In their own unique ways, the Oneida basketball teams earned wins on both sides of a girls-boys doubleheader against its biggest rivals from Vernon-Verona-Sherrill on Saturday night.
It started with the girls Indians pulling off a third-quarter shutout and rallying to stun the Red Devils 32-31. And it culminated, on the boys side, with Oneida topping VVS 72-67 for its seventh straight win in this long series.
Both sides had to wait 24 hours for the show to begin, thanks to the latest round of winter weather. But the delay did nothing to decrease the quality of either battle, nor lessen the drama.
Oneida, on the girls side, was just 1-8 entering its game against 7-3 VVS, so it appeared a mismatch. However, the Indians had only lost 50-45 to the Red Devils in their first encounter Dec. 10, which gave it reason to think it could prevail in the rematch.
Still, VVS controlled the first half, mostly on the defensive side as it limited Oneida to a handful of field goals. On the offensive end, the Red Devils’ Codie Bayeur, by herself, had 14 points, more than the Indians, as her side went to the break ahead 22-11, not realizing that it would be until the fourth quarter before it scored again.
Through the entire eight minutes of the third period, Oneida kept VVS from any basket, field goal or free throw, and reeled off 12 straight points to inch out in front, 23-22.
After Bayeur broke the drought with a basket early in the fourth quarter to put her team up 24-23, Nicole Shene countered with a jump shot, and Oneida led again, this time for good.
Through a tense homestretch, every time the Red Devils did something, the Indians answered. Leanne Doolen’s free throws with 1:12 left cut the margin to 30-29, but Shene got open and, off a feed from Jenna Didio, answered with 40 seconds to play to make it 32-29. Though VVS again closed within one, the Indians forced a pair of late turnovers to pull it out.
Shene finished with nine points, with Jaclyn Cavanagh adding seven points and Erika Williams contributing six points. Other than Bayeur, who had 16 points, only Ashley Palmer, with seven points, produced with any consistency for VVS.
Then it was the boys turn to take the court. In their initial Dec. 10 meeting, Oneida had prevailed 60-55. Since then, the Indians had gone 7-3, while the Red Devils had made a swift recovery and won seven of nine games to roar into the Tri-Valley League West race. As a result, this rematch would go a long way toward deciding the league title.
A fast-paced first quarter saw Oneida seize a 19-11 lead before VVS closed the gap to 21-17. As both sides cooled off, the Indians extended the margin to 34-28 by halftime.
By the early part of the fourth quarter, Oneida’s margin had grown to 53-41. Still, VVS wouldn’t surrender, hitting a string of 3-pointers to close the gap. The Red Devils got within 70-67 on Josh Webb’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left, but free throws by Kyle Peck and Benn DeRocker sealed the win.
DeRocker led Oneida with 16 points, seven of them from foul shots. Trevor Haskell’s recent surge continued as he picked up 14 points, while Mitch DuBois threw in 12 points and Peck, with 11 points, also hit double figures. Evan Watson contributed six points.
In defeat, VVS had just five players score, as opposed to Oneida’s nine. Joe Spinella led both sides with 21 points, most of it from four 3-pointers, while Isaac Pitman threw in 17 points (nine of them free throws) and Travis Eaton earned 15 points. Andrew Kane (eight points) and Webb (six points) also had solid totals.
