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IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO NEWFIELD (23 PHOTOS) (2019-02-04)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR - 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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