Boys’ Basketball
Cooperstown 72, Sherburne-Earlville 65 (OT)
SHERBURNE – Sherburne-Earlville coach Kevin Vibbard said playing Cooperstown was a great tuneup for the Section III tournament that begins next week. Playing before a capacity crowd and playing well, Vibbard’s lone disappointment was his team’s overtime loss to the Center State Conference Division II champions.
“We had great support tonight, Cooperstown is a really good team and they definitely have a lot of guys that can score,” Vibbard said. “Our kids played hard, and they showed some heart coming back from 10 points down.”
Sherburne-Earlville finished the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 29-28 lead into halftime. Senior point guard Branden McDaniel was isolated with the ball in the waning seconds of the half. He drove into the lane dishing to Sam Caton for the layup giving S-E the lead.
From there, the two teams traded leads or were tied 21 times over the course of the second half. The Marauders scored on Randy Briggs’ driving layup, and followed that up with a basket from Matt Piazzi to lead 58-55 with 2:50 left in the fourth.
Cooperstown’s Sam Bowen put back an offensive rebound on the next possession, and following an S-E miss, Bowen hit one free throw to tie the game again.
With 1:01 remaining, the Marauders moved ahead one more time in regulation. Briggs grabbed a defensive rebound, and threw a long pass down the floor to Ethan Johnson for the go-ahead basket.
The Marauders preserved the lead late after Cooperstown’s Jeremiah Ford missed the front end of a one-and-one foul shot. S-E worked the 35-second clock down, and Vibbard called a timeout with 19.5 seconds remaining – and seven seconds left on the shot clock. The Marauders turned the ball over near halfcourt, and Jeffrey Flynn found a seam in the S-E defense driving for the tying layup.
Paul Romanenko’s three-pointer with 2:53 left in overtime gave S-E its last lead, 65-64. After which, three straight S-E turnovers ultimately led to seven Cooperstown points. Mike Moakler finished off a layup for the lead, Ford hit a spot-up jumper, and Jay Davine’s drive and three-point play with 49.8 seconds left sealed S-E’s fate.
Briggs led the Marauders (11-7) with 16 points, and Johnson scored 13. The Marauders will likely host Marcellus Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Class C playoffs.
Cooperstown: Jeff Flynn, 4 1-1-9; Jay Davine, 4 3-4-13; Michael Moakler, 4 4-4-13; Jeremiah Ford, 7 0-1-14; Harrison Clinton, 3 0-0-7; Sam Bowen, 6 4-5-16; Isaac Huntsman, 0 0-0-0; Wesley Lippitt, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 26 14-22-68.
S-E: Randy Briggs, 7 0-0-16; Cameron Yerton, 2 1-2-6; Paul Romanenko, 3 0-0-8; Branden McDaniel, 4 1-2-9; Cole Hodges, 0 0-0-0; Ethan Johnson, 6 0-1-13; Sam Caton, 2 0-0-4; Matt Piazzi, 3 3-3-9. Totals: 27 5-8-65.
Coop. 20 8 20 12 12–72
S-E 13 16 18 13 5–65
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (C) 12, (SE) 16. Three-point goals: (SE) Briggs 2, Yerton, Romanenko 2, Johnson; (C) Davine 2. JV: S-E won 70-67. Officials: Paul O’Connor, Jim Miller.
