MORAVIA –– The Moravia boys basketball team buzzed through visiting Marathon Friday night after a bit of early pushback, winning 67-38 at Moravia High School. The Blue Devils closed their regular season with a 16-1 record after dropping their season opener.
Marathon trailed 15-12 through a quarter thanks to Camdyn Kashuba. Kashuba scored eight of the Olympians’ 12 points in the frame and finished the night with 16. Moravia head coach Todd Mulvaney wanted Kashuba to work for his buckets early and get him fatigued for the later stages of the night.
“He came out and hit some shots early,” Mulvaney said. “We had some miscues where we lost him, but he’s a good player. We had to fly around and find him, but at the same time keep everyone else in check. Our guys did a good job of knowing where they were supposed to be and where he was.”
Marathon head coach Jim Holland sensed that would be Mulvaney’s strategy, but trusted his junior guard to battle through it.
“We knew they wanted to tire him out, most teams do,” Holland said. “They put on a lot of ball pressure and that makes it harder for him having to do a little bit of dribbling. I just think he got tired and I probably should’ve subbed him quicker.”
Joe Baylor took over in the second quarter, tallying all 18 of Moravia’s points in the frame. That included his 1,000th point on a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
The Olympians didn’t back down despite trailing 33-16 at halftime. Holland challenged his guys to keep the game within 20 points and they answered the call early in the third. Marathon scored the first seven points of the third to make it 33-23, but Moravia countered with an 18-0 sprint to end the quarter with a 29-point edge.
“I told them just now in the locker room, I’m so proud of them,” Holland said. “I love coaching this group. They’re physical and they won’t quit on me. I’m yelling, I’m pretty loud, and they work their tails off and never quit.”
Despite the lopsided win, Mulvaney and his team didn’t feel it was the best effort possible.
“We didn’t feel we played our best game (Friday night),” Mulvaney said. “Credit to Marathon for coming in and really competing.”
Baylor ended with a game-high 30 points for Moravia, Riley Jones scored all 11 of his points in the first quarter, Jairen Francis added nine second-half points, Eli Landis and Thomas Palmer both scored four points and Jadon Todd, Dillon Palmer, Westin Walker and Dominic Todd all contributed two points.
The Blue Devils entered this season having lost all five starters from a state-title winning team, but have asserted themselves as another Moravia juggernaut. Moravia locked up a division title with the win and a spot in Wednesday’s IAC title game at 8 p.m. at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
“We had a vision for this group this summer that they could be something special and they had talent,” Mulvaney said. “I don’t know that they believed it, but then as the year went on they started gelling and having really competitive practices. We had some big wins and I think that’s when they really started believing in themselves.”
Eli Ticknor pitched in seven points for Marathon behind Kashuba’s 16, Austin Poth notched four points, Tucker Trabucco and Colton Oram scored three points apiece, Barrett Trabucco and Robbie Anderson both had two points and Blake Birdsall knocked down a free throw.
Marathon is now 8-11 and has one more game at Elmira Notre Dame at 7:15 p.m. Monday to iron things out before the Section IV Class C tournament. Holland feels his guys are simply in a shooting funk right now and have an opportunity to snap out of it.
“Number one is we have to try and get easier shots if we’re not shooting well,” Holland said. “Then we have to eliminate the mistakes.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
HAMILTON 56, TULLY 41
Tully had its 11-game winning streak snapped after allowing a 20-6 third quarter on the road. Hamilton’s 6-foot-7 center Drew Baker went for 27 points and 12 rebounds. Connor Bastedo and Sean Mize paced the Black Knights with 11 points apiece.
Garrett Thompson was held to a season-low eight points, Sam Dando contributed six points, Nate Melton made a 3-pointer and Darrell Gables scored two points for Tully.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
WESTHILL 40, CORTLAND 38
Cortland led 18-13 at halftime, but a 15-10 fourth and 2-0 overtime period sent the Purple Tigers to their fifth loss in a row. Kartyr Hubbard scored a game-high 14 points for Cortland, which ends its season at 5-15 after opting out of the Section III Class A tournament.
Katie Harris knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points, Lily Yang contributed four points, Aubree Larkin and Zee-Anna Sweat both made a triple and Nora Gambitta, Lily Tinker and Gabby Brown all had two points for the Purple Tigers.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Cortland at Jordan-Elbridge, 12:30 p.m. today
Homer at Mexico, 11:45 a.m. today
DeRuyter at Poland, 6:30 p.m. today
Marathon at Elmira Notre Dame, 7:15 p.m. Monday
Groton at Union Springs, 5 p.m. Monday
Cincinnatus at Otselic Valley, 7 p.m. Monday
Tully at Pulaski, 1:30 p.m. Monday
Cortland at Solvay, 7 p.m. Tuesday
Herkimer at Tully, 7 p.m. Tuesday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Westhill at Cortland, 1 p.m. today
Homer at Oneida, 1 p.m. today
Elmira Notre Dame at Dryden, 7:15 p.m. Tuesday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
No. 1 Cincinnatus vs. No. 3 Sandy Creek, noon today at Central Valley Academy
BOYS WRESTLING
Homer, Southern Hills at Onondaga Community College, 10 a.m. today
Dryden at Waverly, 10 a.m. today
Dryden, Groton at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, Sunday
GIRLS WRESTLING
Groton at Waverly, 10 a.m. today
Homer at Onondaga Community College, Sunday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Groton, Dryden at SUNY Cortland, 8:30 a.m. today
