So familiar with each other through the seasons, it figured that the Oneida and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill basketball teams would open the 2010-11 campaign against each other in a girls/boys doubleheader at Sheveron Community Center.
In the boys contest, the Indians had to withstand a furious effort from the host Red Devils before making the key baskets in the end to prevail by a score of 60-55.
A year ago, Oneida’s boys dominated the Tri-Valley League West division en route to an 11-8 record. VVS, by contrast, had gone 5-13 and missed the playoffs, and as the Red Devils began again, long-time head coach Al Knapp (528 wins in 34 seasons with the Red Devils and, before that, Brookfield) was saying that this season might be his last.
Regardless of circumstances, though, any Oneida-VVS game is an intense one, and this proved no exception.
The Indians pushed hard in the first quarter, bolting out to a 20-10 lead, but the Red Devils nearly made it up before the period ended, closing within 22-21. From there, it turned into a tense exchange, the rivals swapping leads and short runs without breaking clear.
On Oneida’s side, sophomore Kyle Peck stood out, working his way to 24 points. VVS countered with Joe Spinella earning 26 points as Isaac Pitman (14 points) and Brett Fields (10 points) also reached double figures.
Just five Red Devils scored,though, as compared to the Indians’ total of seven. And having a little more depth ended up pushing the game in Oneida’s favor as, with a minute left, Trevor Haskell converted Benn DeRocker’s crisp pass into a key lay-up that pushed the Indians ahead for good. Haskell finished with nine points as teammate Keith Johnson contributed seven points.
As it turned out, that would only even the score for the night – for a couple of hours earlier, VVS would win the girls showdown with Oneida, registering a hard-fought 50-45 victory over the Indians.
Both of these sides struggled in 2009-10 – VVS going 5-13, Oneida 2-16 – so winning here would signal, for either of them, that things could turn around.
At the start, both sides made surges as the Red Devils started with a 6-1 edge, only to see the Indians pull in front 12-10 and lead by a point going into the second quarter. There, VVS appeared to seize command as, launched by a Marissa Randall 3-pointer, the hosts excelled on both sides of the ball and took a 27-19 lead to the break.
Unfazed, Oneida began the third quarter with 11 unanswered points to move ahead again as freshman Jenna Didio, who finished with 15 points, led the surge. Forward Ke’Airah Parker helped, too, excelling in the paint as she finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
But Parker sat most of the fourth quarter due to foul trouble, and after Randall hit another crucial 3-pointer VVS rallied again, going in front 44-42 before Didio hit a pair of free throws to even things once more.
Randall countered with two successful foul shots of his own, putting the Red Devils up 46-44, and when Oneida tried to answer in the last two minutes, Leanne Doolen and Ashley Palmer both made clutch steals that helped seal the VVS win.
Overall, Randall had 16 points to lead both sides, while Palmer posted 10 points. Tracee Scheibel was close behind, earning nine points as Paige Zupan earned six points.