Tioga overcomes slow start to reach state final four
UTICA, N.Y. - Stick a fork in it.
It's over.
This could get ugly.
Comments that could be heard among the reporters and photographers (those who should have known better) during the first quarter of the Tioga girls' 60-44 regional basketball win against Section III champion Utica Notre Dame.
Was it the long ride? The strange surroundings of SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica?
Whatever it was, the Lady Tigers didn't score their first point until the 4:13 mark when Marissa Miller hit the second of two free throws.
But, the first quarter was ugly. The Tigers fell behind 14-4 after one quarter and when the Lady Jugglers of Utica Notre Dame scored the first three points in the second quarter to go up 17-4 it wasn't looking good for Tioga.
But, then Kara McDuffee hit her second field goal of the game to close it to 17-6 with 6:55 and suddenly Kacie Hoyt caught fire with a three, then another quick two, and then another.
McDuffee broke in for a layup and Kacie hit another long three and then another near three for her 11th point of the quarter and what do you know - it's all tied at 23-23.
The Lady Tigers had followed their dismal four-point first with a 19-point second and held Notre Dame to 11 to go into the break only down by two at 25-23 and it was a brand new game.
Coach Joe Robinson said of the first quarter, with a slight twinkle in his eye, "oh, we were just setting them up in that first quarter."
Kara McDuffee, in what might be the understatement of the week, if not the month, said "sometimes we just start a little slow."
Kacie Hoyt was a little more realistic. "We knew heading into the locker room that we were wearing them down. You could see it. After the first quarter coach said 'let's cut it (the lead) in half.' We said, 'no let's erase it!'" and they nearly did.
Hoyt took up in the third quarter right where she left off in the second. She hit an opening three to give Tioga the lead 26-25 just a minute in.
Miller scored a layup but then Hoyt hit three in a row including another from beyond the arc and Korin Eckstrom scored a layup and was fouled and hit the bonus to put the Lady Tigers up 38-33.
The fourth was all Tioga as they racked up 22 points to 11 for the Lady Jugglers and walked away with the Central Region Class C title.
McDuffee contributed her usual balanced game with 17 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists.
Eckstrom had seven rebounds to go with her five points.
Hoyt finished with 27 points - including four three pointers and another two that were mere inches away (if that) from being additional three's. Miller was credited with three rebounds and three steals along with five points. Allyson Richter added six and Callie Patsellis tossed in two free throws to round out the scoring.
Utica Notre Dame's Emily Durr led the Lady Jugglers with 14.
"We knew we could play with them if we could get into our half-court game and once we shook off that terrible first quarter and started bringing up the ball like we should we knew we would be all right," Robinson said. "Plus everyone did a great job rebounding especially on the defensive end. Sometimes we cheat a little, knowing we stand a good chance of getting that rebound we just send them. We cherrypick a little and it paid off with a couple nice buckets for us. That gets things going. Plus Kacie has quick feet and teams tend to leave her alone too much. Then when she starts hitting it just lifts everybody else."
The Lady Tigers are scheduled to play the Class C semi-finals game at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y.
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