The Homer girls basketball team struggled for eight minutes Thursday night at Homer High School, and that proved to be the difference. Homer lost the second quarter 22-11 in a 62-47 loss to Phoenix that ended the Trojans’ three-game winning streak.
Homer had to deal with full-court pressure from Phoenix all evening, but the Trojans couldn’t hang on to the ball in the second. Long passes meant to advance the ball were intercepted, short passes were tipped and girls picked up their dribble in inopportune places.
Homer head coach Brad Sovocool knows that poor quarters has resulted in a few losses this season, and Thursday’s second frame was another example of that.
“It comes down to defensive breakdowns or turnovers that lead to easy baskets on the other end,” Sovocool said. “It happens in a two to three minute stretch. Sometimes we make our lives a little more difficult on ourselves. It’s stuff we’ve talked about and emphasized all season long –– supporting one another, coming back to the basketball, clearing through at the appropriate times. It’s a lot of little things that then lead to easy points for the opposing team.”
The Trojans played much better after the 10-minute halftime breather. Homer got out on the break more often and Izzy Small had more support in handling the ball against the press. Sovocool feels it was simply a matter of focus and energy.
“In the first half we kind of lacked energy and in the second half we definitely came out and wanted to compete,” Sovocool said.
Homer battled its way back, turning a 36-21 halftime deficit into a 50-43 Phoenix lead early in the fourth. That was as close as Homer got, with the Trojans unable to get clean looks the rest of the way.
Lauren Franco paced Homer with 15 points, Makenna Pym added 12 points, Small, Anya Gofkowski and Lizzie McCloy scored six points apiece and Kennadie Taylor also notched two points.
Homer, like most teams in the area, has been dealing with key contributors being sick. That, combined with Thursday’s game against Phoenix being the Trojans’ third in three days, has Sovocool feeling better about how his girls played.
“We’re definitely fighting illnesses,” Sovocool said. “We just got Makenna back (Wednesday), Anya was dealing with that the previous week and there’s a handful of others. You can hear the sniffles and the coughs out there on the court. It’s not even maybe so much the legs, but the lungs and upper respiratory illnesses that have been going around.”
“I think this is the best that we’ve played out of the three games we’ve had this week,” Sovocool added. “It’s certainly a much better opponent than we’ve seen, as well.”
Homer is now 7-13 on the season, with one game left set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Oneida. Homer is currently the No. 15 seed in Section III Class A, per Thursday night’s updated Bradley-Terry Model. The Trojans could desperately use a win over the Express, the No. 7 team in Class A, to better their seed with postseason play beginning Feb. 19.
“Oneida is a team that’s ranked in the middle of the pack, much higher than we are,” Sovocool said. “The win would certainly be big for us. The message going forward is, ‘Bring it.’ We have to challenge each other and we have to compete.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
MEXICO 63, CORTLAND 48
Cortland was unable to overcome an efficient Mexico offense in a road loss. Mexico went 20-for-40 from the field, 5-for-17 from three and made 18 of 23 free throw attempts. The Purple Tigers, who trailed 33-26 at halftime, were led offensively by Jaxson Gambitta’s 13 points and Zach Muir’s 10 points.
Iniko Abani contributed eight points, Owen Johnson notched six points, Caden Albright scored four points, Cal Albright pitched in three points, Damauri Bell had two points and Owen Michales and Tyler Thomas both scored one point to round out Cortland’s effort.
EAST SYRACUSE-MINOA 70, HOMER 46
Homer lost the second quarter 24-2 after leading 15-14 through eight minutes on the way to its fifth loss in the last six games. Jack Brady knocked down four 3-pointers in a 15-point effort to lead the Trojans.
Max Franco added eight points behind Brady, Kaden Durham notched seven points, Benny Wilbur scored four points, Ryan Beard and Aidan Hutchings both made a triple and Lincoln Marshall, Graydon Hickey and Dane Francis all had two points for Homer.
MADISON 74, MCGRAW 54
McGraw lost all four quarters as Madison slowly pulled away to hand the Eagles their third loss in the last four outings. McGraw finishes its regular season with a 5-12 record.
GROTON 72, ODESSA-MONTOUR 49
Groton ripped off a 22-7 first quarter on the way to a dominant victory. Lane Darling scored 10 of his team-high 20 points for the Red Hawks in the first.
Conor Eldred added nine points, Judson Holl and Mallikhy Rumpff both netted nine points, Jaiden Mitchell scored seven points, Tristin Weeks made a pair of threes for six points, Carmelo Riley-Israel pitched in five points, Sean O’Brien scored four points and Jerome Turner had two points in Groton’s big win. The Red Hawks made eight threes on the night.
FAITH HERITAGE 62, CINCINNATUS 51
Cincinnatus trailed 26-24 at halftime looking to spring a road upset, but a 25-14 third quarter gave Faith Heritage the separation it needed. John Schuyler made four 3-pointers en route to 24 points for the Lions.
Jack Stafford followed Schuyler with 11 points on three makes from deep, TJ Walker added nine points and Zack Streichert contributed seven points.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Marathon at Moravia, 7 p.m. today
Dryden at Watkins Glen, 7 p.m. today
Tully at Hamilton, 7 p.m. today
Cortland at Jordan-Elbridge, 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Homer at Mexico, 11:45 a.m. Saturday
DeRuyter at Poland, 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Marathon at Elmira Notre Dame, 7:15 p.m. Monday
Cincinnatus at Otselic Valley, 7 p.m. Monday
Tully at Pulaski, 1:30 p.m. Monday
LaFayette at DeRuyter, 12:30 p.m. Monday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Moravia at Marathon, 7 p.m. today
Watkins Glen at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
Westhill at Cortland, 1 p.m. Saturday
Homer at Oneida, 1 p.m. Saturday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
No. 1 Cincinnatus vs. No. 3 Sandy Creek, noon Saturday at Central Valley Academy
BOYS WRESTLING
Homer, Southern Hills at Onondaga Community College, 10 a.m. Saturday
Dryden at Waverly, 10 a.m. Saturday
Dryden at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, Sunday
GIRLS WRESTLING
Groton at Waverly, 10 a.m. Saturday
Homer at Onondaga Community College, Sunday
Groton at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, Sunday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Groton, Dryden at SUNY Cortland, 8:30 a.m. Saturday
