IAC GIRLS BASKETBALL: CANDOR DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO T-BURG ON BUZZER-BEATING THREE (2023-12-05)

Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — Trumansburg spoiled Candor’s season opener, defeating the Coyotes, 50-48, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in IAC girls basketball action Tuesday.

Candor opened the scoring on a three-ball by Emmi Makie and maintained that lead throughout the first quarter, answering Blue Raiders' baskets with free throws from Hazel Ray, two field goals from Nicola Soper and an additional five points from Makie, which included a traditional 3-point play.

A spurt of turnovers near the end of the frame cut the Coyote lead from eight to two as T-burg closed the gap to 14-12.

"Our nerves definitely got the best of us several times,” Candor coach Carl Kanoff said. “We made a few bad passes and then panic made those turnovers snowball."

With a strong start to the second stanza, the Coyotes built their lead back up on baskets by Soper and Ray, only to see it slip away again. Trumansburg controlled the rest of the second quarter, paced by 10 points by Lenora Reed. Candor entered the half down two, 25-23.

After the break, the game remained closely contested. Candor and T-burg traded buckets with the Raiders feeding their center, Lauren Millspaugh, who put in nine of her team-high 17 points from the paint.

For Candor, Emmi Makie got hot behind the arc, hitting two threes to score 12 of her game-high 25.

Candor regained the lead in the waning seconds on two free throws from Claire Rollins.

"Those were clutch shots from Claire to give us the lead heading into the fourth,” Kanoff said. “As a freshman coming off the bench, that was a huge step-up moment."

In the fateful final frame, Candor built its lead to six, 46-40, with four minutes remaining. The Coyotes came up empty on several possessions, not scoring again until a Makie field goal with just over two minutes to go.

The Raiders chipped away to get to 48-47 and were forced to foul in the closing seconds. Candor missed two free throws, and on the ensuing defensive rebound T-burg drove the length of the court with seven seconds to go. Allison Denmark heaved a deep shot with a hand in her face and found the bottom of the net as time expired.

"That's the worst way to lose in this game,” Kanoff said. “The girls grinded for 32 minutes, overcame deficits, made some defensive stops, got some gritty rebounds and made shots when they had to. To have one shot at the end be the decider is tough. Now we head to practice tomorrow and work on the things that made it that close in the first place."

Emmi Makie led all scorers with her 25-point effort and added 10 rebounds to record a double-double. She also grabbed three steals. Soper also had a double-double with 12 tallies and 18 boards.

Ray scored nine with seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Rollins' free throws accounted for the rest. Maggie Jennison had nine rebounds, and Malley Heidl turned in three assists and a steal.

Trumansburg was led by Millspaugh's 17 and Lenora Reed's 13.

Candor returns to action Thursday when it travels to Tioga to begin its division schedule.

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IN PHOTO: Candor’s Emmi Makie. ... TCSR stock photo.

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