CORTLAND – Tim Davis mentioned to Oxford’s players in his post-game locker room speech that around 178 schools in New York State play Class C basketball, and 170 were sitting home Saturday.
The Blackhawks, to their dismay, will take a seat along side those 170-plus schools after suffering their one and only loss in 2009 at SUNY Cortland.
Onondaga, Section III’s Class C champion, made just enough foul shots in the fourth quarter to advance to the state semifinals at Glen Falls this weekend winning 44-37.
The Tigers were just 6-for-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, but made 5-for-8 in the last minute to pull away. Oxford, for its part, made it tough on itself hitting just 5-for-24 from the field in the second half.
“Most of the time I thought we executed our offense, we just couldn’t make a shot,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis, whose club finished 21-4 overall, while seeing an 18-game winning streak draw to a close.
Onondaga, battle-tested playing in the Onondaga Conference in the Syracuse area, finished the regular season just two games over .500, but has since won six straight games. It is now two wins from a state championship.
“When you get to this level, everybody is good, and we knew Oxford would make runs at us,” said Onondaga head coach Larry Behm. “Chris Cota did a great job defensively for us. We stuck with a zone, but I told him to stay at the side of (Champlin), and he made it difficult for (Champlin).”
Champlin was just one of several Oxford players who did not have a good shooting day. The Tigers often harrassed or hurried the Blackhawks’ shooters, but just as often, Oxford simply missed open looks at the basket.
“They did a good job packing in their zone and not letting us get the ball inside like we have done against other zones this season,” Davis said. “Maybe we were rushing things at times, but it’s hard to get kids to slow things down. This was a big game.”
As big as the contest was, Onondaga was on the money early on, particularly when it came to shots from outside the three-point arc.
Tom Gould and Champlin matched early Onondaga baskets, then the Tigers caught fire. In succession, Ted Zabel, Cota, and sophomore guard Taylor Bassett hit three pointers to up the lead to 13-4. Those were the only three balls the Tigers made the entire game, but it forced the Blackhawks into the unfamiliar role of chaser.
Oxford trailed by seven after one period, but managed to claw back to within 23-22 at halftime. Cory Seiler hit an early three ball, and Champlin scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the stanza.
“The scouting reports said they weren’t that great of a shooting team,” Davis said. “We didn’t keep up with them at the beginning, and we got off to a bad start.”
