Cortland Boys Basketball. (Photo Source: Steve Yang/The Cortland Voice).
The 7th seeded Cortland Purple Tigers lost a tough game to 10th seeded Syracuse Academy of Science in the first round of the Section III Class A Sectional Tournament.
The Tigers ended up losing to Syracuse Academy of Science (SAS) with a score of 41-68.
It was a close game at the beginning with Cortland obtaining a 25-24 lead at the end of the first half. SAS came out of halftime shooting perfectly from every spot on the floor to outscore Cortland 32 to 11 points in the third quarter. The Tigers were then not able to make a fourth quarter comeback to overcome the deficit.
“SAS came out in the third quarter, and just had a defensive intensity that took us out of any man to man offense we could do,” said Cortland Head Coach Jeremy Milligan. “At the same time, they also shot the absolute lights out. It was tough to overcome that third quarter. 32 points in one quarter is outstanding, and it shows how balanced they are.”
“Their (SAS) top three players Reed, Perry, and Jones came alive, and we knew that we were going to have our hands full with them,” added Coach Milligan. “Truly in the first half, I thought we kept them in check; but they just came out and played outstanding in that third quarter. So I give them credit, but I also give our kids a lot of credit for battling. We got down early, and it could've been over halfway through the first quarter; but we just kept slowly chipping away, sharing the ball well, and knocked some big shots.”
Here is a quarter by quarter breakdown of the game:
Cortland was led by Max Gambitta (17 points) and Caden Albright (10 points).
SAS was led by Makai Reed (20 points), Steyvon Jones (18 points), and Davon Perry (12 points).
With this loss, the Tigers ended their season with an overall record of 11-10.
When asked about Cortland’s seniors (Max Gambitta, Tyler Blake, Jack Waldbauer, and Nicholas Yonta), Coach Milligan said, “I’m proud of them. They are all great role models and great seniors. They’ve come a long way. These young men are going to go on and be outstanding community members, outstanding employees, outstanding husbands, and dads someday. I will enjoy sitting back and watching them grow up, because we’ve seen a lot of it from the last few years to now; and the rest of the senior year is going to fly by. I am grateful to have worked with them and mentor them a little bit along the way.”
Here are some photos of last night’s game (Photos taken by Steve Yang/The Cortland Voice files):
