The Cincinnatus Lions defeated the McGraw Eagles in a Cortland County rivalry game with a score of 57-36.
With this win, Cincinnatus improved their overall record to 13-1, while McGraw fell to 5-10.
Cincinnatus has been ranked #7 in the state for Class D since February 8th.
It was a close start of the game with Cincinnatus getting a 13-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter. However, Cincinnatus picked up the tempo and had a 28-15 lead entering halftime.
“It was a tough start for us,'' said Cincinnatus Head Coach Jim Halstrom. “Defensively, we didn’t move very well, and gave them (McGraw) some easy buckets. Offensively, we struggled at the beginning. We couldn’t get the outside shot going, so we had to take it inside and that’s what we did.
The Lions would then outscore McGraw 29-21 in the second half to increase their lead, and win the game.
Cincinnatus was led by Cason Stafford (20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block & 4 steals), Scott Schuyler (10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block & 2 steals), Tyler Liddle (7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks & 2 steals), and Jordan Larrabee (8 points & 2 rebounds).
McGraw was led by Quentin Burdick (12 points), Nolan Knickerbocker (6 points), and Jaydon Bassett (6 points).
“They (McGraw) came out with a man on Scott (Schuyler), so we knew Scott was going to have a tough time getting his looks,” stated Coach Halstrom. “We wanted to work the ball in and work it inside out. We didn’t do a good job getting it in, but Cason (Stafford) was able to penetrate and score.”
Here is a quarter by quarter breakdown of last night’s game:
Up next, Cincinnatus will take on DeRuyter on the road for their last scheduled game of the regular season this upcoming Monday (February 14th) at 7pm; while McGraw also hits the road to play against Manlius-Pebble Hill on Monday (February 14th) at 7pm.
When asked about how he feels about the upcoming sectional tournament, Coach Halstrom said “I don’t know what to expect. Our feeling as a team is that we are going to build to compete. That is what we are looking for.”
According to Coach Halstrom, the last time Cincinnatus competed in the sectional tournament was in 2013.
Here are some photos of the last night’s game:
