By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
DRYDEN — The tables were turned on Candor Wednesday evening as they fell to defending state champion Moravia, 48-34, in the IAC Small School Girls Basketball Championship game at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
When the two teams met just before Christmas, the Blue Devils were short two starters and the Coyotes rallied from a double-digit deficit for a 60-53 upset. This time, Moravia was at full strength and Candor was short-handed two players, one being Nicola Soper. The junior, who set school records for single-game and single-season rebounds last season, tore her ACL and is out for the season.
The Devils, ranked 18th in Class C, climbed out of an early 9-0 hole and went on a 16-1 second-quarter run which the Coyotes were unable to overcome.
The Moravia surge started to take shape as Caraline Wasileski scored nine of her team’s final 12 points in the first quarter, cutting the lead to 18-12.
Lashley Castillo, Olivia Genson and Jessalyn Jones knocked down 3-pointers in the second quarter, Wasileski added a conventional 3-point play and a bucket, and Genson tacked on another basket to give Moravia a 28-19 advantage at halftime.
Meanwhile, the Devils’ defensive pressure created turnovers and limited Candor’s shot opportunities as they surrendered just one point on a Hazel Ray free throw near the midpoint of the period.
“They got up into our ball handlers in our passing lanes,” Candor coach Carl Kanoff said. “We started forcing a little bit, getting frustrated again. We didn't take those opportunities we should have in the first quarter, and then we got a little bit winded. The ball got thrown over us a little bit. Then we started turning the ball over. A lot of chasing us down from behind. They got some deflections, got some hands in our dribble, which shouldn't be happening. They turned a couple of those turnovers into buckets, unfortunately.”
Moravia scored off back-to-back turnovers to build a 32-19 lead about three minutes into the third quarter, then the Coyotes’ Emma Makie broke an 8-minute scoring drought with a trey, making it 32-22.
That 3-pointer at 3:32 of the third quarter broke the school record for threes in a season. The previous mark of 53 was established by Megan Shay, the program’s all-time leading scorer, in 2001.
The Devils then went on a 9-2 run with Genson’s third trey of the game giving Moravia its biggest lead at 41-24.
Ray and Shawna Conklin closed out the quarter with a basket and free throw, respectively, but Candor continued to struggle offensively in the final frame.
Makie and Conklin sank one free throw each, Ray scored on a feed from Ava Fernando and Malley Heidl canned a 3-pointer, but Moravia matched the Coyotes’ point output over the final eight minutes.
Candor was impressive in the early going as Makie hit two of three foul shots after getting hacked on a 3-point attempt, Megan Williamson followed with a trey and a basket, and Conklin put in an assist from Makie for a 9-0 lead before the contest was even 2 ½ minutes old.
“That was a great start,” Kanoff said. “Fantastic. Not many people expected us to do that after last year's showing. That was good. That was good momentum. We were moving the ball pretty well then we just kind of tightened up. We got a little stagnant. We weren't driving like we started to. We were kind of catching and holding instead of catching and shooting and catching and driving, and then that was a turning point as far as our offensive game went.”
Wasileski would lead all scorers with 16 points as Moravia improved to 15-3. Genson contributed 13, Castillo added 11 and Jones tacked on seven. The Devils made six 3-pointers on the night.
Ray paced Candor in scoring with 10 points and added nine rebounds, Conklin had eight points, 10 boards, and three steals, Williamson scored seven points and pulled down seven boards, Makie chipped in with six points, 13 rebounds and a pair of steals, Heidl added three points, and Claire Rollins dished out three assists.
At 14-4, the Coyotes should still get a respectable class sectional seed (to be announced Thursday at noon) — and an IAC championship will certainly be one of the team’s goals in 2026.
“Technically, we're very young and I think the difference between this year's game and last year's game was that experience,” Kanoff said. “We were pretty loose and we kind of knew what to expect, and I think that aided that fast start as we knew what we could do. We knew what we've done all season and that was a good thing for us.
“As far as coming back next year, one of the narratives this season was we lost Nickey Soper early on to her knee injury. She's going to be back on the mend and we didn't graduate anybody. We look to be back, we look to build on this experience and success and have more success in the future.”
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IN PHOTO 1: Candor’s Hazel Ray. ... IN TOP PHOTO: Candor’s Claire Rollins. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
