IAC GIRLS BASKETBALL: TIOGA RALLIES PAST GROTON IN FOURTH QUARTER, 60-52 (16 PHOTOS) (2020-01-24)
Valley Sports ReportTIOGA CENTER "” Tioga used a strong second half to rally for a 60-52 win over Groton here Friday night in IAC Small School Division girls basketball action.
Emma DeMatteo scored 12 points in the first quarter to help Groton to a 21-14 lead after the first eight minutes. Junior Eve Wood kept Tioga in the game with nine points, including a 3-pointer.
Groton stretched its lead to 10, at 34-24, with 1:15 remaining in the first half, but the Lady Tigers closed the half with a 5-0 spurt - on three free throws by junior Olivia Ayres, and a bucket by junior Eve Wood - to trim the deficit to 34-29 at the half.
Ayres buried a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter, and sophomore Julia Bellis, who sat most of the first half with foul trouble, added four points as Tioga used a 15-11 spurt to trim the deficit to 45-44 entering the final eight minutes.
Senior Giovanna Rossi scored six points, and senior Chloe Bellis and Ayres aded four points apiece in a 16-7 fourth-quarter run that completed Tioga's comeback.
Ayres, who was 5-for-8 from 3-point range, led Tioga with 21 points, three steals, and two blocked shots, while Wood had 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals, and Rossi had 11 points and 22 rebounds.
Chloe Bellis had 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and three assists in the win, while Julia Bellis chipped in with four points and four boards, and junior Ari Manwaring hauled down seven boards.
Elissa Allen led Groton with 14 points, while DeMatteo added 13 points, and Abbie Dykeman scored 12.
Tioga, now 6-8, travels to Candor Tuesday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Olivia Ayres. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
