team had another rough shooting night but his team rebounded the ball well and stepped it up on the defensive end to come away with the win.
“It was nice to see out defense and rebounding ability carry us in this one,” said Gorton.
The Trojans opened the contest with an 11-8 first quarter lead but the Hornets out scored the visiting team 8-5 in the second to go into the break tied.
Coming out of the locker room looking for a swing in the momentum, Greene put together a 16 point offensive eight minute stretch while holding Harpursville to just a single basket – scored by Vanessa Groover of the Hornets – in the third.
During the quarter run, the Trojans’ Madison Rice provided her team with five points off of what Gorton said were big plays. Also scoring five points during the scoring spurt was McKenna Sergi. Both Rice and Sergi made one from beyond the 3-point arc and one bucket from inside the line, pacing Greene in the third.
Sergi once again did her damage from long-distance, watching four drop through the net for 12 of her game-high 15 points. Falling just one board shy of a double-double, Sergi pulled down nine rebounds in the contest and added five steals to her statline.
Her teammate, Emma Smith controlled the offensive glass during the game as she grabbed five of her nine boards in the front court to get her team second chance opportunities.
Rice ended the night with seven points, hitting two free throws in her three attempts in the fourth quarter. Joining her at seven points was teammate Kylee Peck, whose points also came when Greene needed a big play.
The Hornets were led by MacKenzie Robertson’s 14 points – 11 coming in the first half to keep Harpursville close. Her colleague Morgan Fleming added seven in the loss.
The Trojans rebounded from the their first Midstate Athletic Conference loss to Deposit/Hancock a night earlier, improving to 4-1 in the MAC. Greene is one of the five teams tied at the top of the standings.
Gorton, who is also the MAC Girls Basketball coordinator said, “It’s going to be a great finish to the strange but exciting season. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Trojans have Walton, Afton, Unatego and and Bainbridge-Guilford remaining for their conference sechdule. Walton, Unatego and B-G are three of the other four teams fighting at the top.
Greene takes on non-league opponent Chenango Forks on Tuesday before finishing out the regular season against the team above. Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off time at Chenango Forks High School.
Greene 39, Harpursville 28
Greene 11 5 16 7 – 39
H’Ville 8 8 2 10 – 28
Greene: Madison Rice 2 2-3-7; Olivia Kennedy 1 0-0-2; Jenna Albin 0; McKenna Sergi 5 1-2-15; Alex Brown 0 1-2-1; Kaitlyn Pratt 1 0-0-2; McKenzie Drew 0; Kylee Peck 2 3-8-7; Baileigh Estabrook 1 0-0-2; Emma Smith 1 1-6-3. TOTALS: 13 8-21-39.
Harpursville: MacKenzie Widden 0 2-2-2; Morgan Fleming 2 2-2-7; MJ Kappauf 1 1-2-3; MacKenzie Robertson 5 1-2-14; Alexus Roys 0; Vanessa Groover 1 0-0-2. TOTALS: 9 6-8-28
Fouled out. None. 3-point goals: (G) Rice 1, Sergi 4; (H) Fleming 1, Robertson 3. Officials: Killian and Smith.
Delhi 52, Oxford 36
OXFORD – The Lady Blackhawks kept the Delhi Bulldogs team close after the first quarter but Delhi pulled away in the middle 16 minutes of play on their way to the 52-36 Midstate Athletic Conference 52-36 win over the host Oxford team.
With the score 8-7, the Blackhawks trailed after one. While Delhi held Oxford to single digits in the second and third quarters defensively, their offense woke up.
Over the next two stanzas, the Bulldogs were led by Anna Post and Sophia Wakin as the two combined for 19 of the team’s 31 points during the stretch, pulling away from the Blackhawks with every bucket scored.
Oxford held strong and didn’t give up, closing out the game by out scoring Delhi 15-14 in the fourth.
The Blackhawks had a better shooting percentage from the floor than Delhi did during the game (46-percent to 43-precent) but Oxford’s 30 turnovers was the difference maker.
Post finished with a team-high 13 points while pulling down seven rebounds and picking off five steals. Wakin had 11 points for the Bulldogs and teammate Sylvia Liddle scored six and and recorded four assists in the win.
Karly Miller of the Blackhawks led all scoring in the contest, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and 100 percent at the free throw stripe.
Oxford’s Madalyn Barrows ended the night with 10 points to pick up her second straight double digit scoring game. Barrows shot 50-percent behind the 3-point arc, hitting two of her four attempts in the contest. She added four rebounds and three assists to her statline.
Teammates Caitlyn Quigley and Allison Beckwith also grabbed four boards off the glass. Quigley kicked in six points while Beckwith had a basket in the loss.
The Blackhawks (7-6, 3-3) host Walton Friday night. Prior to the contest, which is scheduled to tip-off at 7:15 p.m., head coach Chris Palmer will honor his seniors on the roster.
Delhi 52, Oxford 36
Delhi 8 13 18 13 – 52
Oxford 7 6 8 15 – 36
Delhi: Aileen Nealis 0 2-2-2; Riley Mason 3 0-0-8; Hannah Baxter 0; Alanna Ruchar 0; Emilia O’Neil 1 0-0-3; Anna Post 5 3-8-13; Raegan Bracchy 1 3-4-5; Cella Schnabel 0; Sylvia Liddle 3 0-0-6; Sophia Wakin 5 1-2-11; Morgan Robert 2 0-0-4. TOTALS: 20 9-16-52.
Oxford: Madalyn Barrows 3 2-4-10; Taylor Moore 0; Hannah Hodge 1 0-0-2; Karly Marshman 0; Allison Beckwith 1 0-0-2; Caitlyn Quigley 2 1-2-6; Jada Albin 1 0-0-2; Amelia Wakefield 0; Ellie Ryan 0 0-2-0; Karley Miller 6 2-2-14. TOTALS: 14 5-10-36.
Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: (D) Mason 2, O’Neil 1; (O) Barrows 2, Quigley 1.