OXFORD – Unadilla Valley had no business playing in the MAC boys’ basketball championship game – it wasn’t even the best team in its division this year.
However, through a scheduling mistake by division winner Sidney, the Storm gained the opportunity to defend their league title, and made the best of that opportunity Saturday afternoon beating division two champion Oxford, 55-46.
Not only did UV gain an improbable repeat, but it garnered the hardware with leading scorer and all-division guard, Juston Parks, sitting out the game due to an ankle injury.
Parks rolled his ankle in practice the night before and dressed for the contest wearing an air cast. His services, as it turned out, were not needed with the big efforts of Matt Potter and Raffi Perry picking up the much-needed slack.
Potter, who didn’t play in last year’s title game, had a game-high 20 points, double-digit rebounds, and multiple blocked shots. Perry carried the scoring load in the second half netting 14 of his team’s 27 points on his way to a 19-point game.
“I was really feeling it (shooting),” Perry said. “Coach (Osborne) told us that everyone on the team needed to step it up with Juston out, and we did.”
Oxford, bringing in a 10-game winning streak, looked ready to surmount UV’s fourth-quarter lead scoring early baskets from Ben Burdick and Alex Champlin to tie the game at 42-42 with seven minutes to play.
Perry unlocked the game with a three ball from the top of the key after a kickout pass from Mason Wyman. Perry added another three ball on similar play with 1:15 left in the game – again the dish from Wyman – upping the margin to 50-43.
After that second basket from Champlin early in the fourth, Oxford had just one more hoop the remainder of the game, that a put-back from Burdick with 25 seconds left in the game, and the outcome already decided.
“We never did shoot the ball well in this game, and we didn’t get out and fast break a lot,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “Potter really hurt us on the inside with offensive rebounds – he had a great game.”
