(Corning Painted-Post defeated Wellsville, 105-77 to improve to 18-0 on the season. The Lions are 8-11 and finish the season at Cal-Mum Friday. File photo by Ella Green)
By Bill Collmer, Hornell Sun Senior Sports Writer
CORNING — I attended a game in Corning when the Corning-Painted Post Hawks Varsity Boys were hosting a non-league game versus Steuben County basketball powerhouse, Canisteo-Greenwood.
If you’re not familiar with the dynamic, although Corning is in Steuben County, they play in Section 4, while Canisteo-Greenwood, also in Steuben County they play in Section 5. Corning was originally a Section V school and won Sectional Championships in Section Five in 1924, 1926, 1930, 1933, 1936, 1939, 1940 & 1965.
Canisteo-Greenwood hasn’t lost a league game in Steuben County in three years and schedule the game with Corning to get them ready for the upcoming Section Five Class B2 Sectional Tournament.
Canisteo-Greenwood is ranked No.4 in the State in Class B, while Corning is ranked No.27 in Class AAA by the New York State Sportswriters Association.
If you’ve never attended a game in Corning, you should make the trip. It’s an experience every Basketball Junkie should have.
Why?
• The gym is state of the art, there’s a pep band and student cheering section.
• Bleachers under the basket. Bob Haggard does a stellar job as the public address announcer.
• It had the big game feel with photographers under each basket, video cameras rolling at both sides of the gym, two radio stations broadcasting the game, the Mullen Entertainment Network was there broadcasting the game live on YouTube.
• There were people from all over the county there to watch the game that had no dog in the fight, people from Avoca, Bath, Jasper-Troupsburg, Wayland and Prattsburgh.
There was a lot of hype surrounding this game and it lived up to it.
Corning Sophomore Nolyn Proudfoot is playing in his fourth year on varsity, last year he became the first player in Section IV history to surpass 1,000 points as a freshman. He finished his freshman season at 1,082 points while shooting 50.2% from the field and 39% from 3-point range. He already has interest from Syracuse, St. Bonaventure and the University of Albany and has an official offer from The San Diego Toreros who are coached by former UCLA Coach Steve Lavin.
It was a back-and-forth first quarter with both teams throwing jabs with Corning leading 27-19 after the first quarter, Proudfoot scored 18 points in the quarter. In the second quarter Corning started throwing haymakers and pulled out to a 55-40 lead with Proudfoot scoring 29 points in the first half.
Canisteo-Greenwood never folded, they kept their heads up and kept coming back, with Senior Carson Chaffee being smothered by the aggressive Corning defense the other guys stepped up big time with Kevin and Thomas Sirianni knocking down shots, 8th grader Jack Beers made some crucial shots, and James Smith attacked the basket like a man possessed. Corning still led 72-56 at the end of the 3rd quarter with Proudfoot pouring in 39 points.
Just when it looked like Corning was going for the knockout blow, C-G started the 4th quarter on a 7-0 run to pull within 9 points, however a foul call sent Corning to the line and following two made free throws a C-G turnover and Nolyn Proudfoot 3-pointer would halt the Chargers momentum and lead them to the 97-78 victory.
Proudfoot finished the game with a school record and career high 50 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, had 3 assists and 2 steals. He shot 19-for-26 from the field, 5-for-8 from downtown and 7-for-9 from the Free throw line. He never left the floor.
This is a kid that doesn’t talk trash or make silly hand gestures after a made three-pointer, he doesn’t showboat or talk trash he just goes out there and plays hard from start to finish. He doesn’t take a play off or rest on defense. He has a motor that won’t stop.
The 50 points puts Proudfoot over 1,500 career points.
And don’t think for a second that Corning is a one-man team. Senior Kyler Stevenson who has committed to play basketball at SUNY Plattsburgh is an all-Star caliber player, he finished with 18 points and four rebounds. Senior point guard Kohl Hogue finished with 17 Points, 11 Assists, five rebounds and two steals. Junior Carter Proudfoot finished with 10 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals. With defenses focusing on stopping Nolyn Proudfoot, Carter Proudfoot, Stevenson and Hogue know where to go and Nolyn Proudfoot finds the open man.
Kevin Sirianni led the Chargers with 18 points, Canisteo-Greenwoods all-time leading scorer Carson Chaffee finished with 18 points and worked hard for every one of them. Jack Beers finished with 13 points and James Smith finished with 11.
Nolyn Proudfoot has a gym in his backyard and uses it daily, waking up every morning and shooting countless jump shots before school. He has a dream of playing at the next level and he’s doing everything possible to make that happen. With the rest of this season and two more full seasons left the sky is the limit for Proudfoot.
As a basketball fan who’s been watching high School Basketball for 33 years, Proudfoot is one of the best players I’ve watched in person. He’s relentless on defense and watching him on offense, slice and dice through defenses is like poetry in motion. If he’s not open for a shot, he finds a teammate who is.
If you’re looking for an electric atmosphere and looking to watch an elite basketball player, I recommend attending a Corning Hawks Basketball game.
