IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO NEWFIELD (23 PHOTOS) (2019-02-04)  BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportCANDOR
- It was an outcome vastly different from the first time these two
teams met. Newfield, which rolled to a 65-42 win in their previous
meeting, had to fight off a determined and upset-minded Candor squad
here Monday night, 59-55. "Hats off to Newfield," said Candor head coach Nate
Thomas. "Programs like that, that are in close games, and they've won,
they know how to do little things and turn that next little step. And
they did that. The couple leak-out layups they got, that happens when
you just win. You do things like that. You get offensive rebounds. And
that's what they did."
The IAC South Small School co-leader
attempted pull away in the second half with an 8-0 run to start the
third period and a 5-0 burst at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but
the Indians would have no part in it.
"Our guys, they sold out
for each other today and that's all we can ask," Thomas said. "Some
days, your going to sell out and win. Some days, you're going to sell
out and lose. Today, Newfield was better, but we gave them everything we
had, and I'm most proud of our guys, because when Newfield made their
run and they got up seven, they got up eight, we just continued to work.
We didn't blink. We just kept working. And if we take that with us we
can be dangerous coming down the stretch in sectionals."
Newfield's
go-to guy, Josh Wood, would score the first five points of the final
period, with a trio of free throw points, one coming to complete a
traditional 3-point play.
The Indians' Shawn Watson would halt
the run with a three at 6:09, Nick Thomas drove the lane for a basket at
5:46 and Daniel Thomas drained a trey to give Candor a 45-44 edge with
5:24 remaining on the clock.
The Trojans would go back on top,
46-45, then Daejahd Leckey popped a three to push the lead to 49-45
midway through the quarter. Candor cut the lead to 49-47 on a bucket
from Kevin Cotton at 2:35, but the visitors responded with a field goal
from Wood and a LaRon Boykin-to-Leckey fast break, pushing the Newfield
advantage to 54-47 with 1:32 to go.
However, the Indians had no
intention of rolling over as Kolden Foster drove the lane 12 seconds
later. Newfield's Jalen Hardison missed a free throw opportunity moments
later and Caleb Vaow made two for Candor with 56 seconds left. Forced
to foul, the Indians sent Harrison back to the line five seconds later.
This time, he made two and the lead was back to five, 56-51.
Nick
Thomas scored at 45 seconds, but Leckey scored on another quick play
and it was still a 5-point game, 58-53. Cotton trimmed the lead to 58-55
with 22 ticks left. Leckey would miss a free throw, Candor misfired on a
3-point attempt, then Leckey went back to the stripe again with 2.6
seconds remaining in the game. This time, he made one foul shot to seal
the victory.
The third quarter started with a Wood bucket, a
Hardison three following Leckey's steal, another turnover which Leckey
turned into a 35-27 lead less than 1 1/2 minutes into the period.
Candor
regrouped to put together a 10-3 run as Cotton sank a pair of free
throws and scored a basket, Foster knocked down a pair of field goals
and Nick Thomas added a bucket, closing the gap to 39-37 heading into
the final eight minutes of action.
One problem with coming from
behind is the trailing team typically uses more energy climbing back
into the game than the opponent does attempting to hold onto the lead.
"We're
perfectly OK with expending energy," coach Thomas said. "We've got a
lot of high-anergy guys, but after a while that does take its toll. To
their credit again, they did those little things and made us expend the
energy."
The Indians opened the game with the first field goal of
the evening, but would not lead again in the first quarter - although
the score was tied at two, four, six and eight.
Newfield took the
lead for the remainder of the first period on a Jacob Humble free
throw.He extended the advantage to 12-8 about 20 seconds later. Nick
Thomas retaliated with a 3-point play, but Wood countered with a trey,
and Hunter Colburn's only point of the game gave the Trojans a 16-11
lead heading into the second quarter.
Watson took a foul on a
3-point attempt just 13 seconds into the second period and sank all
three foul shots to make it 16-14. Baskets by Foster and Braeden Ferris
capped an 8-0 Indian surge for an 18-16 lead. Teagan Moynihan's 3-point
play made it 19-18 Newfield, but after Vaow tied the game on a free
throw, Watson canned a trey to put Candor back ahead, 22-19.
Wood
put the Trojans up, 23-22, on a 3-point play and a single free throw,
then Foster gave Candor a 25-23 lead with a trey. Hardison knocked down a
trey for a 26-25 edge, Daniel Thomas scored on a putback after being
stuffed by Wood to make it 27-26, but Moynihan scored with 25 second set
in the half, giving Newfield a 28-27 lead at the break.
Despite the setback, coach Thomas was pleased with Candor's teamwork throughout the evening.
"What
I liked the most out of our team tonight is that we demanded the most
out of each other," Thomas said. "There wasn't one person that you could
point at. We just did things collectively, which I thought was
awesome."
Foster had 15 points, five rebounds and one block, and
Nick Thomas contributed 11 points, six boards and four assists to pace
the Indians. Cotton scored 10 points and went 4-for-4 at the line, and
Watson added nine points, with two threes, while going 3-for-3 at the
stripe. Vaow had four points, seven boards and two assists, Daniel
Thomas had five points, Ferris chipped in with two points and lance
Jensen added a block.
Wood led all scorers with 21 points, Leckey pitched in with 14 and Hardison had 10 more.
With the win, Newfield improved to 11-7 overall and 10-2 in the division, taking a half-game lead over S-VE.
Candor (9-10, 5-7) visits S-VE tonight.
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IN PHOTO 1: Candor's Kevin Cotton. ... PHOTO 1 COURTESY OF CATHY DOANE. PHOTOS 2-23 BY TIM TAYLOR.
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