Trailing by as many as 15, the Marathon girls basketball team’s rally came up short Friday at Marathon High School. The Olympians ultimately fell to Candor 51-43 after being down 15 points in the third quarter.
Marathon entered riding a three-game winning streak, but came out of the gates sluggish. Marathon managed 14 points in the first half and trailed Candor 20-14 at the break. The Coyotes loaded up defensively on Addie Oram and a lack of shot making outside of the Olympians’ star guard resulted in the deficit.
Marathon head coach Beth Anne Duncan thought her team simply wasn’t as engaged as it needed to be in the first half.
“I think it was our mindset on offense,” Duncan said. “We did not move the ball in the first half like we did in the second half. They were just honing in on (Addie). If you stop Addie, it really slows down our offense. I think in the second half it was our defense that kind of sparked the intensity that we needed in the first half. I don’t know if we needed to have school today or something, but it just seemed like they were asleep on the bench. It was like were spectating and not being aggressive.”
Marathon adjusted in the second by taking Oram off the ball to get everyone more involved. The tweak eventually paid dividends, but not before Candor extended its lead to as many 15 on Malley Heidl layup. Oram found her rhythm off the ball to end the third, drilling 3-pointer, a mid range jumper and a floater inside to close the quarter on a personal 7-0 run.
“I think sometimes she feels she has to do it all and she doesn’t,” Duncan said. “She can do it all and that’s a great thing to have, but her teammates need to realize they need to be aggressive as well. I think that gives them a little bit of confidence when she’s off the ball to get her open too.”
Oram connected again from distance and knocked down a pair of free throws to inch Marathon to a 37-33 deficit, the closest it had been since halftime. After a miss, Oram dove to the floor and drew a jump ball to maintain possession. She missed the mark again, but Liz VanCise tracked down the loose ball and finished through contact for a 3-point play. Heidl provided the response for Candor with a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to four, but a layup from Alina Parker and a steal and finish from Oram tied the game at 40. It capped off a 19-4 run from Marathon in which Oram scored 14 points.
“I attributed the defensive intensity to Catherine (Newkirk),” Duncan said. “All of the sudden she came in and she just puts that spark on the defensive end and it sparks the offense from there. When we do well on defense that really brings the confidence on offense. It shows the grit our team has, we have that capability. We were down 15 at one point and came back to tie it, so it shows we have that in us.”
Newkirk has been playing with a cast on her right arm, but despite that she has been a ball of energy for her team whenever she steps on the floor.
“She really is just like that dog out there, you know,” Duncan said. “I feel bad because she steals the ball and always misses the layup and I just want her to be rewarded for one of them. I think she missed two or three (Friday night) off her steals. She really does give that little spark that you need and even with one hand she brings so much to the table. I can’t keep her on the bench.”
Marathon ran out of steam in the final 4:13 after a Candor timeout. Emmi Makie scored four straight to give Candor the lead back for good, as Marathon made only one field goal after tying the game. Despite offensive rebounds earning extra possessions and another Newkirk steal, a lid seemed to be on the rim for the Olympians late.
“I’m guessing emotionally, physically my girls were just drained once they got to that point,” Duncan said. “It was just so much intensity and then Candor really just put the light out on the fire.”
Oram finished with 30 points to lead Marathon, Audrey Ensign and Parker each scored four, VanCise tallied three and Kennedy Eaton had two.
Marathon will look ahead matchup at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Groton.
“We have a really important game divisional game Tuesday against Groton,” Duncan said. “I told them, everything is super important from here on out. We only have six more weeks, which is crazy to think about. Every game is important and we need to get on a winning streak for sure.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
DRYDEN 37, TRUMANSBURG 33
Guiliana Pascarella went for 21 of Dryden’s 37 points as the Lions earned back-to-back wins.
BOYS BASKETBALL
CHITTENANGO 64, HOMER 61
Homer had three players in double figures as the Trojans nearly came back after being down 21-6 after a quarter. Kaden Durham led the way with 18 points on a pair of triples. Homer responded to the early deficit with a 21-10 second quarter, then won the second half 34-33.
Max Franco added 17 points behind Durham and Ryan Beard scored 15 on four 3-pointers. Jack Brady and Brycen Poole netted four points each and Cooper Hollenbeck’s three points rounded out the Trojans’ effort.
CANDOR 65, MARATHON 38
Camdyn Kashuba led Marathon with 17 points on two made threes, but the Olympians lost the second quarter 14-4 to go down 32-16 at the break.
Blake Birdsall added 10 points, Eli Ticknor had six points, Barrett Trabucco and Austin Poth recorded two points apiece and Tucker Trabucco notched one point for Marathon.
MCGRAW 59, COPENHAGEN 30
Blair Mulcahy led four McGraw players in double figured with 19 points as the Eagles earned their first win of the season. Mulcahy scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half, but McGraw outscored Copenhagen 30-6 after the break to pull away.
Mason Allen added 14 points, 12 in the second half, Calob Sutton scored 11 points, Brennan Wilson had 10 points, Easton Livermore recorded four points, Riley Van Liew had two points and Deacon Linn contributed one point for McGraw.
NEWFIELD 39, GROTON 37
Groton dropped a back-and-forth game after being outscored 10-7 in the fourth quarter. The Red Hawks went up 16-10 after one, were tied at 20 at halftime and held a 30-29 lead through three.
Conor Eldred paced Groton with 10 points, Jerome Turner and Lane Darling scored eight points apiece, Carmelo Riley-Israel netted six points and Jaiden Mitchell recorded five points.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
FABIUS-POMPEY 3, MCGRAW 0
No additional details were reported.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Randolph at Tully, 6 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Poland, 1:30 p.m. today
Cortland at Westhill, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Homer at Institute of Technology, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Marathon at Groton, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Stockbridge Valley at McGraw, 7 p.m. Tuesday
Cincinnatus at Brookfield, 6 p.m. Tuesday
Whitney Point at Dryden, 7 p.m. Tuesday
DeRuyter at Madison, 7 p.m. Tuesday
Odessa-Montour at Moravia, 7 p.m. Tuesday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Cortland at CBA, 12:30 p.m. today
Homer at Westhill, 6:30 p.m. Monday
Chittenango at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. Tuesday
Groton at Marathon, 7 p.m. Tuesday
Dryden at Whitney Point, 7:15 p.m. Tuesday
Tully at Hannibal, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Moravia at Odessa-Montour, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
HOCKEY
Cortland/Homer at CBA, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tsha’Hon’nonyen’dakhwa’
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Cincinnatus at New Hartford, 8 a.m. today
Port Byron at McGraw, 7 p.m. Monday
DeRuyter at Stockbridge Valley, 7 p.m. Monday
McGraw at Tully, 7 p.m. Tuesday
Cincinnatus at Central Valley Academy, 7 p.m. Tuesday
BOYS WRESTLING
Dryden at Cortland, 7:30 a.m. today
Marathon at Odessa-Montour, 9 a.m. today
Southern Hills at Canastota, 9:30 a.m. today
Moravia at Port Byron, 9 a.m. today
Marathon at Trumansburg, 6 p.m. Monday
GIRLS WRESTLING
Groton at Impact Athletic Center, Clifton Park, 9:30 a.m. Sunday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Cortland, Homer, DeRuyter at Onondaga Community College, 9 a.m. today
BOWLING
Groton at Candor, 4 p.m. Monday at Owego Bowl
A-P-W at Cortland, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cort-Lanes
Tioga at Groton, 4 p.m. Tuesday at Memory Lanes
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING
Lansing at Dryden, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday
