Ruff leads OHS past Seton

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Oneonta High's Dani Nicosia shoots over the defense of Seton Catholic's Angelica Hauer during their game Tuesday at Oneonta High.

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February 1, 2012

By Dean Russin Sports Editor The Daily Star Wed Feb 01, 2012, 09:27 AM EST

ONEONTA _ It's not always about how good Mariah Ruff is, but that usually has a lot to do with it.

Sophomore point guard Ruff scored a game-high 20 points Tuesday to lead Oneonta High to a 46-25 girls basketball thumping of visiting Seton Catholic Central, putting the Jackets on the brink of clinching the Southern Tier Athletic Conference's East Division title.

"You always talk about defending Mariah," Saints coach Colleen Jayne said of the fourth-year varsity player, who scored the first 10 points to help OHS take a 14-2 lead after one quarter. "She makes other kids better. Every time we play them, somebody else steps up that we don't even know. In my mind, that's because she makes other people better."

Jayne, whose team lost the Section Four Class B final to OHS last season, knows of what she speaks.

Junior forward Kelsey Baker scored the last four points of the first quarter for state-ranked Oneonta (11-3, 9-1), which got at least two points from six players in the second period.

Sophomore forward Maria DiMartin converted an entry pass from Ruff to make it 16-2 less than a minute into the second quarter. After 6-3 junior Angelica Hauer scored on a putback for Seton (9-5, 7-3), Ruff made it 18-4 on a "Did you see that?" drive down the lane. Ruff ran into Hauer and another Seton 6-footer _ eighth-grader Olivia Ramil _ about halfway down the paint but spun toward the right elbow for a fall-away jumper with 4:39 left before halftime.

"We all came out pumped," said Ruff, who sank four of Oneonta's six threes. "I feel like Seton's our rival now. I don't know why, I just do."

Junior guard Minnie Webster then hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Jackets, who also got second-quarter baskets from Baker, junior guard Dani Nicosia, junior forward Sierra Sangetti-Daniels and junior center Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering en route to a 30-11 lead at halftime.

"One of the keys we talked about was to try to push the ball as much as we could so those two big girls couldn't get back in the lane," OHS coach Matt Miller said. "They're huge and they're both skilled, great shot-blockers. So we wanted to really push the tempo of the game and see if we could get some shots that weren't contested by 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-2."

The Saints also received a healthy dose of sophomore Hayley Dower, a 5-2 guard whose contributions won't show up in a standard high school box score.

"She's such a valuable kid to have on the floor," Miller said of the scrappy Dower, who boxed out the Saints' bigs, sacrificed her skin for possessions by diving to the floor and forced a handful of jump balls. "As a guard, I think she's our second-leading rebounder. She's the smallest kid on our team, but she's all heart and she's on the floor for loose balls and tie-ups. Her energy just makes us better defensively.

"And Minnie Webster, that kid's a gym-rat and I'm just so happy to see her making shots because she's probably taken more shots in the gym than anyone else on our team," Miller continued. "She lives down at the boys club and she's a kid who, if she gets her feet set, she's one of the better shooters on this team."

Ruff's last two field goals came in the third quarter, which ended with OHS ahead, 40-23. Both of those baskets were three-pointers, contributing to Oneonta's 6-for-12 effort from long range.

Webster and Ruff made two foul shots apiece in a 6-2 fourth quarter for OHS, which went 6-for-7 from the free throw line.

Seton finished 1-for-4 from the foul line and 2-for-17 from three-point range.

"We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the first half," said Jayne, who got 17 points from Hauer _ a STAC All-East Division pick as a Chenango Forks sophomore last season. "I was very happy with our performance defensively. It was an off night shooting."

Seton may be hoping a little of that rubs off on the Jackets, at least for their next two games.

Oneonta holds a two-game lead on the Saints for the East Division title, and both teams have two games remaining. Should the Saints lose once or Oneonta gets past Norwich at home Monday or Chenango Valley on the road Feb. 8, the Jackets will clinch their fourth division crown in the last five seasons.

"They have Norwich and CV to play, so I guess it's just we're still praying and hoping and scratching and clawing," said Jayne, whose team fell to OHS, 58-48, earlier this season. "No offense to Matt and his team, but we hope somebody else beats them."

Oneonta 46, Seton CC 25

SETON CATHOLIC CENTRAL (9-5, 7-3): Gaby Faragasso 1 0-0 2, Maria Korchak 0 0-0 0, Molly Martin 0 0-0 0, Christy O'Neil 0 0-0 0, Kim Shaheen 1 0-0 3, Angelia Hauer 8 1-2 17, Lydie Rwamakuba 0 0-0 0, Olivia Ramil 1 0-2 3. TOTALS: 11 1-4 25.

ONEONTA (11-3, 9-1): Hayley Dower 0 0-0 0, Dani Nicosia 3 0-0 6, Minnie Webster 2 2-2 8, Kelsey Baker 2 2-2 6, Mariah Ruff 7 2-3 20, Sierra Sangetti-Daniels 1 0-0 2, Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering 1 0-0 2, Maria DiMartin 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17 6-7 46.

Seton CC 2 9 12 2 _ 25

Oneonta 14 16 10 6 _ 46

Three-point field goals: S 2 (Shaheen, Ramil); O 6 (Ruff 4, Webster 2). JV score: Oneonta won.

Dean Russin can be reached at drussin@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 215.