Lady Storm earn holiday tournament bragging rights with 20 point win over Hamilton

S-E claims 3rd place with big win over GMU

NEW BERLIN – The Lady Storm captured their own holiday basketball tournament trophy after beating Hamilton by 20 points Friday night, winning 60-40.

Sophie Off and Kyleigh George combined for 42 points to lead the way for Unadilla Valley as head coach Brandi Whitbeck stated her team had a great night shooting the ball. “It was totally different from the night before,” said Whitbeck.

The Storm led by just two points after the first quarter and built the lead into nine-points before the intermission.

Following the break, the host team found their rhythm and went on a 17-4 run in the third to opening up their lead. From there, UV rolled to the championship victory. The Storm scored double digits in each quarter of play.

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“We had some foul trouble in the first half but the girls that came off the bench kept up right in it,” said Whitbeck.”

Off knocked down three 3-point field goals from behind the arc as she finished with a game-high 23 points for the Storm. George also caught fire, scoring 19 points by hitting eight shots from the floor to go along with her perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

Hamilton was paced by Beth Belanger’s 23 points in the loss. Of Belanger’s point total, 15 came from long-range.

In the consolation game earlier in the day, Sherburne-Earllville defeated Gilberstville-Mount Upton, 69-18 behind four Lady Marauders’ scoring double digits.

S-E jumped out to an early 22-4 lead before going on a 19-0 in the second quarter. Defensively, the Marauders held GMU to under 10 points in each of the four quarters of play.

All nine members of the Sherburne-Earlville’s roster contributed points in the contest as they held the commanding lead all game long. Tessa Cole had a team-best 18 points while teammates Sage Ashton finished with 12, Kaitlyn Furner added 10, and Destinee Posey scored a season-high 10 in the win.

The Lady Storm moved in the title game after taking down Sherburne-Earlville in the opening round 40-33. The two teams had met earlier this season with S-E coming out as the victors but UV was able to get revenge from the early season loss.

After the opening eight minutes, the score was 3-0 in favor of the Marauders but Unadilla Valley started to get their shots to fall as they went on a 18-5 run in the second quarter.

As the Storm started to crash the offensive boards harder in the second stanza, Shelby Meade became the strong inside presence UV needed. Meaded finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down a game-high 16 boards.

The Marauders cut the lead down to just two points heading into the final quarter but the Storm held onto the lead by outscoring S-E 15-10. Sherburne-Earlville was led by Ashton’s eight points. Furner and Cole each recorded seven in the loss.

George added eight points in the win as she received an All-Tournament team selection. Meade was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Off was also named to the All-Tournament team.