IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: NEWARK VALLEY BATTLES HARD, FALTERS LATE IN LOSS TO ND (14 PHOTOS) (2019-02-08)

Tioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY - Battle as it might, Newark Valley just could not bounce back from a 14-point deficit in the final 11 minutes of Thursday's 71-65 IAC South Large School loss to Notre Dame.

Trailing, 55-41, the Cardinals hit a pair of field goals then, following an ND basket, Kyle Coffin cut the deficit to single digits with a 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter to make it 57-49. It wouldn't last long as Joe Sheehan responded with his only points of the night on a trey with 59 seconds left in the period.

Down, 60-48, Donavin Beebe put back a teammate's miss early in the fourth, a coast-to-coast dash by Coffin and his follow-up fallaway jumper, and a lthree from Micah Williams in the corner trimmed the margin to 60-57 with 4:53 to play.

The Crusaders were able to regroup, however. Kyreese Fisher drained a three, then Brody Nemier found Ben Cook open in the paint and the ND advantage was 67-60.

Coffin canned a long trey, but Fisher converted a traditional 3-point play eight seconds later, keeping the lead at seven.

With 2:01 to go, Coffin connected on a pair of free throws and it was 70-65.

The well went dry during the final two minutes for NV, which was unfortunate for the Cardinals because Notre dame made just one of four free throw attempts in the final 1:07.

Newark Valley would grab the game's early advantage, 15-10 in the first period, as Coffin put up nine points, and Riley Malone, Jason Graham and Beebe added one bucket apiece. Nemier kept it close with a pair of treys.

The Cardinals cranked out 22 points the second quarter, but were outgunned by the Crusaders, who posted 32 points on the scoreboard to take a 42-37 lead into the half.
Sheehan hit three times from beyond the arc and made three shots from inside the circle for 15 points while Fisher tacked on 10 more. Beebe and Malone paced NV with six points each, and Coffin and Andrew Obregon added one three apiece.

Fisher put up five more points in the third frame, and Nemier and Sheehan added one trey each as ND outscored the Valley, 18-11. Coffin accounted for seven of NV's points.

Coffin would end the evening with a game-high 33 points. Beebe had 12 and Malone 10 while Graham added four, and Williams and Obregon chipped in three points each.

Fisher paced ND with 25 points. Sheehan and Nemier contributed 18 and 11, respectively.

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IN PHOTO 1: Newark Valley's Micah Williams. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.