(Photo Source: Steve Yang/The Cortland).
The gym was filled to capacity as the Cincinnatus Lions (#3 seed) defeated Madison (#6 seed) in the quarter-final round of the Section III Class D Tournament Tuesday night. The Lions won the game in overtime with a score of 64-58.
“It’s amazing,” said Cincinnatus Head Coach Jim Halstrom. “I’ve coached in a lot of big games here, big games like this even. I don’t know if I can compare it. The crowd was absolutely spectacular. These folks, this community, and this school system have made it special for all of us in these last two games.”
It was a close game from the very beginning with Madison obtaining a ten point lead, before Cinnatis came back to be down only three points going into halftime. The Lions entered the half with a score of 25-28.
“In a nutshell, when they (Madison) got off to a pretty good start, they didn’t miss,” said Coach Halstrom. “We knew we were capable of coming back. The biggest factor in that game was the last three minutes of that first half, when we got back within three points. When we got to the locker room, everything was positive at that point. We knew then that if we made that run at some other time in the game, we may not have enough left. It was perfect timing. We knew that it would go to the end, and it did.”
During the overtime period, Cincinnatus’ Cason Stafford led the way by scoring 9 out of the Lions’ 16 overtime points.
“I missed a clutch bucket in the fourth quarter,” stated Cason Stafford. “In overtime I really needed to step it up for my team because I missed one before. I dropped 9 in overtime and it felt great.”
Cason Stafford/Cincinnatus Boys Basketball. (Photo Source: Timothy A. Bennett/The Cortland Voice)
Here is a score breakdown of last night’s game:
Even though Scott Schuyler has said that he has been struggling with his jump shot lately, he led the Lions with 30 points in the game. Following Schuyler were Cason Stafford (19 points) and Kooper Vosburg (7 points).
“I was just really happy to see some of my shots go in,” said Schuyler. “I was struggling in the last few games with my shot. I was still getting points and everything, but it just wasn't coming from the three-point line. I started hitting shots tonight, and it was really nice. It’s really due to the fact that a few staff members let me get in the gym, and I was working hours and hours to get my shot back.”
Scott Schuyler/Cincinnatus Boys Basketball. (Photo Source: Timothy A. Bennett/The Cortland Voice)
Madison was led by Ethan Rivers (21 points) and Anthony Dodge (16 points).
Cincinnatus will now play the semi-final round of the sectional tournament against Town of Webb (#15 seed) at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College. The game is scheduled to tip off at 11am this Saturday (February 26th).
When asked to reflect over the team’s progress over the past couple of years, Scott Schuyler said, “we were always small. We were skilled, but we really didn’t have the big guys with the ability to get in the paint. Obviously we grew, and I think a lot of us worked on our games during COVID. When we came back, I thought that we were a lot better than we were before, so it has been a really beautiful thing to see.”
