Though it took its second defeat of the season to Oneida, the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill boys basketball team did not stay down for too long.
In fact, the Red Devils recovered in time for Friday’s game against Clinton in “The Pit”, where it needed an extra bit of effort to beat the Warriors 48-43 in overtime.
Clinton set its defense upon Croll, and did an effective job on him. Croll only had 10 points — but by doing so, he passed the 1,000-point career mark in front of the home folks.
Despite all this, VVS led, 39-31, going into the fourth quarter, only to get shut down as it got just one field goal in those last eight minutes of regulation.
Tied at 41-41, and facing four minutes of overtime, VVS revived its own defense and limited Clinton to a scant two points, enough time for the Red Devils to get those winning points.
Adam Kemp pushed his way to 17 points to make up for Croll’s struggles, while Isaac Pitman had eight points and Joe Spinella earned six points.
This was the first of three straight home games for the Red Devils (11-3), who don’t hit the road again until February and meet Holland Patent next Friday night.
