Evening Sun Report
Girls’ Basketball
NEW BERLIN – Unadilla Valley put itself in position to win its first Midstate Athletic Conference championship game.
The Storm pulled away in the third quarter finishing the stanza on a 16-5 run, and it turned back a stubborn B-G team, 54-42, Thursday. The Storm (14-1) will meet Unatego next Saturday at SUNY Oneonta for the league championship.
“It really was tougher than the final score shows,” said UV coach Brandi Backus. “B-G broke our press a lot better than the last time we played them, they rebounded well, and they shot it pretty good from the outside.”
Backus’ compliments of B-G aside, it was her own team that deserved to take a bow after a strong finish to the third quarter.
The Bobcats whittled an 11-point deficit in the third down to 31-27 on the strength of a 9-2 spurt. Five different players contributed to those B-G points with Betsy Holden’s putback basket after a pair of offensive rebounds capping the salvo.
Over the next minute, UV senior Jordan Anderson had her finest moments of the game. She made a behind-the-back dribble at the foul line to ditch her defender, and sliced through the middle of the B-G defense for a driving layup to raise the lead to six. After a Bobcats turnover, Anderson drew a foul and made two free throws, and then she fed Jen Elliott on an out-of-bounds play for a 15-footer that gave UV some breathing room.
The third quarter ended with UV leading by 15 points.
“We had a nice little rally in the third quarter, and we kind of let it get away,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “We still are a little inconsistent on offense, but I thought it was a good showing against what is probably one of the top three Class C teams in Section IV.”
Amanda Off had five of UV’s points in the last quarter and finished with a game-high 22. Anderson scored nine and Taylor Davis seven.
B-G’s Taylor Palmatier was red-hot from the field in the first half, and led her club with 12. Abbey Smith chipped in with 10. Morgan Bullis added nine points and 12 rebounds for B-G, who play Harpursville next week.
B-G: Taylor Lamont, 0; Abbey Smith, 5 0-0-10; Morgan Bullis, 2 3-9-7; Alexis Page, 0; Caitlan Vandermark, 1 0-0-2; Megan Ferrara, 2 1-2-5; Taylor Palmatier, 5 2-2-12; Tori Rifanburg, 0; Betsy Holden, 3 0-0-6. Totals: 18 6-13-42.
UV: Emily Converse, 0 1-2-1; Corrine Izard, 2 1-2-5; Taylor Davis, 3 2-2-8; Jenn Elliott, 3 0-0-7; Amanda Off, 7 8-9-22; Hannah Lazarus, 0; Morgan Weidman, 1 0-0-2; Jordan Anderson, 2 5-6-9. Totals: 18 17-21-54.
B-G 8 10 14 10–42
UVa 14 13 20 7–54
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (UV) Elliott. JV: UV won. Officials: Mabie, J. Innes.
Oxford 37, G-MU 27
OXFORD - Playing with just seven girls, Oxford won on back-to-back nights to raise its win total to five on the season Thursday.
Megan Golden hit a three ball in the second quarter, and then made three straight free throws after getting fouled on a three-pointer for a six-point spurt that helped the Blackhawks build a four-point halftime lead.
Sarah Renaud and Rachel Seiler scored all 16 of Oxford’s points in the second half, and a 7-1 third quarter opened a double-digit lead. Renaud finished with a career-high 15 points, and Seiler totaled nine points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. “It was a good team effort, and it is nice to get a couple of wins at the end of the season,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer.
Mackenzie Talbot led G-MU with seven points.
G-MU: Mackenzie Talbot, 2 3-6-7 ; Victoria Hutzley, 2 0-0-4; Jenn Mason, 2 0-2-5; Tayler Nichols, 0; Meghan Meers, 2 0-0-4; Jenna Bakhuizen, 0; Victoria Hawkins, 0 1-2-1; Whitney Gilbert, 1 0-2-2; Lauren Hill, 1 0-0-2; Nichole Savarese, 1 0-1-2. Totals: 11 4-13-27.
Oxford: Megan Golden, 2 3-3-9; Sarah Renaud, 7 1-6-15; Teresa Ivarson, 1 0-1-2; Samantha Barrows, 0; Patti Simpson, 1 0-0-2; Rachel Seiler, 2 5-6-9; Kim Mead, 0;. Totals: 13 9-16-37.
GMU 8 9 1 9–27
