Cortland Purple Tigers Beat Dryden to Advance to the “Cortland Holiday Tournament” Finals (Photos Included)

The Cortland Purple Tigers defeated the Dryden Lions 56-46 in the first round of the “Cortland Holiday Tournament” held at Cortland Jr/Sr High School. 

Cortland started the game off with a strong first half, as they obtained a 35-21 lead at halftime. 

However, the Lions came back in the third quarter to outscore Cortland 4-14 in order to make it a four-point game (39-35). 

The Tigers were able to hold on to their lead to eventually win the game, and head onto the tournament finals. 

“Our returning players really stepped up in the wake of having some of our guys gone from COVID protocols,” said Cortland head coach Jeremy Milligan.

The Tigers were led by Max Gambitta (22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists & 7 steals), Emerson Johnson (18 points, 9 rebounds & 3 assists), and Marvin Bell (11 points, 13 rebounds & 3 assists). 

“The second positive takeaway is that our game was to really focus on Xavier Scott on the interior and Colton Dow on the perimeter,” added Coach Milligan. “We talked about the fact that if we allowed both of those players to do what they are good at, we may not come out with the win.”

Dryden’s Xavier Scott was held to 9 points in the game, while Colton Dow scored 23 points.

According to Coach Miligan, both Marvin Bell and Emerson Johnson were a “great duo, covering Xavier Scott.”

Here is a score breakdown of last night’s game:

Up next, the Tigers will host the DeRuyter Rockets in the holiday tournament’s finals tonight (December 30th) at 7pm, while Dryden plays Lansing in the consolation game at 5:15pm tonight. 

Here are some photos of last night’s game against Dryden: