Frank Speziale Photo
SHERBURNE – Patience is key to so many things in life – Sherburne-Earlville's head coach Kevin Vibbard could be heard yelling to his squad 'patience, patience,' as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the first half of the Wednesday night game which pitted a now state-ranked honorable mention Sherburne-Earlville against the visiting Adirondack Wildcats.
One would think that the game was in jeopardy, a sectional seed was up for grabs or something more dire along those lines – instead S-E was employing a patient attack even though they already led 34-18 – missing the final field goal at the halftime buzzer was no issue for the Marauders who were simply paying no attention to the scoreboard and instead playing like a newly state-ranked team heading into sectional play.
Prior to the start of the senior night game on Feb. 15, the S-E fans and players honored their two graduating seniors – Matt Hull and Sam Tuttle. What did these two seniors do? They answered the call to lead their team, by dropping a team high 25 and 12 points respectively in the game, a game that marked the duos last regular season game on their home court.
The Marauders looked quick and powerful to start the game, as within the first three minutes of play they had ran the score up to a 9-0 lead over the Wildcats. Stopping the bleeding for the Cats was Ryan Bell who finally saw a shot land for Adirondack at 5:26 to take the game to a 9-2 S-E lead. Although S-E was still playing relatively mistake free, Adirondack slipped their way back into the conversation to claim the tie at 17-17 after the first eight minutes.
A turnover by the Wildcats just six seconds into the second period set the stage for what was about to happen. The Sherburne-Earlville Marauders valiantly defended their home court to the tune of a 17-2 point second period – highlighted by a crafty Matt Hull who scored six of his 25 in the period (15 of his 25 in the first half).
Hull weaved and ducked his way in between the Wildcat defenders, snagged a clean pass from Sylas Swingle and went up for the easy flying layup at 6:27 – taking the game to 21-17 – while better yet grabbing the foul and going 1-1 for the 22-17 lead. 34 seconds later it was again Hull repeating his effortless play to lay in another layup-foul for the 25-17 lead. However, S-E's Hunter Lane wanted in on the action – four of his eight points in the period – stealing the ball for a Wildcat running the full court for the layup at 4:06. Lane would grab one more driving layup – majestically driving between the Adirondack defense to take the final score to 34-18 at 1:10 left. Adirondack eventually saw a foul shot fall in their favor as Andrew Fauvelle went 1-2 from the charity stripe with 3:50 left in the half.
Adirondack would rebound to a 11 point third period and a 12 point final period to attempt to chase down S-E – however, outscoring their visitors 17-1 in the second half and then dropping 29 points on the Wildcats in the second half, The Marauders showed why they’re going to the playoffs as they cruised to the comfortable 22 point win at 63-41.
Hull finished his senior night with a game high 25 points going 4-6 from the line; while Tuttle dropped in 12 of his own going 1-2 from the line. Hunter Lane snagged eight points on the day, while Dawson Lagoe added in his seven points in the win.
