For nearly a month now, the Union Springs boys basketball team has been the top dog in Section IV, Class C.
Glenn Gaston / Special to The Citizen
Union Springs' Mike Howell collides with Oxford's Scott Seiler during the Section IV championship game at Broome County Arena in Binghamton March 2.
Union Springs' Mike Howell collides with Oxford's Scott Seiler during the Section IV championship game at Broome County Arena in Binghamton March 2.
Saturday, the team will face another No. 1 in the top-ranked team in the state - Section III champion West Canada Valley at 7:30 p.m. at SUNY Cortland.
The Wolves, formally a No. 1 seed in the Section IV tournament, will face the Indians for the Central Region crown and a berth in the public school final four the following weekend in Glens Falls.
“We've been in a lot of big games this year,” said Wolves coach Tim Darnell, noting that Union Springs has played a number of ranked teams already this season. “Obviously this is a really good team that we're playing. They could be the best team that we've played all year, I don't know.
“I think our guys are confident in the way we're playing and we're going to go in there and do the best we can.”
Fifth-ranked Union Springs reached Saturday's contest by defeating Oxford 49-48 for its first Section IV championship in 24 years. The title was a goal of the Wolves from the beginning of the season.
“The kids are excited to play,” Darnell said. “It's great and they feel proud that we were able to win the sectional title, but they want to keep playing basketball.”
If the Wolves want to advance, they will have to knock off the undefeated Indians. West Canada Valley defeated Onondaga for the overall Section III crown, 66-60. The Indians have a high-octane offense that averages roughly 80 points per game and whose players aren't afraid to shoot. Against Onondaga, WCV launched 25 three-pointers. Although it only made six, Darnell says that wasn't an indication of what the Indians are capable of.
“They shoot the ball real well from the perimeter,” he said. “They didn't shoot great Sunday - they shoot a lot better than that. They shoot a high number of three pointers.”
Defensively, West Canada play an aggressive man-to-man that forces nearly 20 steals per game. The Indians can draw fouls - center Jeff Yaworski drew three charges in the first half alone against the Tigers.
Onondaga standout Latavius Murray was called for one of those charges. However, Darnell doesn't think his all-star forward, Julius McClary (14.8 ppg), will have the same fate.
“Julius plays inside, Murray was playing with the ball in his hands pretty much the whole game,” he said. “(Murray) didn't really go inside and post up much.
“I'm sure they're going to game plan for Julius probably, a lot of team have been double teaming him a little to at least make it harder for us to get it in there to them.”
Both teams play an up-tempo style, like to score in transition and have solid three-point shooters in Pat Chandler and Devon Brady.
The Wolves aren't afraid to shoot from outside the arc or from mid-range.
Union Springs has been tough defensively throughout the playoffs, giving up just 36.3 ppg in the postseason.
Defense and rebounding will be key, especially with WCV putting up so many shots. Plus, the Indians are good on the offensive glass.
“There could be a lot of long rebounds, so we've got to make sure that when we block out that we hold our block outs - maybe we block out a little deeper,” Darnell said. “When we're on offense, we've got to get on the glass a little - even though we might have to pull back a little and not send as many guys to the boards because of the fast break.”
Union Springs as also developed the ability to gut out games even when things aren't going smoothly. The Wolves were down by six against the Blackhawks and came back to play a strong second half.
“We have an uncanny way of winning when we have some adversity to deal with,” Darnell said. “If we have a guy in foul trouble or somebody gets hurt. We pulled out a lot of games this year when we maybe did not play our best basketball. This team has a good amount of mental toughness.”
The Wolves know they have a tough road ahead of them. But Union Springs isn't content with one championship.
“We talked today and I told them, ‘do you realize that you're in the elite eight for Class C? You are one of only eight teams that are still playing in Class C in New York State,'” Darnell said. “That's a major accomplishment, and I said, 'you're playing to try to be in the final four'.”
“They're excited to play and we're ready to accept the challenge and see what we can do.”
The Wolves, formally a No. 1 seed in the Section IV tournament, will face the Indians for the Central Region crown and a berth in the public school final four the following weekend in Glens Falls.
“We've been in a lot of big games this year,” said Wolves coach Tim Darnell, noting that Union Springs has played a number of ranked teams already this season. “Obviously this is a really good team that we're playing. They could be the best team that we've played all year, I don't know.
“I think our guys are confident in the way we're playing and we're going to go in there and do the best we can.”
Fifth-ranked Union Springs reached Saturday's contest by defeating Oxford 49-48 for its first Section IV championship in 24 years. The title was a goal of the Wolves from the beginning of the season.
“The kids are excited to play,” Darnell said. “It's great and they feel proud that we were able to win the sectional title, but they want to keep playing basketball.”
If the Wolves want to advance, they will have to knock off the undefeated Indians. West Canada Valley defeated Onondaga for the overall Section III crown, 66-60. The Indians have a high-octane offense that averages roughly 80 points per game and whose players aren't afraid to shoot. Against Onondaga, WCV launched 25 three-pointers. Although it only made six, Darnell says that wasn't an indication of what the Indians are capable of.
“They shoot the ball real well from the perimeter,” he said. “They didn't shoot great Sunday - they shoot a lot better than that. They shoot a high number of three pointers.”
Defensively, West Canada play an aggressive man-to-man that forces nearly 20 steals per game. The Indians can draw fouls - center Jeff Yaworski drew three charges in the first half alone against the Tigers.
Onondaga standout Latavius Murray was called for one of those charges. However, Darnell doesn't think his all-star forward, Julius McClary (14.8 ppg), will have the same fate.
“Julius plays inside, Murray was playing with the ball in his hands pretty much the whole game,” he said. “(Murray) didn't really go inside and post up much.
“I'm sure they're going to game plan for Julius probably, a lot of team have been double teaming him a little to at least make it harder for us to get it in there to them.”
Both teams play an up-tempo style, like to score in transition and have solid three-point shooters in Pat Chandler and Devon Brady.
The Wolves aren't afraid to shoot from outside the arc or from mid-range.
Union Springs has been tough defensively throughout the playoffs, giving up just 36.3 ppg in the postseason.
Defense and rebounding will be key, especially with WCV putting up so many shots. Plus, the Indians are good on the offensive glass.
“There could be a lot of long rebounds, so we've got to make sure that when we block out that we hold our block outs - maybe we block out a little deeper,” Darnell said. “When we're on offense, we've got to get on the glass a little - even though we might have to pull back a little and not send as many guys to the boards because of the fast break.”
Union Springs as also developed the ability to gut out games even when things aren't going smoothly. The Wolves were down by six against the Blackhawks and came back to play a strong second half.
“We have an uncanny way of winning when we have some adversity to deal with,” Darnell said. “If we have a guy in foul trouble or somebody gets hurt. We pulled out a lot of games this year when we maybe did not play our best basketball. This team has a good amount of mental toughness.”
The Wolves know they have a tough road ahead of them. But Union Springs isn't content with one championship.
“We talked today and I told them, ‘do you realize that you're in the elite eight for Class C? You are one of only eight teams that are still playing in Class C in New York State,'” Darnell said. “That's a major accomplishment, and I said, 'you're playing to try to be in the final four'.”
“They're excited to play and we're ready to accept the challenge and see what we can do.”
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