IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: NEWFIELD SOLVES S-VE DEFENSE IN DIVISION TIE-BREAKER (20 PHOTOS) (2019-02-13)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportNEWFIELD - The high-powered Newfield offense is known for its ability to score in bunches. And that's exactly what the Trojans did to defeat S-VE, 66-52, to secure its sixth straight IAC South Small School championship here Wednesday.
"They're tough in their gym," said S-VE head coach Jeremy Kastenhuber. "They played a really great game. My hat's off to them. I wish them the best of luck at the next game which is against Moravia at TC3."
Down four at the half, Newfield came out of the break flying high - riding a 12-0 run to a 33-25 advantage in the first three minutes of the third quarter.
The Panthers would claw their way back into the game late in the period, cutting a 35-27 lead to three on a Nathan Mack 3-point play and a pair of James Sutherlin free throws.
The Trojans' Josh Wood, held to two first-half points, found his niche in the second half, starting off with a 3-point basket. He would tack on a traditional 3-point play and connect on six of seven free throw attempts.
Likewise, Daejahd Leckey helped the Newfield surge. He hit a trey early in the third as well and had the Trojans' other basket as they moved ahead, 37-32, heading into the final eight minutes of action.
Leakey and Wood scored a bucket apiece to open the final period, then Wood launched a pass off a rebound to a wide-open Jacob Humble for a fast-break basket, giving Newfield its first double-digit lead of the game, 43-32, with 6:08 remaining.
Humble was the recipient of another fast-break pass moments later. Wood sank a foul shot not long after that and the Trojans had their first 14-point bulge of the night, building a 46-32 cushion with 5:23 to play.
Noah Mack and Sutherlin hit threes in attempt to draw the Panthers closer, but Jalen Hardison scored Newfield's next seven points and Humble scored on his third fast break in less than four minutes to make it 55-41 with 2:20 left on the clock.
The Trojans went 10-for-11 at the charity stripe in the game's final two minute, making a 3-point play and a trey from Nathan Mack, and a three by Sutherlin futile.
Newfield held the early lead as well, taking 5-2 led in the first quarter on a Humble three. However, a 6-point run by Noah Mack on field goal, a steal and layup and a dish from his brother gave S-VE an 8-7 edge and the Panthers would not trail again for the remainder of he half.
Matthew Byrne made it 10-7, the Trojans tied it at 10, then field goals by Noah Mack and Sutherlin, and a three from Wilson Cooper provided S-VE with its biggest advantage of the night, 17-10, with 5:24 left in the half.
The Trojans would tie the score at 17 and again at 19, then back-to-back threes by Brian Gillette and Sutherlin pushed the lead to 25-19 before a pair of Humble foul shots made it 25-21 at the break.
Kastenhuber credit his team's perseverance in the first half.
"You just keep working. You say with your stuff," he said. "Patience. In the second half, we stopped being patient. We forced the ball, turned it over a little bit too much, but a lot of that was because of the way they were playing defense on us."
Meanwhile, the Panthers' defense would put the home team on the line too many times - and Newfield took full advantage of the situation. The Trojans made 85 percent of their free throw attempts (23-for-27). Wood went 11-for-13, Humble was 6-for-7 and Harrison was 5-for-6.
"They didn't help us very much from the free throw line," Kastenhuber said. "They were money there tonight."
Wood finished the night with a game-high 20 points, Humble had 17, Hardison scored 14 and Leckey added 10.
Sutherlin paced S-VE (15-3) with 16 points, canning three threes in the process. He also had seven rebounds, two steals and a block. Nathan Mack contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Noah mack added 13 points and a pair of steals, Cooper had three points and a block, and Gillette and Byrne added three and two points, respectively.
"Luckily for us, this isn't the end of the season," Kastenhuber said. "We get to kind of refocus and go after it at sectionals."
Seeds will be officially announced later today.
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IN PHOTO 1: S-VE's Noah Mack (13), James Sutherlin (1) and Wilson Cooper. ... PHOTOS 1-7 COURTESY OF DANIEL SUTHERLIN. PHOTOS 8-20 BY TIM TAYLOR.
