Girls’ Basketball
Owego 48, Norwich 44
NORWICH – Norwich’s last comeback bid fell a little short Wednesday night.
Owego used a quick start to the fourth quarter to build an 11-point lead, but needed a pair of free throws from 6-foot-3 center Rachel Merrill with 9.6 seconds left to finally sew up the victory.
“We executed our game plan to perfection - as good or better than any team I have coached,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We just got too far behind in the fourth.”
Owego had two six-point leads wiped away in the first half, but seemed to finally distance itself from the Purple Tornado in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Rachel Merrill and younger sister Emily Merrill had a pair of buckets, and Jill Silvanic’s runner in the lane made it 45-34 with just under four minutes to play in the game.
“(When we got behind) we had to stretch out our zone, and they were able to toss it over the top for some easy ones,” Bennett said. “But we still found a way to create some turnovers and grab a few rebounds.”
Jenni Borfitz hit a three with 2 1/2 minutes left, and Carin Kuhn’s trey on the left wing made it 46-44 with 1:22 to play. Norwich had two more possessions with an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but turned it over both times.
“I thought one of the big keys was that they slowed down our fast break when they went on those runs, and made us play a halfcourt game,” Bennett said. “Obviously they wanted to play possession basketball, and we wanted to run. Whoever was able to do what they wanted to do had success, and unfortunately, they were able to do it a little more than we did.”
Kuhn and Breanna Cashman scored 11 points to lead Norwich in the loss.
Norwich’s JV team rolled to a 47-25 win led by Macalyn Bonner’s 14 points.
Owego: Caitlin Watson, 1 0-0-2; Kaylee Miner, 1 0-0-3; Kim Lavender, 1 0-0-2; Coco Heitmann, 0; Emily Merrill, 4 5-5-13; Rachel Merrill, 6 4-6-16; Mikayla Castellana, 1 0-0-3; Jill Silvanic, 4 0-0-9. Totals: 18 9-11-48.
Norwich: Carin Kuhn, 5 0-1-11; Caitlyn Brown, 1 0-0-3; Breanna Cashman, 3 4-6-11; Jennifer Borfitz, 2 1-2-6; Kassidy Seary, 0 1-2-1; Makenzie Maynard, 3 1-1-7; Meghan Komendarek, 0 1-2-1; Shelby Benjamin, 2 0-0-4; Courtney Scheer, 0. Totals: 16 8-14-44
Owe. 11 15 7 15–48
Norw. 12 13 7 12–44
Fouled out: None. Three-point goals: (O) Miner, Castellana, Silvanic, (N) Kuhn, Brown, Borfitz. JV: Norwich won 47-25. Officials: Ciotoli, Fletcher.
Bainbridge-Guilford 67, Hancock 29
BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford reached its highest point total of the season Wednesday in a victory over visiting Hancock.
Abbey Smith had five in the first quarter, while Morgan Bullis and Taylor Palmatier scored four apiece to help build a 16-4 lead. Bullis led the Bobcats (5-4) with 15 points, 17 rebounds, and five steals. Becca Reyes scored 12, Smith had 11 points to go with five assists, and Taylor Palmatier scored 10.
“We got up and down the court well and shot it well tonight,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “Abbey Smith played really well, and she got us going early by hitting a couple of shots.”
B-G plays at Deposit Friday.
Hancock: Alexis Houghton, 0 0-2-0; Brooke Sherburne, 1 0-0-2; Leah Newman, 0 3-4-3; Caitlyn Smith, 1 1-2-3; Megan Hunter, 0 4-8-4; Jessica Worzel, 3 5-8-11; C. Worrmtuuth, 2 2-4-6; Kylie Gilberston, 0 0-2-2, 0. Totals: 7 15-30-29.
B-G: Taylor Lamont, 0; Megan Ferrara, 2 0-0- 4; Abbey Smith, 4 2-3-11; Marissa Thornton, 1 1-2-3; Morgan Bullis, 6 3-4-15; Alissa Rivera,0 ; Alexis Page, 2 0-0-4; Taylor Palmatier, 5 0-2-10; Becca Reyes, 5 0-0-12; Cadi Barber, 0; Marina Hsu, 0; Casey Davis, 0; Betsy Holden, 4 0-0-8; Darcy McElligott, 0. Totals: 29 6-11-67.
Hanc. 4 7 8 10–29
B-G 16 15 23 13–67
fouled out: None. Three-point goals: (BG) Reyes 2, Smith. JV: B-G won 24-18.
Milford 44, G-MU 29
MILFORD - Milford’s team quickness was too much for G-MU Wednesday in a 15-point victory.
Addy Lawson had 18 points for the Wildcats, but all of those points were hard-earned, said G-MU coach Jim Johnson, who credited the defensive play of Tayler Nichols.
Meghan Meers scored 13 points for G-MU and Mackenzie Talbot added 10.
G-MU hosts Cherry Valley-Springfield Friday.
G-MU: Mackenzie Talbot, 3 4-7-10; Maggie Clune, 0; Katie Schultes, 0; Tayler Nichols, 1 2-2-4; Meghan Meers, 6 1-1-13; Jenna Bakhuizen, 0; Christina Hawkins, 1 0-0-2 Kelsey Ross, 0. Totals: 11 7-10-29.
Milford: Maddy Zenir, 5 1-2-11, Emily Mertz, 0, Kaley Chase, 1 0-0-2; Hannah Saggese, 0 , Taylor Olmsted, 3 0-0-6, Sadie Hogan, 0, Serena Chase, 1 5-7-7 , Mataiah Waters, 0, Addy Lawson, 7 2-5-18. Totals: 17 8-14-44.
