WHITNEY POINT –– The Marathon girls nearly pulled off a massive come from behind effort Monday against Whitney Point. The Olympians came up short down the stretch, falling 59-54 at Whitney Point High School.
Marathon took a 2-0 lead to start the game on a short jumper from Audrey Ensign. That marked the last lead the Olympians had, as things unraveled in the first.
Whitney Point ripped off a 19-1 run after Ensign’s basket, forcing frequent Marathon turnovers. Offensively, the Eagles got whatever they wanted against Marathon’s zone. Sadee Short got to the rim with ease throughout the first quarter, finishing with nine points in the opening eight minutes.
“We were just kind of playing sped up, we had a ton of turnovers and we were letting (Short) do whatever she wanted,” Marathon head coach Beth Duncan said. “We switched our defense from a 3-2 (zone) to man-to-man, and that definitely helped. But we just needed to realize we needed to help each other more, sag off the ball a little bit and play a little more in the paint since she was having her way getting there.”
Slowly but surely, Marathon started its way out of the hole. It cut the deficit to 10 at halftime and an Addie Oram floater at the buzzer of the third quarter got the Olympians within nine entering the fourth quarter. That bucket also seemingly sparked Oram’s offense. Marathon’s leading scorer had just seven points on the night at that point, but she erupted in the fourth.
She answered a layup from Short with a 3-pointer to open the fourth and canned another one moments later. After a Whitney Point 3-pointer extended the lead back to eight, Oram ripped the ball away defensively and took it in for a layup. The two teams traded buckets before a Short 3-point play pushed the lead to 50-42 and seemed to end the comeback bid. Instead, Marathon answered with a 10-2 run.
Ensign drilled a 3-pointer, followed by a short jumper from Catherine Newkirk. Ensign scored again on an offensive rebound and putback before Olivia Somers halted the spurt with a layup for Whitney Point. Oram capped the comeback effort on the next possession with her third 3-pointer of the quarter to tie the game at 52.
Duncan thought Ensign and Newkirk being aggressive offensively was a difference maker down the stretch.
“I tell them that we’re a much more dangerous team when everybody’s aggressive,” Duncan said. “When just one person does it, we’re easy to guard. We want to be hard to guard, so everybody has to be aggressive. I think they were a little intimidated in the beginning, but then we started playing inside out and it really opened things up, especially on the perimeter.”
Marathon couldn’t get across the finish line in its comeback. The Olympians turned it over on two straight offensive trips, with a moving screen called on Newkirk and a travel from Ensign. Meanwhile, the Eagles got a free throw and then a 3-pointer from Bianca Skiba on their two possessions to push their lead to four. Whitney Point knocked down its free throws late to seal the deal.
“I feel like Whitney Point shot really well,” Duncan said. “They hit some big threes down the stretch and we did not. We had turnovers near the end, but we had turnovers the whole game. Those came in crucial moments and we didn’t get boards or great looks at the basket. Sometimes we forced some things. Unfortunately, things just didn’t go our way.”
“This is what’s kind of tough because if we didn’t have a 16-point deficit, we might not have been in that situation,” Duncan added. “Kudos to our girls. I’m proud of them and they showed so much grit to come back. We’ve come back from so many deficits to tie it, and then it breaks your heart because you lose at the very end even though you had a shot to win.”
Oram led with 20 points and Ensign was close behind with 19. Faith Baker scored eight in quality minutes off the bench, Newkirk added four, Cassie Forrest had two points and Alina Parker had one.
Short finished with a game-high 23 points for Whitney Point.
The loss drops Marathon to 6-7 on the year and it’ll have a quick turnaround, hosting Odessa-Montour at 7 p.m. today.
“We have a really big game (tonight) at home against Odessa for senior night,” Duncan said. “I think they’ll be excited and pumped for it and I think they know that if they didn’t start as bad as they did (Monday night), they would’ve had a different ending. They had good spirits, which is positive because you don’t want to get too down. I just preached (today’s) start was really, really important to set the tone from the jump.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
CHITTENANGO 41, HOMER 29
A 16-2 second quarter doomed a shorthanded Homer team that played without second-leading scorer Anya Gofkowski. Lauren Franco led the Trojans in their fifth loss in six games, going for 17 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.
