Girls’ Basketball
Harpursville 34, Oxford 31
OXFORD – Playing for a chance to clinch at least a tie for the MAC Division II title, the Blackhawks dropped their first league game of the season on Wednesday, and had their nine-game winning streak snapped as well.
Hannah Kimmel came alive in the second half scored 14 of her 20 points, and she netted 10 in the last quarter to fuel her team’s comeback win. “We held Hannah in check most of the game, but big-time players step up and make plays when they need to,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer of Kimmel.
Oxford’s first quarter was perhaps its best quarter of basketball all season, especially considering the lofty opposition. Haley Witchella had five in the first quarter, Julie Heggie hit two outside shots, and Ginny Burdick hit a short-range spot-up shot as Oxford led 14-5. The Blackhawks carried a 22-13 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Witchella.
“We came out and shot the ball with a lot of confidence at the start of the game,” Palmer said. “As the game progressed, we lost a little of that, and were a little shaky. It showed in our shooting.”
Kimmel had baskets on back-to-back possessions midway through the fourth, the latter gave her team its first lead of the game, 30-29, with 3:20 to play. Oxford, who shot just 26 percent for the game, had just one basket over the final 4:50, that a 15-foot baseline shot from Allie Nelson that drew her club within 32-31.
Alycia Kimmel and Kayleigh Livermore made single free throws in the last 19 seconds for Harpursville, who pulled into a tie for first along with Oxford (7-1, 13-3). “The best thing is that we still control our own destiny,” Palmer said. “If we are able to renew our focus and win our last two games, we’ll get another shot at Harpursville in a playoff game.”
Witchella scored 13 to lead Oxford, who host Deposit next Tuesday.
Harpursville: Savannah Murray, 0; Erin Dietzman, 0; Abby Klutts, 1 0-3-2; Alycia Kimmel, 0 1-4-1; Hannah Kimmel, 7 6-7-20; Kayleigh Livermore, 1 1-2-4; Miranda Drummond, 3 1-2-7; Erin Andrews, 0. Totals: 12 9-18-34.
Oxford: Alyshia Crawford, 2 3-8-7; Allie Nelson, 1 0-0-2; Ginny Burdick, 1 0-0-2; Kelli Whitehill, 0; Jackie Heggie, 1 1-3-3; Julie Heggie, 2 0-0-4; Kim Shackelton, 0; Haley Witchella, 6 1-3-13. Totals: 13 5-14-31.
Harp. 5 8 9 12–34
Oxf. 14 8 5 4–31
Fouled out: (H) Drummond, (O) Witchella, Ju. Heggie. Three-point goals: (H) Livermore. JV: Harpursville won 31-29. Officials: Myers, Stepanovsky.
Maine-Endwell 73, Norwich 33
ENDWELL – STAC power Maine-Endwell scored 73 points for the second time this season against the Tornado, and put 60 of those markers on the board after three quarters in Wednesday’s game.
Kristen Chelak had seven points and Kaitlyn Harris in a 28-point third period as the Spartans extended their lead to 37 points. “They did a good job against our matchup zone. We tried to contain their dribblers, and we didn’t do a good job of that,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “Anything we did on the defensive end, we were always a step late.”
Megan Touhey led M-E with 17 points and Chelak had 15.
Bryn Loomis led Norwich with 11 and Molly DeMellier scored 10. Norwich hosts Owego Saturday afternoon with the junior varsity game beginning at 1 p.m.
Norwich: Gabby Testani, 0; Katie Orioli, 0; Sarah Bonnell, 2 0-0-4; Hailey Dietrich, 2 0-0-4; Molly DeMellier, 5 0-0-10; Bryn Loomis, 4 3-4-11; Sophie Stewart, 1 0-0-2; Cassie Sutton, 0; Tatyana Ithier, 0 2-2-2. Totals: 14 5-6-33.
M-E: Kelsey Gustafson, 1 2-3-4; Ciera Eastman, 0; Emily Birchall, 1 3-4-5; Kaitlyn Harris, 3 0-1-6; Jamie Burcume, 3 1-4-7; Carrie Bushnell, 1 7-10-9; Megan Touhey, 7 2-5-17; Kristen Chelak, 7 1-3-15; Lauren Kozlowski, 1 0-0-2; Alyssa Ransburg, 4 0-0-8. Totals: 28 16-30-73.
NHS 4 4 15 10–33
M-E 14 18 28 13–73
Fouled out: (N) Dietrich. Three-point goals: (ME) Touhey. JV: M-E won. Officials: Blair, Kroh.
Waterville 48, Sherburne-Earlville 40
WATERVILLE – Sherburne-Earlville had its seven-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night, while also dropping its first Center State Conference division game this season.
“We knew it would be a tough game going in, and our shooting from the foul line kind of killed us,” said S-E coach Karen Mulligan.
S-E (13-3) was 1-for-10 from the foul line in the second half, but managed a 40-38 lead after back-to-back threes from senior Kristi Vibbard, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the last quarter.
Waterville closed the game out on a 10-0 run with Katie Buell making 3-of-4 free throws in the last quarter, and Jessica Zogby scoring five points.
Bridget Irwin scored 14 points to pace S-E, who play at Sauquoit Valley Friday.
S-E: Briana Vibbard, 2 0-0-4; Kristi Irwin, 1 0-0-2; Caitlynn Adams, 3 0-3-7; Bridget Irwin, 6 2-6-14; Courtney Jasper, 0; Nicole Carpenter, 0; Kristi Vibbard, 5 0-4-13. Totals: 17 2-13-40.
Waterville: Jones, 0; Katie Buell, 3 3-4-10; Dylan Hodge, 2 0-0-6; Shevonne Fitzgerald, 0 1-4-1; Lindsay Wratten, 1 2-4-5; Shelby Ritzel, 2 0-0-5; Jessica Zogby, 5 3-4-13; Lauren Homer, 1 1-4-3; Young, 1 0-0-2; Nicole Eisenhut, 1 1-2-3. Totals: 16 11-22-48.
S-E 8 10 7 15–40
Wat. 8 13 9 18–48
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (SE) Buell, Hodge 2, Wratten Ritzel (SE) Vibbard 3, Adams. JV: Waterville won 34-16.
Poland 55, Otselic Valley 26
SOUTH OTSELIC – Every player on the Poland roster found the scoring column Wednesday night in a win at Otselic Valley.
