SECTION IV BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR ROUTS LANSING IN CLASS C OPENER (24 PHOTOS) (2020-02-25)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — Sixth-seeded Candor dominated early, withstood a Lansing comeback attempt, then pulled away late to crush the Bobcats, 68-39, in the first round of the Section IV Class C playoffs here Tuesday.

Eleventh-seeded Lansing cut a double-digit deficit down to nine, 40-31, late in the third quarter, but the Indians would end the period with a Joey Marsh layup at 1:08 and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Joel Dougherty to make it 45-31 heading into the final frame.

Following a basket by the Bobcats' Carson Crandall to open the final frame, Candor Nick Thomas knocked down a three and Alex Doucett sank a free throw to make it 49-33.

The Indians then sandwiched 15 consecutive points between a pair of threes from the visitors' Ben Vincent to push the advantage to 64-39.

Eight different Candor players contributed points in the fourth quarter, including JV call-ups Zach Watson and Cooper Thayer. Kolden Foster and Marcus Rypkema scored four points apiece in the period to pace the Indian effort.

Teamwork has been a plus for the Indians, especially in the latter half of the season.

"It was an awesome team effort," Candor coach Nate Thomas said. "That's kind of been our M.O. all year long. Maybe we could have a guy who averages 20, maybe not, but spreading it out makes it difficult to guard. They've been able to do that. The last 10 games, we've been able to really spread the ball out and it's been huge for us."

Candor dominated the first 9 1/2 minutes of play, recording the game's first 12 points, forcing several Lansing turnovers and controlling the action in the paint at both ends of the court.

"Joey's (Lansing coach Volpicelli) guys play really hard and their big guy inside (6-foot-3 senior Ethan Burt), we knew if he got the ball he was going to do some damage, so we came out, really tried to pressure them, keep the ball out of his hands so he didn't have easy touches, and we did. We did a good job," coach Thomas said.

"Then we have the run, get some easy layups early, and it did set the tone. Our guys were ready to go. They had an awesome week of practice. I was worried, not having school, what it was going to look like. We moved some JV kids up and that really helped us in practice to keep up the intensity, to keep it fresh."

Nick Thomas and Doucett highlighted the first-quarter scoring with six and four points, respectively, before Brayden Ferris scored underneath to give the Indians a 12-0 cushion. Following a trade of buckets by Vincent and Foster, Ferris added a conventional 3-point play, as did Vincent, then Joel Dougherty closed out the quarter with a trey to make it 20-5.

Neither team could gain control in the second quarter and the Indians held their 15-point advantage, 31-16, going into the half. Bryce Mills would pace Candor with three points, all on foul shots after he was fouled attempting a 3-pointer.

Following a Lansing bucket to start the second half, Daniel Thomas nailed a three and Doucett followed with a field goal as the Indians doubled up their guests, 36-18. However, the Bobcats would score 13 of the next 17 points, including an 8-0 run, to cut the Candor lead down to single digits.

"I told the guys, I said listen, 'they're not going to give up. They play hard all the time, 32 minutes. It doesn't matter whether they are up or down,'" coach Thomas said. "We knew at some point in time they were going to make a run and we did a really good job of weathering that storm. We were able to control the ball, get some easy buckets after that. They're a good team. They get easy shots when they need them and they came back and played hard."

Doucett led the Candor scoring attack with 13 points, and added three steals and two assists. Nick Thomas registered 11 points, eight assists and two steals; and Foster had seven points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot.

Dougherty added eight points; Rypkema had six points, five boards, three steals, two assists and a block; Ferris scored five points and handed out a pair of assists; Marsh tallied five points; Daniel Thomas chipped in with three points, four boards, two steals and two assists; Mills and Thayer tacked on three points each; and Lance Jensen and Watson had two points apiece.

Benjamin led Lansing (9-12) with 14 points while Eric Khan and Burt added 10 each.

Candor (13-7) visits Newfield (19-2) Friday for a quarterfinal clash. The two teams split during the regular season, winning on each other's courts.

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IN PHOTO 1: Candor's Marcus Rypkema. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.