OHS girls clinch division

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February 7, 2012

By Dean Russin Sports Editor The Daily Star Tue Feb 07, 2012, 08:00 AM EST

ONEONTA _ Kelsey Baker hears voices in her head, but only when she's at the foul line.

"I hear everyone in the background and stuff," Oneonta High junior forward Baker said Monday night, "but mainly, it's just me, the ball and the basket. You've just got to make them."

Junior forward Baker made five clutch free throws in a row in the fourth quarter, when she scored seven of her team-high 11 points to lead host Oneonta High to a 35-27 girls basketball victory over Norwich.

The Yellowjackets (12-3, 10-1) clinched the Southern Tier Athletic Conference's East Division title while preventing Norwich (11-5 overall) from forcing a tie for the Central Division crown with Owego _ the only STAC team to beat OHS this season.

That could be the reason things got out of hand on the sidelines with 16.3 seconds left.

The Purple Tornado entered the fourth quarter with a 21-20 lead following three quarters of sloppy basketball that resembled anything but a meeting of two state-ranked teams in Class B.

Baker snapped a 24-all tie with a wide-open swish from just behind the foul line only to see Bryn Loomis sink a three-pointer from the right baseline to put Norwich up, 27-26.

Baker drove the lane on the ensuing possession, drew a foul on Sophie Stewart and made both free throws with 3:14 to go. Those foul shots put OHS ahead to stay as the Jackets closed with a 9-0 run on 9-for-10 shooting from the bonus line.

"Kelsey is probably the most competitive kid on our team," said OHS coach Matt Miller, who added his Jackets were likely going to visit STAC West Division champion Horseheads next Tuesday for a STAC semifinal. "It just showed up at the end of the game. She had two offensive rebounds in a row at the end. She just wanted it tonight."

Baker hit 5 of 6 free throws _ including the front ends of two one-and-one opportunities _ in the fourth quarter, when OHS outscored the Purple Tornado, 15-6.

Shortly after Norwich's Breanna Cashman rebounded Baker's lone miss in the final period, Norwich coach Josh Bennett lost it.

Cashman's rebound set up a baseline drive from the right side by Jenni Borfitz, who rolled in a layup only to have it wiped away by a traveling violation.

Borfitz's turnover was the last straw for Bennett, who yelled at the officials while speed-walking to the baseline, squatted and smacked the floor with his hands.

The officials smacked back, though, hitting Bennett with a technical foul.

"I thought if I was going to get a technical, I would have gotten it before," said Bennett, who watched Stewart foul out with 1:41 left, screamed for a foul when Loomis bounced off of Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering along the baseline about 40 seconds later and turned beet-red when OHS standout Mariah Ruff drew a charge on Loomis inside the last minute. All three of those occurred with OHS holding a 29-28 lead.

"All I did at the end was hit the floor," said Bennett, whose team has lost three of its last four games. "I'd been hitting the floor the whole game. I do that every single game I coach."

Bennett took particular exception to the no-call on Vanderlaan-Meyering, which forced Loomis into a wild pass that went out of bounds.

"I don't want to say that was the turning point in the game, but it was the turning point in the game," said Bennett, who pulled Miller into a war of words as the game wound down. "We're down one and we should have a kid at the foul line shooting two. I think that was the biggest point in the game. I'm not going to look at an official and blame him, but I thought that was a huge play."

The technical soon followed, and Ruff hit both shots to give OHS a 33-27 lead with 16.3 seconds left. OHS received possession as well, forcing Norwich to foul Ruff again with 11.7 seconds to go. Ruff sank both foul shots to cap a 10-point night that probably featured as many turnovers for the OHS sophomore point guard.

"I just couldn't hit anything," said Ruff, who was benched during her scoreless first half. "They did a good job defending, but I couldn't hit anything."

Credit Loomis and Borfitz for keeping Ruff in check as the two rotated on her at the top of Norwich's defense all night.

"They made it hard for her, and we kind of knew that was going to happen," Miller said.

Said Bennett: "I don't think anyone walks into this gym and doesn't think they've got to stop Mariah. You've got to try to keep her under 20 (points). For us to walk into the locker room at halftime and having her with no points _ and we're not winning? It was 14-12 (OHS was ahead at halftime), so I think that shows they played tremendous defense, as well as we did."

Baker said Norwich's extra attention on Ruff sparked the rest of the team.

"They double on Mariah, so they're basically saying none of us can really score," she said. "So that pumps us all up and makes us want to do better."

Oneonta also got eight points and eight blocks from Vanderlaan-Meyering, who more or less forced Norwich to think outside before even considering anything else. Loomis was the only Norwich player to benefit, however. She hit three three-pointers en route to a game-high 14 points for the Purple Tornado, who were held to single-digit scoring outputs in each quarter.

"We are division champs now and we just proved to everyone that we are actually here," Baker said. "We lost seniors, but we're still here. Oneonta girls basketball is still here."

OHS closes its regular season at Chenango Valley on Wednesday.

Oneonta 35, Norwich 27

NORWICH (11-5): Breanna Cashman 2 1-2 5, Jenni Borfitz 1 2-4 4, Cassie Sutton 0 0-0 0, Bryn Loomis 4 3-4 14, Hailey Dietrich 0 0-0 0, Sophie Stewart 1 2-2 4, Taylor Cook 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 8 8-12 27.

ONEONTA (12-3,10-1): Hayley Dower 0 0-0 0, Dani Nicosia 0 0-0 0, Minnie Webster 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Baker 3 5-7 11, Mariah Ruff 3 4-6 10, Sierra Sangetti-Daniels 1 2-2 4, Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering 4 0-0 8, Maria DiMartin 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 11-15 35.

Norwich     7 5 9 6 _ 27

Oneonta     4 10 6 15 _ 35

Three-point field goals: N 3 (Loomis 3). JV score: Oneonta won.

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