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IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR TAKES EARLY CONTROL TO DEFEAT TIOGA (2022-10-18)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — The last time Candor faced Tioga, the Tigers nearly erased an 18-point deficit before losing by a 53-49 verdict.

On Tuesday evening, the Indians again jumped on a big cushion, but unlike before, didn't allow the Tigers an opportunity to bounce back, posting a 51-33 IAC South Small School boys basketball victory here.

Candor controlled play underneath from the onset, taking advantage of the visitors' offensive struggles in the paint to post a 20-6 lead after the first period of play.

With a starting line-up consisting of four seniors and a junior, Candor poses a threat to any opponent. When you consider the height of Will Zimmer and Zeb Soper underneath, and a pair of athletic guards in Nick Thomas and Hunter Haynes, the challenge is even greater.

"Especially when 50 percent of your team is sophomores," Card said. "It's a learning experience. We had a good win on Friday night against a tough Union Springs team, and then we played super flat tonight. I think it was just mental, the young kids they're coming off a big win and they just came out playing flat and you can't do that against the pressing teams, especially a fast, physical team."

Following their previous meeting, in which the Tigers cut that 18-point deficit down to two in the game's final seconds, Candor coach Nate Thomas knew he had to ensure his team was prepared for Tioga this time around.

"Tioga is a good team," he said. "When we went to their place, at the end of fourth quarter, they pounded us. I mean, they pounded us, so we knew we were going to be in a battle for 32 minutes. We had to make sure that we started fast and kept our foot on the gas the whole time. Our guys did. They followed the scouting report and they paid attention to detail."

The Indians rode the play of their big man, Zimmer, and four 3-pointers along the way. Zimmer scored seven points underneath in the first frame while Zach Watson, Nick Thomas, Soper and Haynes accounted for the long-range scoring.

Zimmer would tack on Candor's first six points of the second quarter and added another bucket late in the half, giving the Indians a 33-12 lead with 35 seconds on the clock.

"He's athletic, he can jump, he's a big guy," Card said. "He gave us fits last time at home, so I knew that was going to happen.

"After we made the adjustment to front him, it worked out a little bit better in our favor, but anytime you're outmatched down in the inside, they're going to get their points somehow. I thought we did a better job in the second half against that.

Evan Sickler, whose play had been key to Tioga bringing a 3-game win streak into the contest, knocked down a field goal with 23 ticks on the clock and a long buzzer-beating trey to make it 33-17 at the break.

The Tigers were unable to pick up ground coming out of intermission as the Indians rode a 9-2 run to a 42-19 lead.

Sickler and Casey Stoughton closed the third quarter with back-to-back bucket, but Haynes opened the final stanza with three to make it 45-23.

Tioga responded with a basket from Sickler and a trey by Ethan Perry, cutting the gap 45-28, but Candor got another bucket from Zimmer and two more by Nick Thomas, pushing its advantage to 51-28 and put end any chance of a late comeback.

The Tigers closed out the game with five straight points as Perry sandwiched his third three of the night between free throws from Gavin Godfrey and Ethan Landmesser.

"We've had some issues with being disciplined on defense, and today we did a good job," coach Thomas said. "Those guys are capable of putting up 75 points and holding them to 33 is huge."

Candor had three players register double digits on the boards with two of them posting double-doubles. Zimmer finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Nick Thomas added 10 points and 10 boards. Haynes had 10 rebounds as well.

Controlling the boards was clearly a key to the Indians' success.

"Part of that is just the effort," coach Thomas said. "In big games you can't give up second chance opportunities. We were able to really get after the ball and go get it, and that was good to see."

Zimmer also contributed four steals and three blocks to the win. Nick Thomas dished out seven assists to go with three steals and a block; and Haynes chipped in with six points and three steals.

Soper pitched in with six points, four steals, three blocks and three assists; Watson had five points and three steals; and Hunter Bates tacked on a trey.

Sickler and Perry paced the Tigers with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Stoughton, Landmesser and Josh Reis scored two points apiece, and Gavin Fisher added one more.

Candor (10-1 overall, 7-1 division) hosts Union Springs (6-4) and Tioga (6-7 overall, 5-5 division) hosts Groton (3-6) in IAC crossover games Friday.

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IN PHOTO 1: Candor's Zeb Soper and Will Zimmer (15). ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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