B-G defeats Marauders in consolation game

SHERBURNE – The Lady Storm of Unadilla Valley ended up the second place team in the Sherburne-Earlville Girls Basketball Tip-Off Tournament after falling to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in Saturday’s championship game 52-27.
Bainbridge-Guilford, who were topped by UV one night earlier, defeated the host Marauders in the consolation game with a close 54-50 victory.
Morgan Brewer of the VVS Devils was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after her performance over the two day – which included 21 points in the championship. Named to the All-Tournament team were the Storm’s Claire Converse and Kayla Christian, B-G’s Macie Leizear, S-E’s Tessa Cole and Brewer’s teammate Anna Rossi.
VVS opened up with a 19-7 run in the title game against UV after early foul trouble for the Storm. Once the Devils built the 12 point lead after the first eight minutes of play, the eventual champions continued to grow the margin by outscoring Unadilla Valley 25-8 over the next two quarters.
In the final stanza of the night, the Storm went on a 12-8 run but the advantage from the first three quarters was too much to overcome.
In the title game, UV was led by Sophie Off’s six points. Kyleigh George, Alexis Buchanan and Claire Converse each contributed five points, helping the Storm have balanced scoring throughout the team.
Unadilla Valley reached the championship game by beating Bainbridge-Guilford Friday night 37-21.
In the opening round game against the two Midstate Athletic Conference foes, the Storm held the Bobcat’s leading scorer Leizear to just nine points on the night.
The B-G senior did most of her damage in the second quarter, tallying seven to hold the deficit to single digits as the two teams went into the halftime break at 17-12.
Out of the intermission, the Storm’s Meegan White took over by scoring seven of her team’s 12 points in the third as UV built a 13 point lead on their way to the win.
Leizear, however, came back the second night to tally 16 in the Bobcats win over the Marauders. She knocked down five 3-pointers in the victory for her team-high total.
Colleagues Taylor Parsons and Celeste Baldwin each reached double figures in the win, scoring 14 and 12 to aid in the team win.
After the first stanza was tied at 10-10, B-G outscored S-E 12-5 in the second to take a seven point advantage into the break.
In the third, the Marauders closed the lead down to two points and the fourth quarter became a battle. S-E was paced by Tessa Cole in the fourth – and throughout the game – as she scored 13 points. Cole finished with 35 points in the loss, giving her back to back 30-point games over the weekend.
Cole and the Marauders fell to VVS in the opening round by a final of 60-49. The Devils held a 30 point lead after the first half but S-E battled back in the second, cutting the margin down to as many as nine points.
However, Sherburne-Earlville was unable to come any closer than the nine points as the two teams exchanged baskets in the closing minutes.
Cole led all scorers in the game with 30 points and nearly recorded a double-double, falling one rebound short. Jaci Wright scored seven and teammate Elizabeth Peila chipped in eight points.
Maria Albertina grabbed 15 boards Friday night to lead the team in the stat column. She also added four points.
Brewer tallied 23 in the opening night win for the Devils.
Sherburne-Earlville hosts Canastota on Thursday, the game night that Bainbridge-Guilford and Unadilla Valley will meet for a league game. The Bobcats, however, will travel to Greene on Tuesday. All games are scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. start time.