A strong third quarter push turned a four-point halftime lead into a comfortable 60-48 win for the Groton boys basketball team over McGraw Saturday in the Tom Neugebauer Holiday Tournament consolation game at Cortland Jr./Sr. High School. The Red Hawks opened the quarter on a 12-3 run and outscored the Eagles 21-10 in the third to put the game out of reach.
Groton has struggled at times to carry over momentum from the first half into the final 16 minutes, making Saturday’s showing a welcome sight for head coach Mike Holl.
“It felt good to come out with a little life in the third quarter,” Holl said. “Traditionally we come out a little slow. I told the guys not to sleep on that McGraw team. They have some quick, athletic kids and they’re hungry too. They’re just like us, they look at us as an opportunity for a win. I thought they came out looking to beat us, they wanted it.”
“We’ve been playing pretty good defense all year, but we haven’t been scoring as much,” Holl added. “Our goal today was 15 points a quarter. We just hit 60 on the nose. I said if we can score 60 we have a good chance of winning.”
Lane Darling started the run with a layup inside, followed by back-to-back feeds from Conor Eldred to Colson Slade for 3-pointers. Darling rattled in a jump shot from just inside the arc before an Eldred steal and finish triggered a McGraw timeout.
The teams went blow-for-blow early on, but an 8-3 burst from Groton to close the quarter put them in front. Jaiden Mitchell and Darling finished inside, followed by a couple of Groton free throws. Sean O’Brien’s layup capped off the run before a Calob Sutton 3-pointer cut the McGraw deficit back down to 16-12 after one.
Darling continued to provide a spark for Groton in the second, scoring its first four points of the quarter. McGraw continued to hang tough with Riley Van Liew and Easton Livermore each scoring four points in the quarter. Groton took its four-point edge into the half before the Red Hawks blew it open.
McGraw got back within 12 late and won the fourth quarter, but was unable to claw any closer before the final horn.
Darling was a noticeable spark for the Red Hawks in his second game since returning from injury, scoring 13 points. Holl believes his addition is a game changer.
“Honestly, just Lane’s presence on the team, he’s a high energy guy,” Holl said. “He either goes 100% or he’s sleeping. So with a kid like that it’s kind of contagious and other guys catch on and it kind of lifts. What do they say, a rising tide lifts all boats. We’ve been getting better game by game but the presence of Lane Darling being here this weekend has definitely helped.”
Eldred led Groton with 14 points and a number of big assists, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament team. Carmelo Riley-Israel scored 11, Jerome Turner, Mitchell and Slade added six each and Miallikhy Rumpff and O’Brien scored two apiece.
McGraw was led by Mason Allen with 11 points and Sutton with 10. Van Liew tallied seven, Livermore and Jacob Clark had six points each and Brennan Wilson and Blair Mulcahy had four points each. Sutton joined Eldred as an All-Tournament team selection along with Homer’s Kaden Durham and Max Franco and Cortland’s Zach Muir. Cortland’s Caden Albright was named the tournament MVP.
Moving forward, Groton is focused on taking things game at a time after picking up its second win.
“It’s cliche, but it’s one game a time,” Holl said. “It shouldn’t matter what we did last game, it shouldn’t matter what we did two weeks ago, it’s always about whose next. It doesn’t matter if it’s best in our league, worst in our league, we have to come ready to play and I think we did that today.”
Groton returns to action 7 p.m. Friday at Newfield. McGraw will vie for win No. 1 at 7 p.m. Friday, when it faces Copenhagen at Jefferson Community College.
