Cortland Standard .net

Despite dressing just 10 players due to injuries, Cortland High boys got the new year off to a good start.
Nick Craig scored 14 points and Sage Brown added 12 point during the Purple Tigers’ 51-45 non-league basketball win over New Hartford at Shafer Gymnasium Saturday afternoon in a rescheduled matinee. Craig added five rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist to his efforts. Brown pulled down 11 rebounds for the double-double to go with four steals and four assists.
With their fifth straight win, the Purple Tigers improve to 6-2 overall. New Hartford falls to 3-5.
“Nick’s been our biggest offensive scoring threat this season and he had a solid first half of scoring, but was unable to get things going much in the second half,” Cortland coach Jeremy Milligan said as Craig scored 12 of his points in the first half. “I think with Nick only scoring two points but our team still finding other avenues to score will make us more dangerous as the season progresses.”
Brown continued his steady play, having come off an MVP performance the previous weekend in Cortland’s Holiday Tournament title run.
“As usual, senior captain Sage Brown put in a full days work-earning another double-double,” said Milligan. “Sage is the leader of this team at both ends of the court and when we need a big play he is often the player that makes it happen.”
Both teams started slowly with New Hartford taking a 12-10 lead after one quarter. The Spartans used a 5-0 run to start the second quarter and took their biggest lead of the game at 17-10.
Cortland responded by picking up its pace offensively and outscored the visitors 17-8 for the remainder of the period to take a 27-25 lead at the intermission. Craig scored seven points in the quarter and Justin Prentice hit a big 3-pointer coming off the bench for an additional spark.
The two teams traded points in the third quarter as Cortland maintained a 40-37 advantage before holding New Hartford to just eight points in the fourth quarter switching back-and-forth between its 2-3 zone and man-to-man defense to seal the win. Kersean Perry came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer in the quarter while Aiden Stehm delivered a key bucket with three minutes to go and added two free throws to seal the deal.
“I feel fortunate to escape this afternoon with a win,” Milligan said. “Both teams battled this afternoon and the bottom line is we were able to make a few more plays.”
New Hartford shot just 29 percent for the game. The Spartans were 14-for-29 from inside the arc, but just 4-for-29 from 3-point range. Noah German led New Hartford with 15 points. Frankie Policelli chipped in with 11 points.
CORTLAND JVs were 66-58 overtime winners over New Hartford in the prelim at Shafer Gym behind a 30-point performance by Duff Steve and a gritty rally at the end of regulation.
Down 54-51 with less than a minute to play, a 3-point shot by Cortland’s Zache Fiene was needed to send the game into overtime. Gary Reagan finished with 17 points and Sheridan Crane 12 for Cortland, while Fiene’s tying trey was part of a seven-point outing.
Cortland returns to OHSL Freedom Division play on Tuesday, on the road to take on Mexico with the junior varsity squads getting things rolling at 5 p.m.