A three-pointer caps a comeback win: LeRoy – 60 Hornell – 57
From Hornell High School Athletics,
LeRoy’s Matthew Hockey hit a buzzer-beater 3 to give the Oatkan Knights the win over the Red Raiders 60-57 Wednesday night.
Hornell took the early 22-8 in the first half, but the Knights had a big 2nd quarter to cut Hornell’s lead to 5 going into halftime.
The second half was back and forth, and the teams were tied at 57 after Tyrone Buchanan hit 2 foul shots with 8 seconds left in the game.
Hornell coach Kirk Scholes had a lot to say about the game. “It was a great high school basketball game. Both teams played extremely hard. It was a game of runs. We played really well for stretches and then did some extremely dumb things that hurt us. At times our shot selection wasn’t good. Our patience offensively hurt us, and then our baseline out of bounds defense was poor. The good news is that we can learn from this game and fix a lot of the mistakes we made. I know the kids are disappointed, but they competed for thirty two minutes against a good team. LeRoy just made one more play than we did.”
Hornell was led by Demayne Dixon who had 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. “Demayne started out the game with great energy,” said Scholes. “He had the hot hand early and really got us going. When he’s in transition he’s a nightmare!”
“Ben also played well,” continued Scholes. “We need to get him the ball in the half court and let him get touches.” Ben Woolever added 17 points and 7 rebounds
Hornell drops to 9-3 on the season and remains the #1 seed in class B, while LeRoy improves to 8-5 and is seeded #2. “We will continue to grow,” said Scholes. “This group still has plenty of things to work on and improve. We need to take this loss, learn from our mistakes and get better. I give credit to LeRoy for staying composed early, fighting back and making some big plays down the stretch. Who knows maybe we will get another crack at them later in the year!!”
LeRoy’s Matthew Hockey had the game winner and 23 total points for the Knights. Grady Gilligan added 14.
