NY STATE BOYS BASKETBALL: OWEGO DEFENSE FACES HIGH-SCORING WESTHILL IN REGIONAL (2023-03-10)

Tioga County Sports Report
SYRACUSE — Owego thrives on its defensive prowess and will put it to the test Saturday against high-scoring Westhill in the NYSPHSAA Class B Boys Basketball playoffs at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.

The Warriors (21-3), who are ranked 7th in the state and bring a 10-game win streak onto the court, are averaging 73.4 points per game. Key to that stat is the fact they have four players averaging double figures.

Senior guard Shawm Mayes averaged 16.9 points per game, junior guard Kam Langdon 15.2, sophomore forward Omar Robinson 13.6 and senior guard Luke Gilmartin 12.3.

Mayes has knocked down 43 3-pointers this season, one more than Langdon, and Gilmartin has contributed 34 more.

Gilmartin has dished out 7.4 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals. Mayes has pulled down 4.6 boards, has 12 blocks and averages two steals per game. Robinson and Langdon average 5.1 and 4.0 rebounds per outing.

Owego coach Chris Evans said he feels like the Indians are just hitting their stride after they upset top-seeded Chenango Forks for the Section IV title last week.

At 15-6, the 16th ranked Indians dominated the majority of the action in playoff wins over Waverly and Forks, winning 68-47 and 52-33, respectively.

John Bangel was hitting 46 percent of his shots from the floor going into the Forks game, and was averaging 15 points and 9.8 rebounds. He finished that contest with 29 points, didn’t miss many shots and dominated on the boards.

Joe Bangel, the other half of the 6-foot-7 senior twin towers, shooting percentage from the floor prior to Forks was 42 percent. He was averaging 10 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

Senior points guard Drew Tavelli, was scoring 12 points per game, shooting 32 percent from 3-point range, and handing out three assists per contest.

The Indians’ bench strength is a key. Several players have come in from the sideline to make key contributions. They include seniors John Larter and Ryan Pryor, juniors Riley Loomis and Ben Rollison, and sophomore Joe Palladino.

Owego’s last trip to the state tournament came in 2019, where they fell to Lowville in the regionals.

Tip-off is 4:30 p.m.

NOTE: Digital tickets are required for entry and can be purchased at https://section3.org/.../2021/4/29/hometown-ticketing.aspx (Children 12 and under are free).

The game will also be live-streamed on the NFHS Network ($11.99/month, $79.99/year): https://www.nfhsnetwork.com

You can also follow the games digitally in other ways — https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/ways-to-watch