Saturday Basketball: Proudfoot, Corning best Wellsville again at Haverling’s New Year’s Showcase to claim tournament crown; Northern Potter uses balanced scoring to roll past Fri/Scio

BATH — Entering first round action on Friday, there was going to be that slight possibility that the Wellsville Lions could wind up coming face-to-face with the Corning Hawks once again when the night was through in Bath at the New Year’s Showcase. After the Hawks handled business against Penn Yan, and then a dynamic comeback win for the Lions over the host Rams, the stars would indeed align.

The stage was set and the spotlight was bright for one more final showdown between the two basketball stalwarts, this time for the New Year’s Showcase Championship.

Very much like their previous meeting in Corning back in the middle of December, it was tight quarters down the stretch. The Lions remained in view of the Hawks in front of them across the fourth quarter, but despite their late push, an amassment of free throws at the charity stripe from one of the State’s best in Nolyn Proudfoot soon followed, allowing the team in white and gold to maintain their advantage and capture the tournament championship with a season-sweeping 77-67 victory over Wellsville.

“Corning is a great basketball team. You always want to win these kinds of games, but I’m feeling pretty happy today at how much better we are than the last time we played them,” said Lions coach Tom Muska. “Unfortunately, Corning got even better in the meantime as well. Iron sharpens iron. Sometimes you need a good challenge to point you in the right direction. I feel we’re moving the right way lately, and it’s credit to the team and their hard work each day in practice to make that happen.”

The race was on in the opening stages of battle between the two clubs, as they delivered back and forth blows before Corning wiggled their way free from Wellsville’s (5-5) grasp in the waning minutes of the first quarter to grab a hold of a 20-16 lead marching forward. In the second quarter, even more room was created by the Hawks behind their most fiery performance on offense — a 21-point stand which saw them push their advantage to as high as 15 over the Lions near the halfway threshold of the frame.

But the Lions, despite the 15-4 run by the Hawks, flipped the table back around in their direction, allowing just six more points while finishing the first half on a bright note of their own with nine of the frame’s last 13 points. That was ushered in with a long three-pointer from Ty Vogel and some inside help from both Aiden Cowburn and Karson Grover along the way to cut Wellsville’s deficit to 41-29 at the break.

The momentum remained in Wellsville’s favor when the third quarter arrived in its entirety, as they closed the gap off their 23-point stanza behind the guidance of JJ Howard, who broke free for the Lions with 10 monstrous points — 14 total in the second half to help keep the Lions within reach of the Hawks across the second half.

But with a 58-52 lead to carry into the fourth quarter, Corning ultimately remained in front despite a furious amount of pressure from Wellsville to try and turn the tide one final time, as the Hawks looked to Proudfoot at the line to finish off the victory with a near-perfect 6-for-7 outing at the charity stripe in the last eight minutes.

Proudfoot finished with a game-high 26 points for Corning.

As for the Lions, four different scorers all eclipsed the double-digit plateau on the attack, with Howard paving the way forward with his 17 team-high points. Aiden Cowburn followed with 15 points, while Ty Vogel and Karson Grover each pitched in 12 and 10 points on a respective basis.

Wellsville will now rest up for the next week and change until they re-emerge for action once again on January 14, as they hit the road for Alfred University to meet the Attica Blue Devils for battle beginning at 7 p.m.

Wellsville 16 13 23 15 – 67

Corning 20 21 17 19 – 77

WELLSVILLE: Aiden Cowburn 7 0-0 15, Karson Grover 3 3-4 10, JJ Howard 6 5-8 17, Ty Vogel 5 0-1 12, Nick Germain-Tardieu 1 1-2 4, Trent Green 2 0-2 4, Derek Coleman 1 3-4 5. Totals: 25 12-21 67.

CORNING: Kohl Hogue 3 2-3 8, Carter Proudfoot 3 0-2 7, Kyler Stevenson 5 0-0 11, Mekai Daniels 4 3-4 13, Teigen Gill 4 1-2 10, Nolyn Proudfoot 10 6-7 26, Spencer Castle 1 0-0 2. Totals: 30 12-18 77.

3-point goals: Wellsville 5 (Vogel 2, Cowburn, Grover, Germain-Tardieu), Corning 5 (Daniels 2, C. Proudfoot, Daniels, Gill).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 18, Corning 18. Fouled out: Grover (WLSV), Stevenson (COR).

Northern Potter 62, Friendship/Scio 27

FRIENDSHIP — Almost every single scorer that reached the floor for visiting Northern Potter accounted for at least a basket to help established an all-out balanced attack against Friendship/Scio on Saturday, using every bit of momentum that was garnered to take a hold of the action early on and roll straight towards a 62-27 victory in Friendship.

Northern Potter’s presence was established right away against Friendship/Scio, elongating all across the first half of play behind two dynamic frames of offense while they kept Friendship/Scio (2-5) at bay, beginning with a massive 18-8 run behind the contributions of five different scorers.

The visitors would go on to close out the half with their best frame on both ends of the floor, holding Friendship/Scio to just three points while cashing in on 19 more points — a game-high, to ensure their advantage remained intact heading into the second half.

Despite the defeat, Connor Blouvet assembled a strong game for Friendship/Scio to lead the offense, as he recorded a team-high 10 points. Deacon Brown followed with eight points.

Friendship/Scio is now off until Friday night right back in Friendship, hosting Houghton Academy at 7:30 p.m.

Northern Potter 18 19 16 9 – 62

Friendship/Scio 8 3 6 10 – 27

NORTHERN POTTER: Malachi Lewis 4 1-3 9, Ty Daniels 3 1-4 8, Gaige Hohenwarter 4 1-2 9, Noah Sherman 1 0-0 2, Conhar Snyder 2 0-0 5, Noah Cady 2 0-2 4, Kameron Martin 3 0-0 6, Wyatt Bliss 0 2-2 2, Kaden Hoopes 2 0-0 6, Devin Kicklighter 1 1-2 3, Owen Daniels 1 0-0 3, Blayk Risser 2 0-0 5. Totals: 25 6-15 62.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Jerome Harmon 1 1-2 3, Connor Blouvet 3 2-2 10, Aiden Golden 1 0-0 3, Matt Donohue 1 0-0 3, Zacoby Holder 0 0-2 0, Deacon Brown 4 0-6 8. Totals: 10 3-12 27.

3-point goals: NP 6 (Hoopes 2, Hohenwarter, Snyder, Daniels, Risser), F/S 4 (Blouvet 2, Golden, Donohue).
Total Fouls: NP 13, F/S 13. Fouled out: None.