Cortland Standard .net

By TANEY BEAUMONT
Staff Writer
DeWITT — Two familiar problems came back to haunt the Cortland High boys’ basketball team this season... for what proved to be the final time.
The Purple Tigers, though, didn’t back down and gave host Jamesville-DeWitt all it wanted and then some Tuesday night.
Fifth-seeded CHS, which struggled with injuries and free throw shooting this season, saw 6-foot-10 junior center Chris Luke’s night end just 5:26 into the game with a re-injured ankle and wound up going just 5-of-17 collectively from the foul line in what ended up a 68-59 overtime loss to the No. 4 Red Rams — who hit 19-of-23 free throws — in a Section 3 Class A quarterfinal game.
Luke missed the first game between the teams this season, a 67-60 win by host J-D back on Feb. 13, with the original injury.
“Despite Chris going down in the early minutes —it would have been good to have him offensively and in the middle of our zone defense —this team, which is used to fighting through adversity, didn’t blink an eye and at times looked unstoppable,” said Cortland coach Jeremy Milligan, whose squad finished the season at 15-6. “We were physically and mentally exhausted at the end, with only two true scorers on the floor.”
Milligan was referring to senior guard Sage Brown and junior guard Nick Craig, who shared game scoring honors with 22 points apiece.
“An old problem, free throws, hurt us, but the final outcome wasn’t due to a lack of effort, execution or heart on our part,” added Milligan.
That final outcome was, in a word, exciting.
The Red Rams (16-5) built their biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter as junior guard-forward Jim Boeheim — the son of the Syracuse University head coach of the same name who led the hosts with 19 points — hit a 3-pointer and an inside shot to open the second-half scoring and give his team a 36-26 lead.
After Milligan called a timeout, the Purple Tigers came right back with a 12-point run, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Brown, to take a 38-36 lead with 3:47 left in the third, which ended with CHS up 45-44.
THE VISITORS TOOK their biggest lead of the night, 51-46, with 5:39 left on a layup by Brown.
J-D tied the game at 51-51 before Brown scored to make it 53-51 with 2:24 remaining, missing a free throw after being fouled on the play. Red Rams senior guard Isaiah Williams hit the first of two free throws and missed the second with 1:45 left, but got his own rebound and got the ball to senior guard Adrian Autry for a layup with 1:10 left to give the hosts a 54-53 lead.
Brown hit the first of two free throws with 41.8 seconds left to tie the game at 54-54 and, as it turned out, end the scoring in regulation.
J-D called a timeout and, after a missed shot, Autry was called for a foul on Brown with 6.8 seconds remaining. The scoreboard indicated that it was the 10th foul of the half on the Red Rams, and Brown was awarded two shots. Consultation between the scorekeepers, however, showed that it was only the ninth foul on the hosts and, after a missed free throw, the officials were called to the table. The error was deemed correctable, resulting by rule in a jump-ball situation with the possession arrow in favor of Cortland.
The Purple Tigers inbounded under their offensive basket, but the ball was lost out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left. J-D coach Bob McKenney then called a timeout, but Boeheim was called for traveling just before the clock ran out and CHS was ultimately awarded a long inbounds pass that was tipped by J-D, an official noting that the play was just a formality and that any score would not have counted.
AUTRY, WHO HAD six points in regulation, scored seven points in the four-minute overtime session to finish with 13 overall. He hit a jumper from the top of the key 15 seconds in to give the Red Rams the lead for good and, after Cortland had missed three shots on a pair of possessions sandwiched around a J-D misfire on a trey, connected from behind the arc to make it 59-54 with 2:28 left.
Cortland got to within four twice, a free throw by Brown making it 59-55 with 1:43 left and a layup by Craig with 1:24 remaining making it 61-57, but after the latter J-D scored the next seven points, capped by two free throws by Autry, before Craig’s second dunk of the game just before the buzzer closed out the scoring.
“I had a slow beginning, but give all the credit to my teammates for getting me the ball in the right spots so I could step up and knock the shots down,” said Autry. “It was good to see one go down. It gave me some confidence back. Coach told us that the game was about stops, and to focus on number three’s (Craig’s) spin moves. We locked in defensively, and that gave us the opportunity to come back and tie it, then go into overtime and win.”
“That was the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” a smiling Boeheim said. “It’s a great feeling to win a game like this, like getting a second chance almost. Luke is a pretty good player, and I hope he’s all right. After he went out we concentrated a little more on their two best players.”
BROWN FINISHED with yet another double-double for CHS, adding 12 rebounds to his 22 points (including four 3-pointers) along with four assists, six steals and two deflections. Craig just missed a double-double, with nine rebounds to go along with his 22 points in addition to four assists, three blocked shots, a steal and two deflections. Junior guard Jonny Phillips had four deflections, and JV call-up Curtis Wilk nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter for six points as CHS’s next leading scorer after Brown and Craig.
In addition to Boeheim (who sank a trio of treys) and Autry, the Red Rams also got double-figure scoring from Williams with 14 points (despite missing the last three minutes of overtime due to an unspecified injury) and senior guard Dom DeRegis with 10. They had a 50-36 rebounding advantage, led by Williams with nine, Boeheim with seven and senior forward Jacob Eich with six. No assist or steal statistics were available for the winners.
“This was typical of the battles we have with these guys,” said J-D coach Bob McKenney, whose team has ended Cortland’s season in sectionals in four of the last five years, including Class A championship games in 2011 and 2012 and the semifinals last year. “I’d prefer to see almost anyone else. Sage and Nick are phenomenal players, who single-handedly kept them in the game. When we got up by 10, Jeremy called a timeout and then they went on that 12-0 run. We lost guys defensively on a couple of those possessions, but I was proud of the way our kids battled back. They made plays down the stretch. Every possession was tough.
“When Luke went out it didn’t change what we did much, just made it a little easier to score inside. But again, a tip of the hat; I’m very impressed with those two kids. We’ll have to figure out what to do with Nick next season, and wherever Sage ends up going to college is getting a heck of a player,” he added.
“Our offensive leaders played outstanding games, provided team leadership and proved that they’re the best two-guard tandem in Central New York,” Milligan said of Brown and Craig.
THE RED RAMS advance to the Class A semifinals to face top-seeded Carthage Sunday in a 2:45 p.m. start at Onondaga CC’s SRC Arena. The Comets improved to 19-1 Tuesday with an 81-55 home win over visiting No. 8 Fulton.
Sunday’s first A semifinal, slated for a noon start at OCC’s Allyn Gym, pits second-seeded Syracuse CBA against No. 6 Whitesboro after both won Tuesday night. The Brothers improved to 17-3 with a 76-41 romp over No. 7 Oneida while the sixth-seeded Warriors (16-5) upset No. 3 Utica Notre Dame 66-57.