Yellowjackets' upset bid falls just short

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February 20, 2012

By Rob Centorani Staff Writer The Daily Star Mon Feb 20, 2012, 02:30 AM EST

VESTAL _ There sat Oneonta High's girls, up 11 points with under six minutes remaining against an unbeaten Binghamton squad that brought the No. 2 state ranking among Class AA schools into Saturday's Southern Tier Athletic Conference basketball final.

To that point, the Class B Yellowjackets had controlled the paint, rebounded superbly and generally outplayed the seasoned Patriots, who returned four starters from the team that put a 33-point hurting on OHS in last year's STAC final.

But the one thing the Yellowjackets' zone defense couldn't account for Saturday was Binghamton's three-point shooters, specifically senior Tiahana Mills, who hit seven threes en route to a game-high 25 points. The last of the Patriots' 10 three-pointers at Binghamton University's Events Center came from Alexis Esworthy with 14.2 seconds left and provided the winning margin in a 51-50 victory that brought Binghamton its third straight STAC title.

That Oneonta's all-underclassmen starting five upstaged the 18-0 Pats for the better part of three quarters had to be surprising to those in attendance, even many who supported the Yellowjackets (14-4).

But with 6-foot-2 junior Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering playing perhaps her best game in an OHS uniform _ a 15-point, 10-rebound effort _ and sophomore point guard Mariah Ruff running an efficient attack, the Yellowjackets proved they were every bit Binghamton's equal on this night.

"There might have been 12 kids who thought Oneonta could win this game and that's our kids," said second-year OHS coach Matt Miller, whose team had two cracks at a go-ahead basket in the final five seconds, when Minnie Webster and Kelsey Baker misfired. "They probably don't realize how great they played tonight. It probably would have been easier to lose by 20 points than to lose when we had a really, really good opportunity to win."

The inside tandem of Vanderlaan-Meyering and the 5-10 Baker helped Oneonta outscore a Patriots' lineup that featured 6-3 Madison Ward, 6-0 Emily Lewis and 5-11 Caity Kuhnen, 25-16, in the paint.

Ward will head to Division II Merrimack next season, but for the 1,000 or so onlookers _ a number that grew as fans began filing in for the Binghamton-Seton Catholic Central boys final that followed and drew more than 3,000 _ Vanderlaan-Meyering must have made a strong case as the game's dominant post player.

"I just felt like I needed to be stronger and I needed to step up," Vanderlaan-Meyering said of her improvement from last season.

Added Miller: "She's going up against a kid who's already a signed scholarship player, a top-notch upper-level player. I wouldn't even say she went toe-to-toe with her _ there were stretches where I think she dominated her."

Vanderlaan-Meyering and Baker combined to score 15 points as the Yellowjackets took a 17-10 lead after one quarter. Vanderlaan-Meyering made three putbacks _ one that led to a three-point play _ and Baker scored on three drives _ the last a left-handed layup she kissed in high off the glass.

When Ruff scored in transition with 40.6 seconds left in the quarter _ after a steal and hit-ahead pass from Hayley Dower _ Oneonta had a seven-point lead.

The first of Ruff's three three-pointers _ a swish from left wing off a pass from Dani Nicosia _ gave the Yellowjackets a 25-15 lead with 6:05 left in the first half.

OHS took a 30-22 lead into halftime, after Vanderlaan-Meyering hit a 10-footer from the left baseline.

In the third quarter, the Yellowjackets appeared to be within a possession or two of running away from the Pats.

When Baker made a reverse layup off a pass from Vanderlaan-Meyering and Ruff swished a deep three-pointer from right of the circle, Oneonta had a 37-24 lead with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

But almost every time OHS made a run, Binghamton answered with a three-pointer.

Going into the game, Miller said he wanted to take away Ward's inside game. The Yellowjackets did a good job on Ward, holding her to five points, but that meant their zone couldn't get to three-point shooters. Most of the threes the Patriots made were wide-open looks.

"We kind of fell asleep a couple of times," said Miller, whose team was attempting to win its second STAC title, the first coming in 2009. "The frustrating part was that every timeout, we'd talk that Mills would pass to the wing and then she would go weakside. We talked if she came to the weakside, we had to play her for the drive. I told them I didn't care if she caught the ball 5 feet outside the three-point line, we had to play her to drive and make her put it on the deck. I think a couple of times we got caught watching the ball."

