A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
Varsity Boys Basketball: Cortland vs. Homer. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
The Homer Trojans defeated county rival Cortland (Purple Tigers) in the championship game of this year’s Tom Neugebauer holiday tournament at Cortland junior-senior high school Friday night.
It was a low scoring game on both sides, but Homer ended up getting an early 11-5 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
“It was a usual Cortland vs. Homer game; low scoring until the end, but we’re happy we pulled through” said Homer senior Wyatt Wilbur. “We knew that they were going to come out with pressure. We just had to keep our energy up. We came out fast, and we just had to finish fast.
The Purple Tigers kept pushing to rally back throughout the game, but Homer stayed composed and made the stops they needed to make in order to come out with the win.
“It was competitive, and we knew that it was going to be like that,” added Homer head coach Ken Updike. “I am proud of my guys for being in the moment. It’s Cortland’s home tournament, and they got their first win yesterday. We’ve already beaten them one time and we are playing at their place; so everything was kind of right there to get picked off. Our guys came out ready to play. Cortland battled back, but we composed ourselves, and got enough stops to be able to win.”
Coach Updike continued, saying “We’re going to rebound and get stops, because that’s who we are, and our kids take pride in that. Eventually, as we start to see them get more comfortable on offense, our guys will end up getting to spots where they can score.”
Homer boys basketball team wins Tom Neugebauer holiday tournament title.
In the final minutes of Homer’s win, this dunk from Kaden Durham propelled them to a win:
Homer ended up winning the game with a score of 37-28. With this result, Homer improved to a 4-3 record, while Cortland fell to 1-7.
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Homer | 11 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 37 |
| Cortland | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 28 |
Homer was led by Wyatt Wilbur (15 points) and Kaden Durham (15 points), Max Franco (4 points), and Tyler Van Etten (3 points).
Wilbur was also named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.
Homer senior Wyatt Wilbur receives Most Valuable Player (MPV) of the tournament award.
Cortland was led by Cal Albright (8 points), Caden Albright (6 points), and Owen Johnson (4 points).
Up next, Homer will play on the road against Skaneateles on Thursday (January 4th) at 6:30pm, while Cortland will travel to play Carthage on Friday (January 5th) at 7pm.
Here are some photos from Friday night’s game (photos provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice):
A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
