Pat Horrigan and Ryan Davine combined for 33 points Thursday, but the Cooperstown boys basketball team dropped a Center State Conference Division II game featuring two of the state's best teams.
"It was a crazy game," said Cooperstown coach Dave Bertram, whose team fell, 60-57, at undefeated Mount Markham. "The hustle and the intensity was there. The ball bounces our way a couple of times and it's over."
The ball did no such thing during the last 10 seconds, though.
After rallying from nine-point deficits twice in the second half and blowing a five-point lead with about two minutes to go, the Redskins found themselves in a 60-57 hole with seven seconds to play. Horrigan missed a three, but Tanner Niedzialkowski grabbed the rebound and drew a foul on an inside shot that rimmed out.
Niedzialkowski missed both free throw attempts, but Brad Ashford rebounded the second for Cooperstown and attempted to dribble his way to three-point range for a last-second shot.
"They got a hand on the ball and it just bounced around," Bertram said of the Redskins' final possession, which failed to produce a shot. "It was our game to win, but we made a couple of mental mistakes. I probably should have called a timeout."
Horrigan finished with a game-high 18 points for Cooperstown (11-2, 4-1), which is the state's ninth-ranked program in Class C.
Josh Pugh's 14 points paced Mount Markham (11-0, 4-0), which entered the game ranked 13th in Class B. Mount Markham, which took a 36-31 lead into halftime, also received 13 points from Matt Casale and 10 from Tyler Mattox.
Cooperstown hosts Sauquoit Valley on Tuesday.
MM 60, Cooperstown 57
COOPERSTOWN (11-2, 4-1): Mack Curran 4 0-0 9, Ryan Davine 6 2-3 15, Pat Horrigan 8 0-2 18, Brandon Lane 1 0-0 2, Brad Ashford 3 0-2 6, Kyle Steere 1 0-0 2, Tanner Niedzialkowski 2 1-2 5. TOTALS: 25 3-9 57.
MOUNT MARKHAM (11-0, 4-0): Josh Pugh 5 2-3 14, Matt Casale 6 0-0 13, Blair Belamy 3 0-0 6, Brad Niederlander 2 2-4 6, Dan Spicer 1 0-0 2, Tyler Curtin 4 1-1 9, Tyler Mattox 5 0-0 10. TOTALS: 26 5-8 60.
Cooperstown13 18 9 17 _ 57
Mount Markham17 19 9 15 _ 60
Three-point field goals: C 4 (Davine, Curran, Horrigan 2); M 3 (Pugh 2, Casale). JV score: Cooperstown won.
Oneonta 55, CF 41
Nate Eastman and Ben Ehrets had varsity highs of 13 and 12 points, respectively, for visiting Oneonta High, which won in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference.
Alex Mirabito and Monte Richardson contributed 11 points apiece for the Yellowjackets, who led, 32-16, at halftime en route to their eighth victory in nine games.
Ehrets hit all four of the Yellowjackets' three-pointers and OHS went 13-for-14 from the free throw line, including a 5-for-5 showing by Mirabito.
Oneonta (8-3, 6-3) will travel to the state of Maine this weekend for a pair of non-league games. The Yellowjackets will face Camden Hills at 2 p.m. Saturday and Rockland at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Casey Redfern and Corey Gildea scored 12 points apiece for the Blue Devils.
Oneonta 55, CF 41
ONEONTA (8-3, 6-3): Tony Burns 1 0-0 2, Nate Eastman 5 3-3 13, Ben Ehrets 4 0-0 12, Alex Mirabito 3 5-5 11, Monte Richardson 4 3-4 11, Ty Southard 1 2-2 4, Dan Broe 0 0-0 0, Marc Rivera 0 0-0 0, Phil Wright 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 19 13-14 55.
CHENANGO FORKS (5-7): Corey Bruet 3 1-1 7, Patrick Creagh 1 0-0 3, Casey Redfern 4 4-4 12, Corey Gildea 2 8-10 12, Dan Grady 1 1-2 3, Mike Jeske 1 0-0 2, Tim Zdimal 0 2-2 2, Matt LeVasseur 0 0-1 0. TOTALS: 12 16-20 41.
Oneonta16 16 11 12 _ 55
Chenango Forks8 8 14 11 _ 41
Three-point field goals: O 4 (Ehrets 4); C 1 (Creagh). JV score: .
Afton 56, B-G 38
Michael Muller scored a game-high 21 points for visiting Afton, which rode a big third quarter to a Midstate Athletic Conference Division II victory.
The Crimson Knights outscored Bainbridge-Guilford, 20-9, and held a 14-5 advantage in rebounding during the third quarter for a 44-32 lead.
"They outrebounded us (for the game), 37-22," B-G coach Ben Nelson said. "They had 18 offensive rebounds. We just got killed on the boards. We had 30 turnovers again and shot 27 percent. ... The third quarter, that was the killer."
Adam Davis contributed 14 points for Afton, which received 13 from Clayton Andrews.
Shane Cornish's 14 points paced the Bobcats (1-9, 0-2), who played without top scorer and rebounder Justin Pepper. Nelson said Pepper is out for the rest of season with a broken right pinkie he suffered during a practice over Christmas break.
B-G is at Hancock on Saturday. The junior varsity game starts at 1 p.m.
Afton 56, B-G 38
AFTON: Clayton Andrews 6 1-2 13, Adam Davis 6 1-2 14, Casey Mohrien 0 1-2 1, Corey Mohrien 1 1-4 3, Michael Muller 9 1-2 21, Adam Rupakus 1 0-1 2, Corey Westfall 1 0-1 2, Dylan Wilson 1 0-1 2. TOTALS: 24 5-14 56.
BAINBRIDGE-GUILFORD (1-9, 0-2): Matthew Robinson 1 0-0 3, Jordon Smith 0 0-0 0, Shane Cornish 6 1-3 14, Steve Patten 1 1-2 3, Ben Roosa 2 0-0 5, Russell Ross 0 2-4 2, Patrick Mertz 0 0-0 0, Ryan Porter 2 3-6 7, Mark Shaw 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 14 7-15 38.
Afton11 13 20 12 _ 56
Bainbridge-Guilford12 11 9 6 _ 38
Three-point field goals: A 3 (Davis, Muller 2); B 3 (Robinson, Cornish, Roosa). JV score: B-G, 54-32.
