The No. 8 McGraw girls volleyball team got off to a rough start and couldn’t complete a comeback in a 11-25, 9-25, 25-20, 13-25 loss to No. 9 Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs in the Section III Class D first round Tuesday night at McGraw High School.
McGraw made lots of unforced errors early, struggling to return serves and letting the ball hit the floor after miscommunications. ODY jumped all over that, putting the Eagles in a deep hole without any momentum.
McGraw head coach Jessyca Doran felt her girls were putting too much pressure on themselves in a big moment.
“I think they were nervous,” Doran said. “They were excited to have a home game, yet nervous for the home game. I just thought that they didn’t know what to expect. I think it got the best of them, the first set especially. The second set, it felt like they started to work together.”
McGraw didn’t back down, answering with a strong third set. The Eagles turned the tide and forced the Wildcats to make their own errors, with ODY struggling to make passes at points.
“This team has learned a lot of team camaraderie,” Doran said. “When they’re down, they buckle down and work together as a team and dig themselves out.”
The Eagles took a 5-1 lead in the fourth and appeared to have everything going their way. ODY slowly but surely got things back together and outscored McGraw 24-8 the rest of the way to move on to the Class D quarterfinals.
ODY’s Jocelyn Bosc, Hunter Ough and Camryn Marshall were big problems at the net for McGraw, while Natalie Dumond, Sophia Spencer, Amber Connolly and Bosc all recorded at least five aces. Doran knew the Wildcats would be aggressive offensively, but the Eagles’ defense just didn’t have the game she had hoped for.
“We kind of expected it, actually,” Doran said. “We’ve played them before in a tournament, so we knew they had some good hitters. We just went in hoping to dig the back row and block them from the front so they can’t get too many kills against us.”
Haylee Bassett topped McGraw with 12 digs, eight assists, four kills, three aces and two blocks, Remi Stull contributed eight digs, seven kills, three aces and two blocks and Morgan Brown pitched in eight digs, seven assists and two aces. Mikenlee Ticknor (nine kills), Emma Marshall (three digs, two aces), Adrianna Stacconi (three digs), Emmily Thomas (two digs, one assist, one kill, one ace) and Karissa Moffitt (one assist, one dig) also aided the Eagles’ effort.
McGraw ends its season with a 4-8 record, but needed two straight wins at the end of the regular season to make sectionals. Doran stressed to her girls that they should be proud of their accomplishments this season, regardless of the final outcome.
“Going into the last two games we weren’t even sure that we’d be able to go to sectionals,” Doran said. “Even though it was open, we had a deal that they had to win or we weren’t going to go. When they did win, it was a big deal for them to pull a home game. It’s the first home sectional game we’ve had in seven or eight years.”
Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs will now play at No. 1 Cincinnatus Thursday.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
No. 4 TULLY 3, No. 13 CLINTON 0
Tully swept Clinton 25-10, 25-15, 25-12 for its second straight-set win over the Comets this season. Tully will now host No. 5 Morrisville-Eaton in the Section III Class C quarterfinals Thursday.
No. 6 REMSEN 3, No. 11 DERUYTER 0
DeRuyter’s season came to an end with a 15-25, 17-25, 10-25 loss in the Section III Class D first round. Remsen will now play No. 3 Sandy Creek in the quarterfinals. DeRuyter ends its season with a 3-13 record.
Chelsey Prince led the Rockets with four kills, two aces and four digs, Molly Amidon recorded six digs, four assists, a kill and two aces and Annabelle Stanton notched six assists, four digs and two aces. Graycie Barber (four digs, one kill), Erin Bragg (four digs), Payton Near (three digs, two kills), Rebecca Amidon (three digs, one kill), Angelena Rodriguez (two kills, two digs, one assist) and Selena Rodriguez (two kills) also contributed for DeRuyter.
BOYS BASKETBALL
CORTLAND 65, SOLVAY 33
Caden Albright led three Cortland players in double figures with 14 points as the Purple Tigers won the second quarter to pull away and win their fifth game in a row. Jaxson Gambitta also had 12 points and Zach Muir scored 10 points.
