The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill boys tip off season
VVS took on Unadilla Valley at the Sherburne-Earlville tournament on Friday night.
SHERBURNE » Vernon-Verona-Sherrill tipped off its season Friday night at the Sherburne-Earlville tournament, taking down Unadilla Valley.
The Red Devils put in a workmen-like performance, fending off the Storm for a 57-40 victory. Davey Moffett, 23, Andrew Roden, 15, and Jake Engler, 10, all reached double digit scoring for VVS in the win. Unadilla’s Andrew Jackson recorded 19 to pace the Storm.
Coach Andy Cossette knew Unadilla would be prepared for Roden and Moffett as his senior big men draw the attention of opposing teams.
“Both of them averaged a double- double last year,” Cossette said. “Every team knows this, that they are our main guys that we try to go to.”
Regardless of the attention, Moffett recorded a double-double, and Roden finished one rebound shy of grabbing his own doubledouble in the victory.
Moffett opened the scoring in the contest followed quickly by a three-pointer from point guard Nate Palmer to give VVS a 5-0 lead. Unandilla closed the gap to 6-5 moments later with a 3-pointer from Jackson, but VVS came right back with four straight points from Moffet before a bucket from T.J. Horodnick, assisted by Nate Palmer, capped the seven-point VVS run to give the Red Devils a 12-5 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Storm refused to let VVS run away with the contest. Wyatt Grey poured in three straight makes, followed by a Jackson layin to give Unadilla its first lead of the night, 13-12. With time winding down in the first quarter, Engler hit a shot from the foul line to give VVS a 14-13 lead at the end
of the first.
Jackson and Roden traded buckets to start the second frame of action. Palmer came upwith a steal seconds later and found Roden underneath, where the big man drew a foul and a trip to the foul line. Roden hit one of two shots from the charity stripe to put VVS up 17-15. The Red Devils scored again when Palmer found Engler for an open shot and a 19-15 lead but Cameron Osborne banked in a shot to keep Unadilla within two seconds later. Palmer grabbed another assist on VVS’ next possession, finding Roden underneath for two more as the see-saw first half continued.
A Storm timeout paused play with 3:45 to go in the first half as VVS held on to a 21-19 lead. Coming out of the stoppage, Engler found Moffett for a quick basket and a 23-19 lead. On the Red Devils’ next possession Roden grabbed an offensive board off a miss and netted two more points with a put-back. Jackson ended the VVS run at six points, earning a trip to the foul line and sinking both attempts to trim VVS’ lead to 23-21. Moffett closed the half with a shot of his own, and the Red Devils led 2521 at the halftime intermission.
The third quarter saw more of the same as the two teams continued to trade baskets. An Engler jumpshot gave VVS a 36-32 advantage midway through the third quarter, but both teams were plagued by turnovers in the final three minutes of the quarter. Heading into the final quarter of play, VVS held a four point, 36-32 lead over Unadilla.
The Red Devils opened the fourth with a basket when Roden found Moffett with breathing room in the post for a successful attempt to grow the VVS lead to 38-32. Grey earned a trip to the foul line on the ensuing possession with the Red Devils in the penalty, burying both shots to keep the scoring gap at four points. Three possessions later, Jackson drove the lane and put home a layup to make it a one-score game. VVS answered with two made foul shots by Moffett and a layup by Engler to increase its lead to 42-36. With 3:50 remaining in the game, Jackson buried a jump shot to once again cut into the Red Devil lead. Seconds later, Unadilla scored again on an Osborne basket to trail VVS by two points with just three minutes remaining.
VVS went right back to the well on its next possession, finding Moffett in the post for twomore. Unadilla would not score again as the Red Devil defense limited its opponent five fourth quarter points, and VVS closed the game out from the foul line, hitting nine of ten shots to seal the victory.
“I thought our defense was solid. Jackson scored 28 points two nights ago,” Cossette said. “I thought we did a great job on stopping him from getting a lot. Offensively, I thought we worked the ball pretty good, and wemade our foul shots in the fourth quarter, and that was probably the difference in the game.”