Story Created:
Mar 10, 2009 at 7:50 PM EST
Story Updated:
Mar 11, 2009 at 5:45 PM EST
DEWITT, N.Y. (WKTV) - In the Section III, Class D-2 championship last Saturday, the New York Mills boys basketball team let a big lead dwindle in the fourth quarter but held on to win. In the overall Class D final Tuesday at Jamesville-DeWitt, the Marauders let another big lead dwindle in the fourth, but once again they hung on, beating defending champion Sackets Harbor 60-47 to advance to the state playoffs.
Saturday's game against Otselic Valley saw the Marauders let an 18-point third-quarter lead shrink to three. Tuesday's game was even more nail-biting, with the Marauders watching a 13-point halftime lead shrink to just one when Sackets Harbor leading scorer Gage LeClair hit a three-pointer to make it 47-46 with 3:35 remaining. But as with Saturday's game, 6-foot-5, 260-pound sophomore Fred Russ took over down the stretch with five straight points to make it a 52-46 lead, and the Marauders shot 8-for-10 on free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
New York Mills, now 18-6 and ranked No. 9 in the state in Class D, will play undefeated Section IV champion South Kortright in the state regional round Saturday at Hartwick College at 6:00. Sackets Harbor, ranked No. 15 this week, ends the season 14-9.
Russ finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds while Edgardo Colon scored 12 and had five assists and Jeff Albright provided a big boost off the bench with six rebounds and three blocks. LeClair led Sackets Harbor with 21 points and Beau Fletcher scored 12.
The matchup was a rematch of a January 31st meeting which Sackets Harbor came back to win 58-55. Tuesday's game was eerily similar, with New York Mills holding the same leads at halftime and after three quarters as it did in the first game, 11 and 10, respectively. This time, though, the team was much healthier--Russ especially after dealing with a mid-season ankle injury--and the Marauders were able to avoid the same outcome.
New York Mills got off to a slow start offensively as its first field goal didn't come until 2:22 left in the first quarter. But thanks to its defense it only trailed 7-6 at that point, and a 16-2 run spanning into the second quarter put them ahead to stay at 22-12.
Sackets Harbor started to chip away in the third quarter, getting within six points at 39-33 and having Russ in foul trouble with three. But the Marauders were able to hold on, and now they are moving on.
