Neighboring basketball teams from Morrisville-Eaton and Hamilton would share a common bond this week — namely, getting blitzed by the state’s top-ranked side from West Canada Valley.
The Warriors went first last Tuesday night, and were about as successful as the Indians’ 15 previous victims as it took a 78-48 defeat.
Like it normally does, WCV set a frantic early pace. It took every bit of M-E’s resilience to keep pace, but it trailed 25-16 after one period, then watched the Indians pull away before halftime as the deficit grew to 47-24.
It was a little better in the second half, as Will Thomas worked his way to 20 points and Ben Thomas, despite getting just one field goal, still finished with seven points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Jamie Maciag added seven points.
On WCV’s side, 1,000-point scorer Jared Sudderly again led the charge, with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyle Humphrey got 12 points. In all, 11 different Indians players scored.
Then Hamilton got its turn at West Canada Thursday night — and it was far from a pretty sight as it lost to the Indians 87-36.
In a whirlwind first quarter, the Emerald Knights watched Humphrey hit four straight 3-pointers to power his team to a 31-9 edge, and the margin grew to 50-12 by halftime and 71-23 before the fourth quarter.
Coley Graham led Hamilton with nine points, while Keith Upton had seven points and Dan Meeks had seven points. Sudderly (15 points), Xavier Maxwell and Paul Atkinson (14 points each) led the Indiand along.
Hamilton at least came into the West Canada game with a win, thanks to last Tuesday’s 53-41 home triumph over Rome Catholic.
The Emerald Knights had learned from M-E’s defeat to the Red Wings on Jan. 29, a game in which Rome Catholic guard Zach Rowlands torched the Warriors for 41 points.
Here, Rowlands would get “just” 14 points, and Hamilton would fight its way to a 31-24 halftime lead and outscore the Red Wings in every single period as it built a double-digit margin.
Upton had a big night, scoring 24 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Behind him, Ken Quackenbush had nine points, while Graham had eight points and Meeks earned six points.
M-E recovered in a big way on Thursday night, finishing its regular-season at 11-7 by beating Oriskany 63-56 on a successful Senior Night.
Ignoring Oriskany’s 11-6 mark and the fact that the Redskins beat them by 24 back on Jan. 5, the Warriors bolted to a 23-13 lead, powered by Maciag’s 3-point shooting.
Slowly, Oriskany chipped away at the margin in the game’s middle stages, and were within range late before a senior, Kameron Brown, sealed it with a pair of free throws.
Another senior, Ben Thomas, led with 24 points, moving him within seven of the 1,000-point mark for his career. Maciag finished with 15 points as Will Thomas contributed 11 points. Brown had six points and 10 rebounds, with Matt Pelton also getting 10 rebounds. Mike Bunnell and Steve Rossi led Oriskany with 15 points apiece.
