NEW BERLIN – Going into Friday’s game, both the Unadilla Valley Storm and the Sidney Warriors were undefeated in conference play. After 32 minutes of play, UV remained perfect in the MAC conference while Sidney received their first league loss of the season.
With a packed house of fans, tensions were high from jump to the final buzzer.
The Storm’s Andrew Jackson kicked off the scoring in the contest, but immediately Sidney answered at the other end. Sidney’s only lead of the game came early, at 4-3 on the scoreboard. However, the contest did end up even many time throughout.
Jackson scored another three to total six in the quarter but UV received baskets in the scorebook from all but one starter. The Storm attacked the rim, causing Sidney’s top scorer Ethan Finch to get into early foul trouble.
Taking a two point advantage into the second quarter, Dante Dye dialed in from long-range, knocked down three, three-point field goals in the quarter. With his sniper shooting, Dye’s nine points helped his team take a 33-26 margin into the half time break. At that point, seven points was the largest lead of the game between the two teams.
Finch came out of the intermission to score the first basket of the second half. He was on a mission for the Warriors after being held to just four point in the first half.
A few trips later for Unadilla Valley, Jackson took his turn behind the three-point line and dropped it through the net to give the Storm the first double-digit advantage. But Sidney was able to quickly cut it back down to seven as their Malik Howard answered with a three ball of his own at the other end.
Right before the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the third, Dye pulled up from about NBA range (30 feet) and drilled it to give UV a 49-39 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
In that final quarter, the home team controlled every aspect from tempo to rebounds. Jackson scored 10 of his game-high 26 in the fourth while his teammate Dye added four made free-throws to his total, giving him a final tally of 21 on the night.
The Storm’s Levi Rifanburg controlled the boards all night long as he recorded a double-double in the contest with 10 points and 10 rebounds. His points were sprinkled throughout the four quarters but came at critical times.
