IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR DUMPS GROTON FOR SECOND WIN (2023-12-04)

Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — Candor scored the first six points of the game and never trailed, posting a 70-53 victory over Groton in IAC boys basketball action Monday night.

Jadon Heidl’s traditional 3-point play followed by his 3-pointer gave the Coyotes a double-digit lead at 16-6 with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Groton would attempt to rally, closing the gap to 19-13 on a Conor Eldred give and go in the first minute of the second period, but could draw no closer.

Jadon Heidl added another trey at 5:11 and a basket at 3:20 to make it a 28-18 game, and a Jakobe Foster bucket and three-ball followed by a Carson Heidl basket pushed the advantage to 35-20 with less than two minutes remaining in the half.

Groton would close out the quarter with an 8-2 run from Jaiden Mitchell, Dominic Mackey, Sean O’Brien and Eldred to make it 37-28 at the break.

Jadon Heidl opened the second half with a trey at 6:39 and a Foster three at 4:55 made it 47-35. Donald Makie added a three-ball at 2:33 to give the Coyotes their largest lead up to that point, 56-40.

A basket by Nichols Karandeyev, and single free throws from Mackey and Mitchell narrowed the margin to 56-44 early in the final frame, but that would be the final Groton rally attempt of the evening.

Foster went on a 7-0 burst, wrapping a pair of buckets around a three-ball to seal up the victory, giving the Coyotes a 63-44 cushion with 4:45 left on the clock.

Foster would lead all scorers with 21 points while Jadon Heidl connected for 20 more. Foster also contributed six defensive rebounds, four assists and four steals while Heidl added three boards, a steal and an assist.

Makie chipped in with eight points, went 3-for-4 at the free throw line, and also had four boards, one assist and one steal, and Jacek Teribury put up six points to go with three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

Tra Payne had five points, five boards and a steal; Carson Heidl recorded four points, two rebounds, a steal and a block; Ryan Huizinga added four points, an assist and a rebound; Cam Sinn had two points and a steal; and Jason Jantz grabbed two boards.

Karandeyev paced Groton with 15 points, Eldred added a dozen, and Mitchell and Mackey tacked on nine and eight, respectively.

Candor (2-0) hosts Tioga Friday at 7 p.m.

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IN PHOTO 1: Candor’s Tra Payne. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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