IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: S-VE FALLS TO T-BURG IN SEASON OPENER (2022-11-30)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
SPENCER — A lack of scoring, especially in the first half, proved costly for S-VE in a 50-20 IAC crossover loss to Trumansburg Wednesday evening.

Undermanned and with an injured player, S-VE opened the season with eight players (T-burg had 13), so game one was going to be a tough task.

“We knew coming in it was gonna be a tough test for us,” Pierce said. “We knew they were gonna play a 1-3-1, so we worked on how to beat that, but we didn't really execute it as well as we had hoped.”

The Panthers managed just six points in the first two periods although they remained close until little more than midway through the second quarter.

The Blue Raiders wouldn’t pick up a double-digit lead until Avery knocked down a 3-pointer 18 seconds into the third period, making it 16-6.

That would spark an 11-point run which gave T-burg a 21-6 advantage.

Pavel Jofre would end the surge and halt a 6 1/2-minute S-VE scoring drought with a basket at 4:56 of the third.

S-VE appeared hesitant to shoot, especially early, and committed several turnovers while moving the ball around.

“I think we had 38 turnovers on the day,” Pierce said. “We were very passive and because of that it led to a lot of our turnovers in our offense.”

Unfortunately for the Panthers, T-burg got hot after the break and put up 18 points in each of the final two periods.

Nik Nelson connected for eight of his game-high 14 points while Derwin Good and Weston Peake split another eight evenly as the Raiders extended their advantage to 32-14 heading into the final frame.

Nelson tacked on another six in the fourth and Aaron Avery added all five of his points.

Good and Peake contributed nine and seven points, respectively, on the night. Lance Lawton Jr. added a pair of 3-pointers and Mason von Gordon chipped in with five points.

No Panther scored more than one basket in a period with the exception of Elijah Davis, who canned a pair of buckets in the third quarter and led the team with eight points.

“He put a lot of time in in the weight room to become a really strong kid and I think he is going to, before the year is over, be a star,” Pierce said. “I do think he is going to do good. Luckily, he's a junior, so we’ve got another year to work with him too.”

Nathan Gillette and Hunter Harmon recorded four points apiece, and Jofre and McFall added two points each.

T-burg connected four four treys and went 11-for-15 at the free throw line. S-VE attempted just two foul shots, missing both and had no threes.

Several of this season’s seniors didn’t see a lot of playing time last season due to the number of talented seniors on that team, so that’s been a struggle Pierce said.

“Yeah, it absolutely has been,” he said. “And another thing that's been a factor is only having eight guys total that are healthy right now, and one that's hurt. It's really hard to get a good look when you can't line up five-on-five. It's really hurt us a little bit.”

“We’ve got a lot of room to improve and we’ve got a lot of good players,” Pierce said. “These kids don't give up and that's what makes them good players. We'll figure it out. We'll fix it.”

S-VE returns to action Dec. 6, hosting neighboring rival Candor.

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IN PHOTO 1: S-VE’s Elijah Davis (5). ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.