Logan Toomey and Owen Johnson pitched in eight points apiece, Owen Michales netted five points, Tyler Thomas contributed four points and Cal Albright and Joel Carr each had two points for Cortland.
STOCKBRIDGE VALLEY 51, MCGRAW 27
McGraw trailed 23-14 at halftime, but a 15-3 third quarter doomed the Eagles.
CINCINNATUS 57, BROOKFIELD 25
Jack Stafford and Koda Temple each made a pair of 3-pointers as Cincinnatus took a 29-6 lead into halftime and cruised to a win. Stafford ended with 12 points and Temple netted 10.
John Schuyler also added 10 points for the Lions, Zack Streichert recorded nine points, TJ Walker scored seven points, Trevor Shevalier had three points and Collin Holtmart, Bob Turshman and Mike Schifilliti all pitched in two points.
DRYDEN 62, TRUMANSBURG 45
Danny Murphy went for a team-high 19 points as Dryden scored either 15 of 16 points in each quarter to slowly pull away from Trumansburg on the road.
Peter Nydam added 13 points behind Murphy, Luke Eshelman recorded nine points, Xander Scott pitched in eight points, Jay Miles notched seven points and Carmelo Miles had six points.
MORAVIA 78, GROTON 44
Joe Baylor continued to be Moravia’s top option, pouring in 24 points to help Moravia win its 13th game in a row. Riley Jones and Zach Szachta each added 19 points, with Jones making three triples and Szachta connecting from deep five times.
Dillon Palmer tacked on five points, Jairen Francis chipped in four points, Noah Corbett, Eli Landis and Dominick Todd all scored two points and Matthew Dann made a free throw for the Blue Devils.
Conor Eldred paced Groton’s offense with 14 points. Jaiden Mitchell added seven points, Jerome Turner and Lane Darling had six points apiece, Carmelo Riley-Israel notched five points, Sean O’Brien had four points and Judson Holl’s two points rounded out the Red Hawks’ effort.
MADISON 64, DERUYTER 52
DeRuyter led 27-26 at halftime, but the Rockets only managed seven third-quarter points and lost the fourth 26-18. DeRuyter now needs to beat Madison Friday at home to clinch a shared league title with the Blue Devils.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
WESTHILL 38, CORTLAND 28
Cortland led 8-4 through a quarter, but Westhill slowly pulled ahead to snap the Purple Tigers’ two-game losing streak.
CHITTENANGO 48, HOMER 36
Homer lost the fourth quarter 17-6 after trailing 31-30 through three. Lauren Franco yet again paced the Trojans’ offense, this time going for 13 points.
Kennadie Taylor contributed seven points, Anya Gofkowski knocked down a pair of threes for six points, Makenna Pym recorded four points and Izzy Small, Lizzie McCloy and Destiny Eaton all had two points for Homer.
MARATHON 40, ODESSA-MONTOUR 28
Audrey Ensign stepped up on a night Addie Oram was double-teamed, pouring in 16 points as Marathon won the fourth quarter 18-3 to get the senior-night win.
Catherine Newkirk added seven points for the Olympians, Faith Baker scored six, Kennedy Eaton pitched in five, Oram was limited to four and Delaney Reilly and Alina Parker both had two.
TULLY 58, LAFAYETTE 51
Ella Polak made three 3-pointers and went 12-for-20 from the free throw line in a career-best 31-point outing for Tully. The Black Knights won the third quarter 21-6 after trailing 32-22 at halftime.
Anna Congelli scored 12 points behind Polak, Gabby Flatt recorded 10 points, Gwyn Wilbur pitched in three points and Anna Pierce scored two points for Tully.
MORAVIA 60, WEEDSPORT 46
Caraline Wasileski had a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double as Moravia won its eighth game in a row by beating a Section III Class C power. The Blue Devils pulled away with an 18-6 third quarter.
Jessalyn Jones added 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, Kendall Hess notched 14 points, four boards, two steals and two blocks, Olivia Genson contributed eight points, five rebounds and three assists and Lily Heim knocked down a 3-pointer, ripped down four rebounds and snagged four steals.
