POPLAR RIDGE - In a back-and-fourth battle between two Section IV rivals, the Southern Cayuga girls basketball team came out victorious with a 47-41 win over Union Springs Tuesday.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Union Springs' junior Casey Emmett shoots a jumper under pressure from the Southern Cayuga defense during Tuesday's game in Poplar Ridge.
Union Springs' junior Casey Emmett shoots a jumper under pressure from the Southern Cayuga defense during Tuesday's game in Poplar Ridge.
Stephanie Morse gave the Chiefs a big advantage as she dropped 18 points in the victory.
“We knew she was going to be a factor in the game,” Wolves head coach Jim Gunnip said. “She hasn't scored that much lately, but she's very capable of doing so.”
She wasn't the only force for the Chiefs - Lianna May dropped 15.
Southern Cayuga now carries a four-game winning streak, including a Cayuga County Holiday Tournament win for the third straight year.
“We've been growing game to game,” Chiefs head coach Ed Heslop said. “The girls have done a great job this year with the integrating of seniors leaving and losing that leadership.”
On top of that loss, Heslop is in his first year as varsity coach of the Chiefs and is trying to get his players to buy into his system.
“We're clicking much better,” Heslop said. “We need to step up on the defensive side, but these girls are hard workers.” Union Springs is also a young team with only one senior on the roster and a dynamic duo of juniors in Molly Clifford and Alexa Schooley. Clifford led the Wolves with 15 points, while Schooley added 10.
“They've been playing well all year,” Gunnip said. “However tonight they really stepped it up.”
The Chiefs (6-4) trailed 27-24 in the third quarter but soon took control of the game. Southern Cayuga went on a 7-2 run to take the lead and hold extend the cushion into the fourth quarter.
“That's what happens when you get two evenly matched teams playing each other,” Heslop said. “They're pretty big rivals and the girls all know each other. It gets both sides excited and we just got the home-court advantage tonight.”
The Chiefs defense created plenty of turnovers, while also setting up rebounds for inside players.
“I give Union Springs a lot of credit tonight,” Heslop said. “They came in and slowed the rhythm down.”
Union Springs (4-5 overall, 3-1 in IAC) hosts Newfield Friday.
“We need to stay balanced in our inside and outside shooting,” Gunnip said. “It was a good, hard effort tonight. We're a young team so it's nice to know that.”
Southern Cayuga improves to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the IAC.
“We control our destiny,” Heslop said. “However we have yet to go through the first round of teams in our division and then we play them all again. It's still early in the season.”
Chiefs 47
Wolves 41
“We knew she was going to be a factor in the game,” Wolves head coach Jim Gunnip said. “She hasn't scored that much lately, but she's very capable of doing so.”
She wasn't the only force for the Chiefs - Lianna May dropped 15.
Southern Cayuga now carries a four-game winning streak, including a Cayuga County Holiday Tournament win for the third straight year.
“We've been growing game to game,” Chiefs head coach Ed Heslop said. “The girls have done a great job this year with the integrating of seniors leaving and losing that leadership.”
On top of that loss, Heslop is in his first year as varsity coach of the Chiefs and is trying to get his players to buy into his system.
“We're clicking much better,” Heslop said. “We need to step up on the defensive side, but these girls are hard workers.” Union Springs is also a young team with only one senior on the roster and a dynamic duo of juniors in Molly Clifford and Alexa Schooley. Clifford led the Wolves with 15 points, while Schooley added 10.
“They've been playing well all year,” Gunnip said. “However tonight they really stepped it up.”
The Chiefs (6-4) trailed 27-24 in the third quarter but soon took control of the game. Southern Cayuga went on a 7-2 run to take the lead and hold extend the cushion into the fourth quarter.
“That's what happens when you get two evenly matched teams playing each other,” Heslop said. “They're pretty big rivals and the girls all know each other. It gets both sides excited and we just got the home-court advantage tonight.”
The Chiefs defense created plenty of turnovers, while also setting up rebounds for inside players.
“I give Union Springs a lot of credit tonight,” Heslop said. “They came in and slowed the rhythm down.”
Union Springs (4-5 overall, 3-1 in IAC) hosts Newfield Friday.
“We need to stay balanced in our inside and outside shooting,” Gunnip said. “It was a good, hard effort tonight. We're a young team so it's nice to know that.”
Southern Cayuga improves to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the IAC.
“We control our destiny,” Heslop said. “However we have yet to go through the first round of teams in our division and then we play them all again. It's still early in the season.”
Chiefs 47
Wolves 41
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