Tioga County Sports ReportTIOGA CENTER — Newark Valley erupted for 25 second-quarter points to break open a tight game and defeat Tioga, 63-41, in IAC boys basketball crossover action here Tuesday night.
NV’s Tim Wojtysiak drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the period while Cooper Davis tacked on nine points including one three as it built a 40-17 cushion at the half. The Tigers got four points from Gavin Kithcart and a trey from James Miller.
Tioga would take the third quarter, closing the gap to 49-32. Jackson Bombard accounted for six points, Kithcart scored five and Dominic Palmer added four.
“We had a lull both offensively and defensively in the third quarter where we settled for jumpers and had a few defensive breakdowns that let them crawl back in for a little while,” NV coach Scott Stratton said. “We settled down, made some good changes and finished the game strong.”
The Cardinals held a 14-9 advantage in the final frame as Davis added eight points to his total to finish with a game-high 24.
“Cooper had a strong game tonight and so did Tim,” Stratton said. “Tim really did a good job of being patient and letting the game come to him.”
Wojtysiak recorded 18 points, six rebounds, five deflections and four steals.
The game started out as a close battle with Kithcart putting seven points on the scoreboard and Carter Stoughton adding a 3-pointer. Newark Valley answered the call, however, with six points from Tristan Veruto, four by Wojtysiak, a trey from Austin Green and two more points from Nate Hinckley to grab the early 15-10 lead..
“Austin hit an early three to get us rolling in the first quarter and we continued to do good things offensively the rest of the first half,” Stratton said. “We turned their turnovers into points in transition, but we also played really good team basketball in the half court. Really unselfish play.”
“Defensively the guys executed the game plan really well. We did what we strategically wanted to do and we did it with intensity.”
Davis added six rebounds to his two dozen points; Veruto added 12 points, going 4-for-4 at the free throw line, and pulled down five rebounds; Hinckley had six points and five boards; Green chipped in with three points and Wyatt Welch took 2 charges against the Tigers.
Kithcart led Tioga with 18 points, Bombard contributed nine, Palmer added six, Stoughton accounted for five points and Miller tacked on three.
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IN PHOTO: Tim Wojtysiak. … TCSR STOCK PHOTO.
