So close, yet so far away. Those words sum up the season-ending playoff losses of Oxford’s boys’ basketball team and the Bainbridge-Guilford girls.

Oxford exited the 2006-2007 season with a second-round playoff loss to Sidney, while B-G went a little further dropped a four-point decision to Elmira Notre Dame. As we now know, those two clubs went on to win New York State Class C titles this past weekend at Glens Falls and Hudson Valley Community College, respectively.

Of all of its six playoff victories to the title, only Oxford had Sidney on its heels and trailing in the fourth quarter. With five minutes remaining in the game, the Blackhawks were poised to stage a huge upset leading by seven points. Oxford didn’t score again, and Kody Westcott’s dagger of a three with 40 seconds remaining in the game keyed the Warriors’ comeback win. “That game showed how close we were and the level we were playing at,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “I’m not sure we believed we were playing at that level.”

Oxford’s playoff performance was by no means a fluke. In the first meeting with Sidney, the Blackhawks led by two with two minutes remaining only to lose by five points. Again, Oxford failed to score a point in the closing moments. “Sidney might argue differently, but Foote (Andy) is their one real good guard, and he was their key man,” Davis said. “What we had was Trevor (Nelson, Oxford’s best defensive guard), and he was able to offset that one guy.”