WALTON – The Storm came out of the gate flat and the host Walton Warriors took full advantage by jumping out to a large 15 point lead, a lead that Unadilla Valley was unable to recover from Tuesday night in the 67-57 loss on the road.

The Warriors outscored UV in the first eight minutes 18-9 as the hot, shooting hand of Walton’s Shane Merwin nailed four three-point field goals to pace the home team.

Merwin showed no signs of slowing down in the second, adding another six to his point total while his team went into the halftime break up 15 on the Storm.

In the third, UV shook off the first half with 25 points as they pulled within four as 2:40 remained in the quarter. The Storm received a big quarter from the duo of Levi Rifanburg Andrew Jackson as the two combined for 15 of the team’s rally.

Entering the final stanza down by six, Unadilla Valley needed their defense to take over and make some stops to stay in the game. Unfortunately, UV was unable to come up with said stops as the two teams nearly exchanged every basket, allowing Walton to hold on to their lead for the win.

“They [Walton] shot the ball very well tonight and forced a lot of turnovers,” said Matt Osborne, Unadilla Valley’s head coach. “Late in the game, we couldn’t get a stop and a score to get any closer.”

Jackson finished with a team-high 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists while Rifanburg tallied 17 in the scoring column. Their teammate Dante Dye kicked in 11, six coming from threes in the last quarter.

Merwin finished with a game-high 27 as 12 came from behind the three-point and seven came from a perfect 100 percent on seven attempts are the free-throw line.

Tuesday’s loss was the first conference loss for the Storm. They will look to rebound Friday when UV host Afton in a quad-header for both boys and girls. Unadilla Valley’s boys varsity will be the final game of the evening with a start time of 7:15 p.m.

Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 8 0-2-19; Dante Dye 4 0-0-11; Sam Loeffler 0; Payton Stirone 1 1-2-3; Caleb Parker 0; Spencer Meade 0; Levi Rifanburg 7 3-4-17; Bob Anderson 0; Wyatt Grey 3 0-0-7; Brady George 0; Cameron Osborne 0; Teddy Postma 0. Totals: 23 4-8-57.

Walton: Jacob Beach 4 2-2 12, Jose Mirabal 0 0-0 0, Shane Merwin 8 7-7 27, Robert Swiatek 0 0-0 0, Tommy Maguire 0 0-0 0, Brett Charles 2 2-2 6, Aiden Kilmurray 0 0-0 0, Alex Tweedie 3 0-0 7, Ethan Wood 0 0-0 0, Dylan Jacob 3 0-0 6, Justin Beers 3 1-2 8. Totals: 23 12-13 66.

UV 9 8 25 15 – 57

W 18 14 16 18 – 67

Fouled out: None. Three-point goals: (W) Merwin 4, Beach 2, Tweedie 1, Beers 1; (UV) Jackson 3, Dye 3, Grey 1. Officials: DuMond and Weaver.

Madison 92, Otselic Valley 20

MADISON – The league undefeated Madison Blue Devils hosted the Otselic Valley Vikings Tuesday night and controlled the game from tip to the final buzzer.

The Blue Devils started the game off with a 31-2 first quarter and quickly followed it up with 30 point second quarter, taking a 61-10 lead into the intermission.

Following the break, the Vikings had trouble scoring as they completed a free-throw for their only point of the quarter.

In the fourth, Otselic Valley nearly outscored the home team putting nine on the scoreboard for the last eight minutes of play. Madison slightly edged them out in the stanza, scoring 13.

OV’s Tanner Costa lead the team with eight points while teammate Clayton O’Hara added six while grabbing eight rebounds.

The Vikings travel to Morrisville-Eaton later today as the second half of their back-to-back game days. Game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Otselic Valley: Justin Graham 0; Tanner Costa 3 1-2-8; Devin Stone 0; Jonah VanVoorhis 1 0-0-2; Dakota Adams 1 2-2-4; Gordon Marshall 0; Clayton O’Hara 3 0-0-6. Totals: 6 3-3-20.

