MORAVIA - Jumping out to an early lead in a basketball game is obviously a good thing. It provides momentum, especially in a game where the stakes are high.
The key, though, is sustaining the lead to earn a win - something that neither Moravia basketball team could do on Tuesday. In the first game of the Section IV, Class C playoff doubleheader, the Moravia girls team jumped out to an early lead over Southern Cayuga, but lost 45-40. In game two, the Blue Devil boys also had a lead over Tioga at the half, but couldn't hold on in a 44-42 defeat.
No. 11-seeded Southern Cayuga (9-11) will advance to play third-seeded Tioga (13-5) on Saturday on the girls side. The Blue Devils (10-9) had defeated the Chiefs twice during the regular season and looked to be on their way to a third win with an 8-1 early lead. But with six points from Beth Rocker in the final four minutes of the first quarter, the Chiefs cut the lead to one. No. 6 Moravia pulled away to a 29-21 halftime lead, but the Chiefs took advantage of Moravia's halftime adjustments in the third quarter.
“Our offense was great today,” Chiefs coach Tim May said. “They were playing man-to-man and our motion offense really got to them, which is why they had to switch.”
“We changed defenses and it slowed them down,” Blue Devils coach Lisa Hares said. “But it's not our style of basketball. We couldn't take care of business with man-to-man.”
With six third-quarter points from Felicia Allen, who led the Chiefs with 12 overall, Southern Cayuga pulled away, earning it's first lead and then never relinquishing it.
“Felicia played an absolutely outstanding game,” May said. “She took the ball to the basket every opportunity she got.”
Deanna Drake led the Blue Devils with 14 points and Emilee Connor added seven. Claire Hunsinger, Hannah Mackey, Haley Potter and Maria Heffernan each scored four points. The 6-foot Hunsinger was held to just six rebounds, after averaging nearly 11 per game this season.
“We were very flat today,” Hares said. “We didn't come out ready to play for a sectional game, that's for sure. We had the ability to do something special, but we made some mistakes that we hadn't made all year and that's disappointing.”
Megan Lawrence scored 10 points, while Rocker ended up with eight and Hillary Chidsey scored seven.
“This is very exciting for us because we lost to them twice this year,” May said. “Team defense was our goal and we did that today.”
The eighth-seeded Moravia's boys basketball team began its contest similarly to the girls - and with the same results. Moravia sprinted to an 11-6 lead, but the No. 9 Tigers stormed back and the score was 13-12 in Moravia's advantage after the first quarter. Blue Devils sophomore Pat Mott led the team with seven points at the half (and 10 overall), followed by Jeremy Stewart and Dillon Langtry with eight each.
Even with a slim 21-18 halftime lead, the Blue Devils main problem trickled into the game early. Moravia went 0-for-2 at the free throw line in the first 16 minutes, but finished an abysmal 3-for-17.
The Tigers didn't fare much better at the charity stripe, going 6-for-14.
“This wasn't normal for us,” Blue Devils coach Todd Mulvaney said. “We were just under 70 percent all year there and it just killed us today.”
Defensively, Moravia played well, holding Tioga's leading scorers David Ulrich and Zeth Henneman to 14 points each. The Blue Devils struggled offensively, however. Tioga racked up 18 points in the third quarter - on the heels of two Ulrich 3-pointers and a jumper at the buzzer - while the Blue Devils managed just 10.
They scored 11 in the fourth to keep the game close - the Tigers never led by more than four points - and had a chance at the end when Kurt Berry hit a 3 with 1:09 left in the game. Scott Williams gave the Tigers a 44-42 lead when he hit one of two at the foul line with 36.3 seconds left.
Senior forward Taylor Mackey (seven points) fouled out at that time, which took an important player off the court for Moravia.
“With him out of the game, we had to make an adjustment,” Mulvaney said. “He's our leading scorer, so it definitely hit us.”
