STAC BASKETBALL: SHOOTING STRUGGLES COSTLY IN OWEGO LOSS TO U-E (December 27, 2025)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
BINGHAMTON — Owego struggled with putting the ball through the rim in a 54-37 loss to Union-Endicott in the Mirabito Coaches vs. Cancer tournament held at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena here Saturday evening.

The River Hawks were never able to find their groove as U-E, a Class AA state honorable mention, gradually pulled away for its third victory in four games (only loss to Class AAA state HM Ithaca).

Kingston Brainard drained a 3-pointer at 6:51 of the first quarter to give Owego a 3-2 edge, but that would be the visitor’s only lead as the Tigers reeled off six straight points in less than a minute to go up, 8-3.

Duke Snyder’s basket at 4:35 would be the River Hawks’ only other points of the period as U-E closed out the opening stanza with a 7-point run.

Meanwhile, Owego was off the mark on several 3-point attempts, especially in the first eight minutes. The River Hawks typically convert shots from beyond the arc at a higher percentage.

“That's how we're built,” Evans said. “I thought we got really good games from Duke Snyder and Carter Rieg.

“And Cal, I still think Cal is one of the better shooters in Section IV. He just kind of struggled a little bit tonight, and he'll come back. He'll be alright. He'll come back tomorrow. That's the great thing about basketball. There's always another game.”

Things perked up a bit in the second quarter as the Owego defense tightened up, holding the Tigers to 10 points.

“I was really pleased with our defense for the most part,” Evans said. “Obviously, we're not going to be a strong rebounding team, but I was pleased with our defensive effort. Tonight was one of those nights where we just had a tough time scoring the ball.”

The River Hawk offense sparked early in the period as Brainard sank four consecutive free throws and Carter Rieg scored from underneath to trim the lead to 15-11.

U-E would respond with a pair of buckets, three free throws and a 3-pointer to offset two baskets by Duke Snyder and another from Rieg, extending the Tigers’ advantage to 25-17 at the half.

The Owego offense sparked again early in the third quarter as Rieg’s putback and 3-pointer countered a basket and a trey by the Tigers to keep the gap at eight, 30-22. U-E’s 6-point burst after that pushed the lead to 36-22 heading into the final minute of the period.

Nolan Card and Noah Christ canned one free throw apiece around a U-E basket, then the Tigers’ Jaden Estrada went 2-for-3 at the stripe with 1.7 seconds on the clock to make it 40-24 heading into the final frame.

Rieg nailed his second trey of the night 43 seconds into the fourth quarter, but U-E retaliated with five straight points to extend its lead to 45-27.

Snyder knocked down a basket and Smith nailed a 3-pointer to make it 48-32 with 3:07 remaining to play.

Two free throws by Snyder, followed by a trio of freebies from Rieg, cut the lead to 49-37 with 1:36 to go, but the Tigers scored the final five points.

Rieg led all scorers with 15 points, including two treys and a 3-for-3 performance at the free throw line, while Snyder finished with 10 points and was 2-for-2 at the stripe. Brainard had seven points with one trey while making four of his six foul shots. Smith added a 3-pointer, and Card and Christ tacked on one free throw each.

Rami Carney and Andre Williams led U-E (3-1) with 10 points apiece, London Tross and Ta’Kevios Lane contributed nine and eight, respectively, and Joe Gennarelli and Luciano Thomas added six points each.

Owego (3-4) returns to the Arena Sunday at 8:30 p.m. to face Johnson City (1-5).

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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