Madison: Eric Eaton 5 1-2-11; David Karaman 0; Colton Stone 4 1-2-10; Mike Ford 1 0-0-2; Spencer Haviland 9 0-0-20; Jordan Ferguson 9 0-0-20; Zach Zombeck 4 0-0-8; Dawson Eckrich 0; Ethan Snyder 3 0-0-6; Alex Cotter 2 1-2-5; Sam Matteson 5 0-0-12; Noah Ostwald 1 0-0-3. Totals: 40 3-6-92.

OV 2 8 1 9 – 20

M 31 30 18 13 – 92

Three-point goals: (OV) Costa 1; (M) Stone 1, Haviland 2, Ferguson 3, Matteson 2, Ostwald 1.

Cooperstown 59, Sherburne-Earlville 37

COOPERSTOWN – Cooperstown and Sherburne-Earlville met in the first game of the season with the Marauders sneaking out a one point win. Since then, the Hawkeyes have been on a warpath, only losing one other contest this season.

On Monday, Cooperstown avenged their early season loss to Sherburne-Earlville with a 59-37 home win for their tenth straight.

The Marauders’ defense had a good showing, especially in the first according to head coach Kevin Vibbard. “We just couldn’t score.”

Having the open looks, Sherburne-Earlville had a hard time knocking them down.

Their opposition had no trouble however, as Noah Lifgren was able to score 17 in the contest, averaging over four points per quarter.

Sherburne-Earlville’s defense was able to hold both Jack Lambert and Owen Kennedy – the Hawkeyes top two scorers – below their game average in the loss. Lambert, who’s average was 21.8 points per game going into the game, finished with a game-high 18 points.

“We did a really good job on [Owen] Kennedy,” said Vibbard. “[Noah] Lifgren played well and really hurt us.”

The Marauders kept Kennedy off the boards, limiting him to just five, finished with 12 points.

Leading in the scoring column for Sherburne-Earlville was Dawson Lagoe as he put up 16 on the scoreboard for the night.

Sherburne-Earlville travels to Central Valley on Thursday before hosting league division leader Holland Patent Monday, January 29.

Sherburne-Earlville: Tyler Bigford 0 2-2-2; Sylas Swingle 2 1-2-5; Gabe Irwin 1 0-0-2; Kyle Cole 0 1-2-1; Hunter lane 3 0-0-6; Nick Thurston 1 0-0-2; Ryan Asma 0; Ben Osborne 0; Owen Rodriguez 1 0-0-3; Dawson Lagoe 7 1-1-16; Ian Bowker 0; Allan Donnelly 0; Nathan Hadlock 0. Totals: 15 5-7-37.

Cooperstown: Calvin Sandler 3 0-0-8; Ryan Lansing 1 0-0-2; Ryan Burns 0; Tyler Colombo 0; Jack Lambert 8 0-0-18; Jesse Furnari 1 0-0-2; Ben Tafuro 0; Kyle Meyer 0; Noah Lifgren 6 5-5-17; Owen Kennedy 6 0-1-12. Totals: 25 5-6-59.

S-E 10 5 12 10 – 37

Coop 14 13 15 17 – 59

Fouled out: None. Three-point goals: (S-E) Rodriguez 1, Lagoe 1; (C) Sandler 2, Lambert 2.

Deposit/Hancock 45, Oxford 31

OXFORD – With the contest in question after Oxford held a one point lead at halftime, the visiting Deposit/Hancock Eagles took control of the game in the third quarter and flew to a 45-31 win Monday night.

The Blackhawks lead by as many as six points with close to three minutes remaining in the second. With Deposit/Hancock’s last two possessions ending with a Tyler Young finish at the rim and a buzzer-beating three-point field goal by Austin Lenio, the lead was cut from six to one going into the break. Oxford’s Jason Davis accounted for 10 first half points, aiding the keep margin in favor of the Blackhawks.

Young gained the lead for the Eagles with a long two point basket from the bench-side corner, as Deposit/Hancock came out of intermission with all the momentum on their side.