Mills answered Ruff's three with a three of her own 12 seconds later. She capped the scoring in the quarter with a three from left of the circle as OHS took a 43-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

Oneonta's final double-digit lead came when Baker passed to Vanderlaan-Meyering in transition for a layup. It made the score, 47-36, with 6:14 left. The Yellowjackets wouldn't score again for nearly four minutes as Binghamton made a 9-0 run.

Lewis made a putback, Mills scored on a putback in transition and followed with a three-pointer from the left side, that shot making it 47-43 with 4:15 left.

An inside basket by Ward with 3:55 to play brought the Patriots to 47-45.

Nicosia ended the run, scoring off the glass from the right wing with 2:21 left.

Again, Mills hit a three-pointer to answer and again, it came from left of the circle.

"Honestly, we didn't want to live and die from the three-point line," said Binghamton coach Kristin Lemon, a 1,000-point scorer during her days in an Oneonta State uniform. "Tonight, they did a good job doubling Madison in the post. We also couldn't get the ball to Emily Lewis in the high post. That opened opportunities for my guards to take shots."

Added Mills: "My teammates were finding ways to get me the ball, so I could shoot the shot."

The next two possessions ended with Ruff missing an off-balance three-pointer and Vanderlaan-Meyering blocking an attempt by Lewis in the paint.

Binghamton's Esworthy then fouled Ruff with 55.5 seconds left, sending the Yellowjackets' leading scorer to the line for a 1-and-1. Ruff made the first for a 50-48 lead but missed long on the second. Vanderlaan-Meyering kept the rebound alive and Ruff eventually regained possession, but Nicosia was called for a five-second violation near midcourt with 28.7 seconds left.

The Patriots called timeout with 26.3 seconds to go.

Binghamton then got the ball to Mills on the right side, and she reversed the ball to Kuhnen at the top of the key. Kuhnen passed to a wide-open Esworthy, whose high-arching three from the left wing swished through with 14.2 seconds left.

"They were all keying on the ball side and that freed Alexis for a good look," Lemon said. "She had the confidence to step up and shoot it."

The Yellowjackets opted against calling a timeout. Ruff dribbled quickly upcourt and pulled up from top of the key, but Esworthy got a piece of the shot. The ball went out of bounds beyond the baseline with 5.8 seconds left.

After an OHS timeout, the Yellowjackets got the ball to Webster on the right side. She dribbled twice before taking a 15-footer that went long off the glass. Baker rebounded on the weakside, but her off-balance shot hit the glass and missed everything on the way down.

"In the locker room we thought, we have no pressure on us because everyone in the state thinks we're going to get killed," said Ruff, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. "We just went out there and played normal. The last game (a 61-56 victory over Horseheads in a STAC semifinal), Horseheads was all over us defensively. They were in our shorts. Binghamton didn't play as tight as Horseheads. We were calm and cool and we just did everything really well. We weren't panicking with the ball."

Lemon, whose team won its previous 17 games this season by at least six points, said of the Yellowjackets: "I think Matt has done a great job with these kids and I think they buy into the offenses and defenses he asks them to play. Certainly, they slowed our tempo and I think that was a huge difference from last year to this year."

Top-seeded Oneonta will open play at home in the Section Four Class B Tournament at 6 p.m. Friday against ninth-seeded Windsor or No. 8 Chenango Forks. The Yellowjackets are attempting to win a fifth straight sectional title, something no girls basketball program in Section Four history has accomplished.

"This definitely gives us a lot of confidence," said Vanderlaan-Meyering, who made 7 of her 10 shots from the floor. "They're a Double-A school and we're a B school. This basically shows us we can go really far in states."

Binghamton 51, Oneonta 50

STAC CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday at Binghamton University

ONEONTA (14-4): Hayley Dower 2-4 0-0 5, Dani Nicosia 2-3 1-2 5, Minnie Webster 1-6 0-0 3, Kelsey Webster 4-8 0-2 8, Mariah Ruff 4-12 1-2 12, Sierra Sangetti-Daniels 1-3 0-0 2, Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering 7-10 1-1 15, Maria DiMartin 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-48 3-7 50.

BINGHAMTON (18-0): Caity Kuhnen 2-6 0-0 5, Emily Lewis 3-13 2-4 8, Alexis Esworthy 3-6 0-0 8, Hannah Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, Tiahana Mills 9-20 0-0 25, Madison Ward 2-5 1-4 5. TOTALS: 19-51 3-8 51.

Oneonta ..... 17 13 13 7 _ 50

Binghamton ..... 10 12 12 17 _ 51

Three-point field goals: O 5 (Dower, Webster, Ruff 3); B 10 (Mills 7, Kuhnen, Esworthy 2).

Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.