SECTION IV GIRLS BASKETBALL: CANDOR RALLIES TO TURN AWAY NEWFIELD CHALLENGE (February 24, 2026)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — The Candor girls basketball team won its first postseason game since 2018 Tuesday evening and it took a late rally to turn away upset-minded Newfield, 50-42, in the first round of the Section IV Class C playoffs.

The Trojans didn’t look like a No. 12 seed as they battled to the end, leading seven different times through the first three periods.

“Newfield played great,” coach Carl Kanoff said. “They came out aggressive. We knew we probably would see a full-court man-to-man, and low and behold we did. We were kind of sloppy with the ball here and there, a little bit of panic with it, especially on some double teams.

“The first half there we had a lot of offensive putbacks that we were a little bit too aggressive off the glass with. We took halftime to kind of settle down and we had some clutch plays in the third and fourth quarter, some good defense in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve got to hand it to the girls, being down and then clawing back and not giving up. Just an awesome effort.”

Newfield grabbed its final advantage, 35-33, 45 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Candor was finally able to get the momentum to swing in its own direction as it outscored the visitors, 19-9.

Hazel Ray tied the game for the sixth time with a pair of free throws with 7:07 on the clock. She added a field goal 51 seconds later to give the Coyotes the lead for good at 37-35 and Shawna Conklin hit a short jumper with 5:02 remaining for a 39-35 lead.

It was the fourth of six four-point leads for Candor, which finally created a margin greater than four points when Conklin scored with 1:33 to go to make it 46-40.

“We are a true team in the sense of the word,” Kanoff said. “The girls that get in and play, they all give us something. If you look at our stat sheet, along the board we've got assists and steals and 3-pointers. Someone, if they're trying to take away Emmi, Megan and Malley step up. We're on the boards. Hazel and Shawna are doing the little things that might not make the scoring column, but they make a huge, huge boost for their teammates.

“The pass there at the end in the fourth quarter, senior to senior, was awesome. It was just very unselfish, very, you know, uh, court aware, um, and that was, that was a clutch play, probably sealed it for us.”

That play was a pass from Williamson to Ray to Conklin in which Ray could have attempted a long jump shot, but opted to feed Conklin underneath for the 46-40 lead.

A steal and basket by Newfield’s Egypt Smith-Henderson made it a four-point game for the final time with 49 seconds to play, but Conklin went the distance with the ensuing inbound pass from Makie to give the Coyotes a 48-42 lead.

Makie nailed a pair of insurance free throws with 29.4 seconds on the clock.

The Trojans scored the game’s first basket, but Ray wrapped a free throw and bucket around a Makie 3-pointer to give Candor a 6-2 lead.

Newfield’s Keziah McCoy knocked down a three, Smith-Henderson followed with a coast-to-coast steal and layup and Emily Taylor added a bucket for a seven-point run in the next 42 seconds for a 9-2 lead.

Not to be outdone, Megan Williamson scored a basket, then followed up with a steal and layup, and Ray added a free throw to give Candor an 11-9 edge heading into the second quarter.

Makie nailed her second and third 3-pointers of the night in the second period, but the rest of the Coyotes’ points came at the free throw line as they slipped behind at halftime, 22-21.

Meanwhile, Smith-Henderson put up six points and Taylor added another five to push Newfield into the lead.

Taylor and Malley Heidl exchanged 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the third quarter while Makie hit for six points in the period. Four of them highlighted a 5-0 surge which was countered by a six-point Newfield burst, giving the Trojans a 33-31 lead heading into the final frame.

Makie and Ray recorded double-doubles for the Coyotes. Makie led all scorers with 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and added four steals, while Ray had 11 points, 12 boards and three assists. Makie finished with a trio of 3-pointers and Ray went 7-for-10 at the stripe.

Williamson contributed 11 points, three rebounds and one steal; Conklin chipped in with eight points, a dozen rebounds and four steals; and Heidl three rebounds and two steals.

Smith-Henderson paced Newfield (9-11) with 16 points while Taylor added 15, including three threes.

Candor (15-4), the No. 5 seed, visits fourth-seeded Moravia (17-4) on Friday at 6 p.m. The Blue Devils defeated Odessa-Montour, 65-17, in the first round.

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IN PHOTO 1: Shawna Conklin (shooting) & Hazel Ray. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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