SECTION IV GIRLS BASKETBALL: CANDOR’S SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO DELHI (2024-02-20)
By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
DELHI — Delaware Academy pumped out 23 points while its stingy defense held Candor to a pair of field goals in the first quarter en route to a 64-28 victory in the first round of the Section IV Class C Girls Basketball Championships Tuesday evening.
“We were a little tight tonight, a little timid, shy. I'm not sure why,” said Candor coach Carl Kanoff. “I asked them at halftime, what's going on? What are we scared of? I don't know whether the trip had anything to do with it or whether just gun shy from Friday night with what happened.
“We made a lot of silly turnovers and a lot of drop passes that we shouldn't have had, and they cashed in. They do what a good team does. They got the turnover and they made points off of it.”
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs received nine points from their top scorer, senior guard Natalie Vredenburgh, six from Tyler Abst and four more from Danielle Ennist in the first period.
Meanwhile, they held the Coyotes in check, surrendering one basket apiece to Hazel Ray and Emmie Makie.
Vredenburgh added eight more in Q2 and Abst knocked down a pair of buckets as Delhi built a 37-12 halftime cushion.
Makie would drain a 3-pointer, and Ray and Nicola Soper would add two points apiece in the period.
Soper would put up six points in the third quarter, and Ray and Claire Rollins added two points each. However, Delhi extended its advantage to 53-22 as Vredenburgh scored seven more points, including her second trey of the game, and four other Bulldogs contributed at least two points each.
The fourth saw Soper add three points to her total, giving her a double-double for the night. Shawna Conklin added a basket and Emmie Makie tacked on a point.
Vredenburgh scored a game-high 24 points, Abst had a dozen and Ennist added nine.
Soper pulled down 27 rebounds to increase her single season school record to 380. She also scored 11 points and blocked one shot.
Makie contributed seven points and five rebounds; Ray added six pints and five boards; Conklin chipped in with two points and three boards; and Rollins had two points and one steal.
Megan Williamson snagged a pair of rebounds, Malley Heidl recorded an assist and a steal, Ava Fernando grabbed one rebound, and Maggie Jennison dished out one assist.
“I just told the girls in the locker room, it’s not what we want to end on,” Kanoff said. “You don't want to get blown out back-to-back, but that can't cloud what our season was to get here, and I told them pre-game that half the Class C girls aren't playing. They're home, we're in the bracket, so just something to look at for next year's motivation. Look, these are the teams, how they play, what it takes to win, and hopefully we can model ourselves a little bit after that.”
Jennison is the lone senior on an otherwise youthful roster for Candor, which finished the season with a respectable 8-11 record. When combined with the JV players, the Coyotes have five sophomores and six freshmen — whom Kanoff is hoping will return next season.
“I would think that hopefully we're going to put the work in and we're going to earn the right to be one of the favorites, but again that comes with work,” Kanoff said. “That's just not given. We can't rest on our laurels. We know we took the championship this year, but we’ve got to be hungry. We can't just go in thinking that it's just going to happen to us, because teams like Newfield, Odessa, Spencer, Tioga, they're going to show up ready to play.
“Certainly the future's bright. We have all the potential in the world. We have a very high ceiling. If the girls put in the effort, I'm right here to lead them and hopefully we can put some more banners on the wall.
Delhi (14-6) visits third-seeded Moravia (17-3) Friday.
——————
IN PHOTO 1: Candor’s Nicola Soper. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
...click here for video or photo gallery
Print Friendly Version
