Girls’ Basketball
Harpursville 53, Unadilla Valley 51
NEW BERLIN – Just how brutal is the Section IV Class C girls’ basketball tournament this year? Harpursville, a club that won four of the last five MAC titles was rated as a sixth seed with a 13-3 record.
The Hornets, looking every bit like a Section IV title contender, ousted 2013 MAC champion Unadilla Valley in a thrilling finish Friday evening.
The Hornets delivered one apparent knockout punch after another in the final two minutes, but had to survive a missed UV put-back basket to tie the game as the final horn sounded. “We knew this was going to be a great game,” said Harpursville coach Kurt Ehrensbeck. “I think we brought out the best in each other tonight.”
Harpursville used a 9-0 midway through the fourth quarter to take a 47-41 with 1:41 to play. Sophomore Shelby Medovich had back-to-back baskets during the spurt, the latter a dagger of a three, and reserve Tatiana Sosnowsky nailed a spot-up 15-footer from the corner of the foul line to raise the lead to six and prompt a UV timeout.
“We made that run and I thought we were okay, but the next thing you know, they cut it back to one,” Ehrensbeck said.
In less than 40 seconds, that six-point margin was sliced to two. Amanda Off, who poured in a game-high 25 points for UV, scored on a layup, and UV got the ball back right away after a long Medovich miss.
Jordan Anderson missed a driving layup, but Off cleaned up the misfire. Following a Harpursville turnover, UV had two close-range shots from Off and Corrine Izard to knot the game up that were off the mark.
With less than 30 seconds left and trailing by two, UV was forced to foul, and Harpursville needed to make free throws to maintain the lead.
Savannah Murray was 4-for-4 from the foul line in the last 24 seconds, and Medovich also hit two free throws. Each time Harpursville moved its lead to four, UV answered back. Taylor Davis’s banked-in three with nine seconds remaining closed the gap to 51-50.
Murray made the final two of her four free throws three seconds later setting up UV’s final possession. Anderson, who was driving up the right side of the court, was fouled with two seconds left before getting off a shot attempt. She made the first free throw, and intentionally missed the second. The ball spun out of the rim to teammate Izard, who in heavy traffic got off a shot that fell off to the right.
“We executed the final play the way we wanted to, and I really couldn’t ask any more out of my kids,” said UV coach Brandi Backus.
Anderson scored 15 points for UV (15-2) and Davis netted nine – all in the second half.
Drummond had 21 points to top Harpursville.
Harpursville: Marci Ritter, 0; Shelby Medovich, 2 4-6-9; Holly Henry, 0 2-2-2; Espe Gutierrez, 0 0-2-0; Savannah Murray, 2 6-9-11; Tatiana Sosnowsky, 5 0-0-10; Miranda Drummond, 8 2-2-21. Totals: 17 14-21-53.
UV: Emily Converse, 0; Corrine Izard, 0 2-2-2; Taylor Davis, 4 0-0-9; Jenn Elliott, 0; Amanda Off, 10 4-4-25; Hannah Lazarus,0; Morgan Weidman, 0; Jordan Anderson, 3 9-14-15. Totals: 17 15-20-51.
Harp. 8 11 15 19–53
UVall 12 7 14 19–51
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (H) Drummond 3, Murray, Medovich. (UV) Off, Davis. Officials: Velardi, Cook.
Seton Catholic Central 48, Norwich 36
BINGHAMTON – Angelica Hauer, Christy O’Neil, and Lauren Miller combined for all 48 of Seton Catholic Central’s points in Friday night’s Class B sectional victory over Norwich.
Hauer, a 6-foot-3 center, scored a game-high 23 points, and was a load to handle for the Norwich defense. “I thought Hauer played the game of her life,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “Taylor (Cook) did an awesome job defensively (on Hauer), we did a great job as a team defensively, believe it or not.”
Norwich (11-8) ran in to trouble at the end of the third and fourth quarters when Seton Catholic Central put together sustained runs to extend its lead. NHS shot less than 30 percent from the field for the game, and struggled for points outside of Jennifer Borfitz’s game-high 21.