With 7.9 seconds left in the game and seven ticks left on the shot clock, neither Stewart or Berry could drive inside to take a legitimate shot and the Tigers (10-9) celebrated the win with under a second remaining in the game.
The Blue Devils finish the season 11-8 and the Tigers advance to play top seeded Union Springs (16-2) in the quarterfinals on Friday.
No. 11-seeded Southern Cayuga (9-11) will advance to play third-seeded Tioga (13-5) on Saturday on the girls side. The Blue Devils (10-9) had defeated the Chiefs twice during the regular season and looked to be on their way to a third win with an 8-1 early lead. But with six points from Beth Rocker in the final four minutes of the first quarter, the Chiefs cut the lead to one. No. 6 Moravia pulled away to a 29-21 halftime lead, but the Chiefs took advantage of Moravia's halftime adjustments in the third quarter.
“Our offense was great today,” Chiefs coach Tim May said. “They were playing man-to-man and our motion offense really got to them, which is why they had to switch.”
“We changed defenses and it slowed them down,” Blue Devils coach Lisa Hares said. “But it's not our style of basketball. We couldn't take care of business with man-to-man.”
With six third-quarter points from Felicia Allen, who led the Chiefs with 12 overall, Southern Cayuga pulled away, earning it's first lead and then never relinquishing it.
“Felicia played an absolutely outstanding game,” May said. “She took the ball to the basket every opportunity she got.”
Deanna Drake led the Blue Devils with 14 points and Emilee Connor added seven. Claire Hunsinger, Hannah Mackey, Haley Potter and Maria Heffernan each scored four points. The 6-foot Hunsinger was held to just six rebounds, after averaging nearly 11 per game this season.
“We were very flat today,” Hares said. “We didn't come out ready to play for a sectional game, that's for sure. We had the ability to do something special, but we made some mistakes that we hadn't made all year and that's disappointing.”
Megan Lawrence scored 10 points, while Rocker ended up with eight and Hillary Chidsey scored seven.
“This is very exciting for us because we lost to them twice this year,” May said. “Team defense was our goal and we did that today.”
The eighth-seeded Moravia's boys basketball team began its contest similarly to the girls - and with the same results. Moravia sprinted to an 11-6 lead, but the No. 9 Tigers stormed back and the score was 13-12 in Moravia's advantage after the first quarter. Blue Devils sophomore Pat Mott led the team with seven points at the half (and 10 overall), followed by Jeremy Stewart and Dillon Langtry with eight each.
Even with a slim 21-18 halftime lead, the Blue Devils main problem trickled into the game early. Moravia went 0-for-2 at the free throw line in the first 16 minutes, but finished an abysmal 3-for-17.
The Tigers didn't fare much better at the charity stripe, going 6-for-14.
“This wasn't normal for us,” Blue Devils coach Todd Mulvaney said. “We were just under 70 percent all year there and it just killed us today.”
Defensively, Moravia played well, holding Tioga's leading scorers David Ulrich and Zeth Henneman to 14 points each. The Blue Devils struggled offensively, however. Tioga racked up 18 points in the third quarter - on the heels of two Ulrich 3-pointers and a jumper at the buzzer - while the Blue Devils managed just 10.
They scored 11 in the fourth to keep the game close - the Tigers never led by more than four points - and had a chance at the end when Kurt Berry hit a 3 with 1:09 left in the game. Scott Williams gave the Tigers a 44-42 lead when he hit one of two at the foul line with 36.3 seconds left.
Senior forward Taylor Mackey (seven points) fouled out at that time, which took an important player off the court for Moravia.
“With him out of the game, we had to make an adjustment,” Mulvaney said. “He's our leading scorer, so it definitely hit us.”
With 7.9 seconds left in the game and seven ticks left on the shot clock, neither Stewart or Berry could drive inside to take a legitimate shot and the Tigers (10-9) celebrated the win with under a second remaining in the game.
The Blue Devils finish the season 11-8 and the Tigers advance to play top seeded Union Springs (16-2) in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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