Lady Marauders take second place in S-E Tip-off Tournament; Fall to VVS in championship

SHERBURNE – Playing a stout man-to-man defense, the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devils shut down the Sherburne-Earlville Lady Marauders offense on their way to a 45-21 victory to claim the Tip-off Tournament hosted by S-E over the weekend.

The Red Devils went on a 15-3 run in the first quarter while the Marauders weren’t able to get to the basket with clean looks. VVS held Sherburne-Earlville to a total of nine points in the first half, going into the break with a 17 point lead.

After the intermission, S-E started to turn the tables with seven straight defensive stops, holding the Red Devils to a few made free throws in the early minutes of the third quarter. However, offensively, the tournament hosts had trouble putting the ball through the rim and only scored six points during their run.

The second half of the stanza saw VVS once again go on a run, closing with 14 points in the third. The tournament’s Most Valuable Player Alexa Kiser racked up a game-high 19 points over the course of the first 24 minutes of play. Her teammates Morgan Brewer – who was an All-Tournament selection – and Lindsay Carrier each scored eight points in the win.

The final quarter saw S-E outscore their opponent 6-5, four points coming from the inside presence of first-year varsity player Maria Albertina.

Sage Ashton, Kaitlyn Furner and Tessa Cole all tied for a team-high, scoring five points each. Furner and Cole each received an All-Tournament team nod.

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In the earlier game, the Bainbridge-Guilford Lady Bobcats shot lights out in the first eight minutes of play to gain a 25-5 lead over the Unadilla Valley Storm early. B-G then carried that lead throughout the rest of game, winning 57-31 in the consolation game of the tournament.

A physical battle between the two teams, UV’s head coach Brandi Whitbeck said it was hard for her team to find their rhythm offensively. “Between our turnovers and [Bainbridge-Guilford] not being able to miss in the first quarter, we dug ourselves a hole,” said Whitbeck. “It’s tough to come back from a 20 point lead.

The Bobcat’s Abi Selfridge scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the first quarter on Saturday while teammate Kori Thornton was locked in from the 3-points line, draining two in the first quarter.

Selfridge went 5-for-7 from the foul line for the night as part of her points total. Both Macie Leizer and Thornton scored 14 points in the game for the Bobcats while Erica Selfridge scored 5 points.

The Storm was led by Shelby Meade’s 10 points and Meegan White went 6-for-8 at the foul line for her six. All-Tournament team member Kyleigh George scored five to go along with her strong defensive play.