LeRoy survives late rally to earn the Class B2 title

By: Dylan O'Loughlin

HOPEWELL, N.Y. — The top-seeded Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg Rebels and No. 6 LeRoy Oatkan Knights went head-to-head at Finger Lakes Community College for the Section V Class B2 title. The game needed more than four quarters to decide a champion, as Tournament MVP Bailey Caton scored six of her team-high 12 points in overtime to lift the Oatkan Knights to a 50-42 victory.

Tournament MVP Bailey Caton finished with 12 points including six in overtime to lift LeRoy to its second sectional title. (Photo: STEVEN TWARDZIK)

“She’s been great for us all season long, not just this game,” LeRoy Head Coach Anthony Macaluso said. “She really helps control our offense. She’s got a great basketball IQ, she helps direct traffic when they can’t hear me and she did that all game tonight.” 

After ending the third quarter with an eight-point lead, LeRoy’s Kylie Wilson hit a lay up while Makenna Gallo knocked down two free throws to make it a 34-22 game in favor of the Oatkan Knights. C-R/B-R caught fire though as the Rebels went on a 12-0 run to tie it at 34 apiece with under two minutes to go. Sophomore guard Lily Tompkins led the way with six points during the run while teammates Aubrey Williams and Lilly Farwell connected on a triple apiece.

The Oatkan Knights broke the tie thanks to a Madison Paddock lay up and two free throws from Wilson to take a three-point lead with eight seconds remaining. But, the Rebels had last possession and came up clutch as senior guard Williams knocked down a triple from the top of the key to tie it at 38 apiece and send it to over time. 

“It’s really been the same message all season long about not getting too low when they go on a run and they happened to go on a run,” Macaluso said. “They went on a nice run and made some plays. At that point when we know we’re going to overtime it’s not about thinking about the run, it’s about thinking of what we need to do next as a team and they handled it.”

In overtime, LeRoy took over thanks to the play of Caton as the sophomore caused multiple turnovers and facilitated the offense in the final four minutes of play. Caton dished out an assist to Gallo to start the scoring in overtime while netting six of LeRoy’s 12 points in overtime to pull away with the victory. To go along with that, LeRoy held the Rebels to just four points in overtime, all from the charity-stripe. 

“I know on offense if I’m not scoring well, my teammates will so I got to look for them,” Caton said. “Defensively, I just got to stay good. Not get any fouls, and reach when I’m supposed to on back touches and then leading that to a fast run in transition.”

The first half was highly defensive as both teams caused multiple turnovers and couldn’t find the bottom of the bucket. The ball movement got LeRoy settled in on offense though as five different Oatkan Knights scored in the opening 16 minutes to take a 17-12 lead at halftime. 

In the third quarter, LeRoy carried the momentum. Leading the way was the sophomore Paddock with six points in the third and 10 overall in the final 20 minutes. The lead got to 14 points at its largest, but a quick five points from Farwell and a three-pointer from Williams to end the quarter made it a 30-22 game heading into the fourth. Despite the scoring run that carried over into the final quarter, the Oatkan Knights responded and held off the Rebels for the victory.

“When we went into the locker room at halftime, we knew it was going to be a challenge to get it done, but we wanted to do it for our teammates,” Paddock said. “We wanted to do it for each other and we wanted to knock out the number one seed as a six seed. We just kept encouraging each other, we came in and we got the job done.”

Leading the way for LeRoy was Caton and Paddock with 12 points apiece. Wilson reached double-figures with 10 points including six from beyond the arc while Gallo followed with nine points. Sophomore Cora Weaver added two layups and a three for seven points. 

For the Rebels, Farwell posted a game-high 17 points while Williams connected on four triples and a deuce for 14 points. Tompkins chipped in 11 points to round out the scoring. 

With the win, LeRoy earns its second sectional title in program history and first since 2007. To go along with that, the Oatkan Knights improve to 14-10 overall with its sixth victory in the last seven outings. 

The Oatkan Knights advance to the Class B Regional Qualifier where they take on the Class B1 sectional champs Waterloo (18-5). Even with the win, the mentality stays the same for LeRoy.

“They’re a good team so we can’t go in easy,” Caton said. “We have to keep competing and going to practice, keep playing what we do in the game from offense to defense, keep it going and hopefully we can get that crossover win.” 

Tip off for the Class B Qualifier is scheduled for Saturday, March 7. Time is TBD.