SECTION IV BOYS BASKETBALL: CANDOR COMES UP SHORT AGAINST TOUGH T-BURG (2025-02-28)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
TRUMANSBURG — Candor knew it was facing a challenge when it visited Trumansburg for a Section IV Class C boys basketball quarterfinal here Friday evening.

The Coyotes weren’t expecting the first-quarter performance of Mason von Gordon, who gave the highly-touted Blue Raiders the early lead, which they held onto en route to a 62-52 victory.

“We knew we were coming into a battle,” said Candor coach Nate Thomas. “They have really good players. Arlo (Peake) and Nik (Nelson), they're both fantastic players, but No. 12 (von Gordon) was the difference of the day. He came out and he destroyed us in the first quarter and he kind of set the tone for them scoring-wise.”

One of four seniors who saw action in the win, von Gordon scored 12 of T-burg’s first 14 points, putting them up to stay in the final two minutes of the opening period. He was key in a six-point run late in the quarter and it took a pair of three-pointers from Matthew Smith and Donald Makie to keep Candor close, trailing 17-14 heading into the second quarter.

Three consecutive Jakobe Foster buckets kept the contest tight midway through the second, but a basket and a trey by Nelson 34 seconds apart stretched the lead to 31-22 heading into the final two minutes of the half.

Makie canned a pair of three-balls in the final 47 seconds of the half to close the gap to 33-28 heading into intermission.

Peake, who had been held to three points in the first half, cranked out the first seven of the third period, then countered a pair of Foster buckets with another four points to give the Raiders a 44-32 cushion at the four-minute mark.

“They're a really good team and if you don't play great defense, then you're going to end up losing the game,” said Thomas, who held himself accountable for Candor’s defensive struggles.

“We had a lot of moments where we were not playing our style defense and I'm to blame for that. Early in the game, in the first half, we switched defenses and we should have just stayed the course, and that's on me. Our guys like to play man-to-man. We should have just stayed with it regardless of what was happening.

“I screwed that opportunity up for these guys and I feel awful for them, our seniors don't deserve that from me. So, hats off to Trumansburg, fantastic prep by their coach. Fantastic. I mean, those guys played hard man, and they brought it on their home floor for sure.”

The Coyotes continued to chip away, with Makie again providing key buckets from beyond the arc, but T-burg remained persistent, extending its lead to double digits late in the quarter before a Carson Heidl field goal trimmed the lead to 49-40 heading into the fourth quarter.

Smith’s second trey of the night, in the opening minute of the final frame, made it 49-43, then he stole the ball and fed Foster for what appeared to be a basket with a foul attached. Instead, it was a charge called against Foster as he drove the lane.

Peake then outscored Candor, 6-1, to give the Raiders a 55-44 advantage with 4:16 remaining. Foster sank a pair of free throws with 3:16 on the clock, but Nelson stole an inbound pass and scored at 3:05 to make it 57-46.

Makie drained his sixth and final three-pointer at 2:54 and Foster added a free throw at 1:58, making it a 59-50 contest.

Jason Jantz pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds, but the Coyotes missed a field goal attempt and two foul shots, then Peake hit three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

To the Raiders’ credit, once they got a somewhat comfortable lead they were able to turn away the Coyotes’ attempts at a comeback.

“That's what good teams and great players do,” Thomas said. “They put the ball in Arlo and Nik's hands and they both made fantastic plays. And then on the defensive end, they made really good plays as well, tipping the ball, and Arlo had a fantastic block on Jacobe. Then he had another block, Nick had a bunch of tipped passes and you know, it just, it wore us out, and I guess that's what good teams are supposed to do.

“They do a good job of forcing you to where they want the ball to go and if you are not making shots then any defense looks really good. I think the basket just shrunk for us a little bit as the game went on. Donnie did a good job of keeping us in the game with some big threes, but overall it's a credit to them.”

Peake finished with a game-high 24 points and von Gordon contributed 22 more. Nelson tacked on seven.

Makie led Candor with 21 points, dished out three assists and grabbed one rebound, and Foster had 14 points, nine boards, five assists and two steals. Heidl added nine points, seven boards and an assist, and Smith had eight points, two rebounds and an assist. Ryan Huizinga chipped in with four rebounds and a block, Jantz pulled down five boards, and Teagan Kwiatkowski had one rebound.

The Coyotes finished the season with a 15-6 record which included nine straight victories heading into the T-burg game. During the season, they had to endure a 3-5 slump which included a three-game losing streak in December.

“It wasn't smooth sailing for sure,” Thomas said. “We hit some bumps in the road in the beginning of the season and the guys sat down, they had a meeting with each other that the coaches weren't present at, and they talked about what they wanted for the year, and then we went whatever it was, eight or nine games winning and we looked like a different team.

“It's when you get to this point in sectionals, it's just one day. That's all you get, one day. If we had one more day, maybe it would be different, but we don't, and for the young guys, that's how they have to approach the game. For the seniors, it's too bad that I screwed it up for them.

“The amount of work that we put in and we ask of them, we're grateful for the time that they've given us for sure. I know they're happy to be a part of this program and we're going to definitely miss them.

T-burg (15-6), the third seed, will face No. 2 Delhi in the semifinals Tuesday at TC3. All of the Raiders’ losses have come against state-ranked opponents. The Bulldogs are ranked 14th in the state and T-burg is No. 16.

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IN PHOTO 1: Jakobe Foster. ... IN TOP PHOTO: Carson Heidl (4) and Matthew Smith. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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