Kennadie Taylor added four points, six rebounds and a steal, Makenna Pym contributed four points, three boards, two steals and a block and Destiny Eaton had two points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. Izzy Small (two points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals), Lizzie McCloy (six rebounds, four assists) and Maddie Morgan (four rebounds, one steal, one block) also aided the Trojans’ performance.
MORAVIA 62, GROTON 27
Moravia took a 32-14 lead into halftime and cruised to an IAC divisional win. Caraline Wasileski led the Blue Devils with 13 points and Lashley Heredia Castillo contributed 10 points with a couple made threes.
Jessalyn Jones notched nine points, four rebounds and five assists, Kendall Hess added eight points, eight boards and three assists, Kylee Cooper made three 3-pointers for nine points, Tarah Morris recorded six points, Olivia Genson made a 3-pointer and Daisy Drake and Lily Heim both had two points for Moravia.
Devyn Blasz led Groton with 12 points. Jill Zigenfus and Violet Santspree both scored four points, Abby Haughwout, Adelyn Clore and Lauren Gallinger all had two points and Diella Nino had one point for the Red Hawks.
BOYS BASKETBALL
MARATHON 64, EDMESTON 55
Camdyn Kashuba went for nine points in a 17-7 second quarter for Marathon and poured in 14 in the fourth to help the Olympians close out a road win. Kashuba finished with 30 points and made three shots from behind the arc. Marathon won the fourth 22-17 after holding a 42-38 lead through three.
Eli Ticknor followed Kashuba with 10 points, Barrett Trabucco netted eight points, Colton Oram scored seven points, Blake Birdsall pitched in five points, Austin Poth made a 3-pointer and Robbie Anderson scored one point for the Olympians.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
CINCINNATUS 3, DERUYTER 0
Cincinnatus clinched another CCL title with an unbeaten run through the league, as the Lions are now 12-0 overall and 6-0 in CCL play. Cincinnatus won 25-6, 25-13, 25-20, led by 29 assists, 19 service points, two kills, five aces, a block and four digs from Kaedance Latta.
Allyson St. Germain went for 14 kills, six service points, two aces and six digs, Hannah Ellerson contributed 11 service points, nine digs, three kills and three aces and Maddie Pittsley notched six kills, five service points and two aces. Lucy Finch (seven kills, one block, one dig), Payton Gerrard (six digs, six service points, two aces), Cassia Schuyler (five service points, four digs, three assists), Ava Larrabee (three kills, one dig) and Leah Stith (two digs) also aided the Lions’ effort.
Molly Amidon topped DeRuyter with nine digs, two kills and one ace, Angelena Rodriguez pitched in two kills, an ace and a block and Annabelle Stanton added five assists and three digs. Chelsey Prince (four digs, one kill, one ace), Graycie Barber (three digs), Payton Near (two digs), Rebecca Amidon (one kill, one dig) and Erin Bragg (one kill) also helped the Rockets.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Cortland at Solvay, 6:30 p.m. today
Homer at Mexico, 6:45 p.m. today
Cincinnatus at McGraw, 7 p.m. today
Trumansburg at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Brookfield, 6 p.m. today
Moravia at Lansing, 7 p.m. today
Cincinnatus at Faith Heritage, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
Mater Dei at DeRuyter, 7 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Chittenango at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. today
Odessa-Montour at Marathon, 7 p.m. today
Lansing at Moravia, 7 p.m. Wednesday
HOCKEY
Cortland/Homer at Ithaca, 7:30 p.m. today at Cass Park
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Fabius-Pompey at Tully, 7 p.m. today
Port Byron at DeRuyter, 7 p.m. today
Stockbridge Valley at McGraw, 7 p.m. Wednesday
BOYS WRESTLING
Cortland at Whitney Point, 6 p.m. today
Canastota at Homer, 6 p.m. today
Southern Hills at Marcellus/Onondaga, 6 p.m. today
Homer at Chittenango, 5 p.m. Wednesday
Moravia at Newark Valley, 3 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS WRESTLING
Syracuse City at Homer, 6 p.m. today
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Cortland, Homer at Onondaga Community College, 4:30 p.m. today
BOWLING
Cortland at A-P-W, 3:30 p.m. today at Lighthouse Lanes
Chittenango at Homer, 3:30 p.m. today at Hi-Lanes
Watkins Glen at Groton, 4 p.m. today at Memory Lanes
CBA at Cortland, 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cort-Lanes
CBA at Homer, 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cort-Lanes