HOCKEY
CBA/J-D 6, CORTLAND/HOMER 1
No additional details were reported.
BOYS WRESTLING
HOMER 53, CHITTENANGO 20
Lucas Barbieri (101 pounds), Patrick Maslin (108 pounds), Garrett Carr (138 pounds), Chris Slade (190 pounds) and Jack Brown (285 pounds) all won by pin to lead Homer to another win. Hunter Lines (145 pounds) won an 18-1 tech fall and Declan Gilbert (116 pounds), Cody Hall (124 pounds) and Colin Murphy (170 pounds) all received forfeits.
Owen Burhans (215 pounds) lost in sudden victory, Karson Kemp (160 pounds) lost by tech fall and Anthony Cicioni (131 pounds) and Daniel Hardesty (152 pounds) were both pinned.
DRYDEN 23, MORAVIA 16
Oscar Brotherton (138 pounds) and Gaven Valenti (145 pounds) both won by pin to lead Dryden to a dual win. William Woodard (131 pounds) won by a 21-4 tech fall and Andrew French (152 pounds) won by forfeit for the Lions. Aedan Lange (124 pounds) lost a decision and Travis Chamberlain (160 pounds) was pinned.
Anthony Endres (160 pounds) picked up a win by pin for Moravia, Clayton Wells (124 pounds) won an 18-4 major decision and Jake Bushey (190 pounds) won by forfeit. Thomas Harriger (138 pounds) and Trever Wells (145 pounds) both lost by pin and Jacob Endres (131 pounds) lost by tech fall.
BOWLING
CORTLAND
Jeremie Hale Jr. won the boys singles competition at the OHSL league meet, rolling games of 259, 258 and 213 for a 730 series. The boys doubles team of Tyler Schultze and Quentin Hill finished sixth with a combined series of 1,069, Haydon Parker and Mason Lane placed sixth with a score of 1,017 and Dominick Halet and Lincoln Dorsett came in 18th with a 574 series.
Emily Ford was fifth in the girls singles competition, rolling a 155 high game and a 400 series.
HOMER
Addy Platt and Kristen Combs won the girls doubles competition at the OHSL league meet. Platt had games of 152, 137 and 146 and Combs tossed 156, 173 and 140 games for a combined score of 904. Annabelle Watkins and Lucy Goodwin finished seventh in the doubles competition with a 692 combined score, while Mikey Pittsley came in ninth in singles with a 298 series.
Tyler Seymour finished third in the boys singles competition, throwing games of 220, 177 and 214 for a 611 series. Hoss Martin also placed ninth in singles with a 471 series. Tanner Vogel and John Holcomb teamed up to finish second in doubles, with Vogel throwing a 195, 203, 180 series and Holcomb adding a 225, 267, 208 series, good for a 1,278 series. John Bishop and Caleb Hamilton came in third in doubles thanks to Bishop’s 228, 234, 204 series and Hamilton’s 220, 188, 183 series that combined for a 1,257. Luke and Alex Bertram also combined to place 14 with a score of 878.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Mexico at Homer, 6:45 p.m. today
Tully at Faith Heritage, 7 p.m. today
Cortland at Solvay, 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Cincinnatus at Otselic Valley, 7 p.m. Thursday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Marathon at McGraw, 6 p.m. today
Trumansburg at Dryden, 6 p.m. today
Oneida at Homer, 6:45 p.m. Thursday
Tully at Fabius-Pompey, 7 p.m. Thursday
HOCKEY
Cortland/Homer at Windsor, 6 p.m. Thursday at The Farm Ice Rink
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
No. 9 Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs at No. 1 Cincinnatus, Thursday
No. 5 Morrisville-Eaton at No. 4 Tully, Thursday
BOYS WRESTLING
Southern Hills at Marcellus/Onondaga, 6 p.m. today
Morrisville-Eaton at Southern Hills, 6 p.m. Thursday at LaFayette Jr./Sr. High School
BOWLING
Groton at Tioga, 4 p.m. Thursday at Valley Bowling Lanes