GMU 6 0 10 13–29
Milf 10 10 14 10–44
Fouled out: (M) Mertz, Team fouls: (M) 19, (G) 10. Three-point goals: (M) Lawson 2. JV: G-MU won 23-21.
Sidney 57, Unadilla Valley 56 (OT)
NEW BERLIN – Sidney’s Kelsey Decker hit not one, but two halfcourt shots, the latter coming as time expired in the second overtime to give her club the victory in a miracle finish Wednesday.
UV briefly celebrated when Breanna Christian hit a three with five seconds left to give the Storm a two-point lead. Decker took the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled three times, and shot over two UV defenders.
Decker, who had 19 points, also hit a halfcourt shot at the end of the third quarter to close UV’s lead to one point.
Corinne Izard scored 19 points to lead UV and Taylor Davis added 15. The Storm went just 7-for-17 from the foul line in the contest. “We weren’t as consistent in this game as we were against Sherburne-Earlville (Monday night),” said UV coach Brandi Whitbeck. “There were a lot of highs and lows.”
UV plays at Hancock Friday.
Sidney: Rileigh Genung, 3 0-2-7; Dawn Savino, 2 0-0-5; Bethany Karl, 7 0-0-14; Taylor Krom, 0; Kelsey Decker, 7 1-2-19; Jenna McDonald, 0; Jolene Krom, 3 1-2-9; Connor Decker, 1 1-2-3. Totals: 23 3-8-57.
UV: Emily Converse, 1 3-6-7; Corrine Izard, 9 1-3-19; Taylor Davis, 6 0-2-15; Olivia Lazarus, ; Shannon McIntyre, 0 2-4-2; Breanna Christian, 2 1-2-7; Hannah Lazarus, ; Hunter Lakin, 3 0-0-6; Taylor Strong, ; Sierra Badger, 0. Totals: 22 7-17-56.
Sidn. 9 15 10 13 10–57
UVa. 14 15 6 12 9–56
fouled out: (S) Savino. Three-point goals: (UV) Davis 3, Christian 2, (S) Genung, Savino, Decker 4, Krom 2. JV: Sidney won 26-12.
Oxford 29, Walton 26
WALTON – Oxford earned its third win of the season and second over Walton on Wednesday.
Bridget Rice, Patti Simpson, and Rachel Seiler all had seven points, and Rice, Vada Mack, Sierra Brown, and Sarah Pratt had big days under the defensive glass to limit Walton’s scoring opportunities.
“I thought the back line of our zone did an excellent job of rebounding, and our guards cleaned up everything else,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer.
Oxford created separation with a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter. Rice had four in the last quarter and Simpson three. Oxford (3-7) hosts Deposit Tuesday.
Oxford: Michele Mead, 0; Vanessa Bishop, 0; Bridget Rice, 3 1-2-7; Patti Simpson, 3 1-2-7; Sarah Pratt, 0; Sierra Brown, 2 0-0-4; Rachel Seiler, 3 1-1-7; Vada Mack, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 13 3-5-29.
Walton: Taylor Vernoy, 2 0-0-4; Janine Velardi, 0 0-1-0; Lacey Speidell, 1 0-0-3; Megan McNamara, 3 0-0-8; Destyni Twyman, 2 0-0-4; Haley O’Connor, 2 0-2-4; Christine McKee, 1 1-2-3; Morgan Beardslee, . Totals: 11 1-5-26.
Oxf. 5 5 8 11–29
Wl 0 11 8 8–26
Three-point goals: (W) McNamara 2, Speidell.
Greene 51, Afton 37
AFTON – Greene won for the first time in four weeks halting a five-game losing streak Wednesday at Afton.
Sophomore Katie Carey had a career-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds, five blocked shots, and six steals. Sierra Stoppkotte also notched her high scoring game totaling 15 markers and four assists. Jessica David added 11 points, and held Afton’s leading scorer, Payton Cutting, to seven.
“We played very good defense in the first quarter and overall for the game,” said Greene coach Dave Gorton. “Other than a three-minute stretch of the second quarter, I was pleased with the way with played.”
Greene plays Walton Saturday.
Greene: Tiffany Borst, 2 0-0-4; Kristy Haskell, 0 2-2-2; Laura Montelione, 0 1-2-1; Lindsey Brown, 0; Jessica David, 4 3-4-11; Sierra Stoppkotte, 7 0-0-15; Madeline Brink, 0 1-2-1; Margo McDermott, 0; Audrey Platta, 0; Katie Carey, 8 0-1-16. Totals: 22 6-9-51.
Afton: Shakari Coss, 2 1-2-5; Paige Polizzi, 0; Sierra Palmatier, 2 2-2-6; Keegan Winans, 0 1-2-1; Bailey Sherman, 2 1-2-5; Payton Cutting, 1 5-6-7; Tanya Hatton, 3 0-0-6; Ashley Rogalski, 2 0-2-5; Alex Alford, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 13 10-16-37.
Gre. 11 13 15 12–51
Aft. 0 16 10 11–37
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (G) Stoppkotte, (A) Rogalski. JV: not held.
Boys’ Basketball
Sherburne-Earlville 52, Central Valley Academy 48
ILION – Sherburne-Earlville made 11 of 13 free throws in the final quarter to hold off Central Valley Academy Wednesday.
