IAC GIRLS BASKETBALL: TIOGA RIDES DEFENSE TO SECOND WIN OF SEASON (18 PHOTOS) (2022-01-18)

Valley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — Tioga limited Candor to one field goal in the first half, and built a 14-point lead at the intermission in a 30-22 win here Tuesday night in IAC Small School Division girls basketball action.

Tioga improves to 2-10 on the season, while Candor falls to 1-8.

“Tonight, my girls were 100 percent driven to win,” said Tioga coach Stephanie Hills. “They put their nerves aside and focused on all of the things we have been working on in practice.

“We were also able to work as a team, and didn’t focus on one player,” added Hills. “Everyone did their job tonight, and that helped us as a team be successful.”

Tioga took the lead off the opening tip when junior Reese Howey tipped the ball to senior Julia Bellis, who drove to the bucket for a lay-up just five seconds into the game.

Pearl Ricardo made one of two free throws for Candor’s first points of the game with 5:24 remaining in the first quarter, but the Lady Indians wouldn’t score again for nearly 10 minutes.

In between, while Candor had several shots from close range rattle in-and-out, or spin off the rim, Tioga reeled off 14 unanswered points to take a 16-1 lead.

Howey was in the middle of most of the action for Tioga in the first eight minutes.

Howey found Abby Foley open for a short jumper on the baseline to make it 4-1 with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Less than a minute later, Howey blocked a shot, controlled the loose ball, dribbled the length of the floor and dished to Bellis for a lay-up, and a 6-1 lead.

With 1 minute left in the stanza, Howey penetrated into the lane, and found Abby Foley in the low blocks for a lay-up to make it 8-1.

Bellis, who made a free throw late in the first quarter to give the Lady Tigers a 9-1 lead after the first eight minutes, knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 6:24 remaining in the first half to make it 11-1.

Howey capped the run with a short jumper to make it 16-1 with 4:10 remaining in the first half.

Brooke Wilcox made 1 of 2 free throws with 3:24 remaining in the first half to stop the Tioga run, and Ricardo hit a runner in the lane for Candor’s first — and only — field goal of the first half to trim the deficit to 16-4 with 2:40 left in the half.

Candor connected on just 1 of 25 shots from the field in the first half.

Bellis, who scored nine points in the first half, made two free throws with 9 seconds remaining in the first half to send the Lady Tigers to the locker room with an 18-4 advantage.

The Lady Indians found the range in the third quarter with Ricardo and Wilcox each knocking down 3-pointers to fuel a 13-9 spurt to cut the deficit to 27-17 entering the final eight minutes.

Ricardo’s 3-pointer was the only field goal of the fourth quarter for the Lady Indians, who made just 2 of 6 free throws in the final stanza, and only 5 of 14 in the game, while Tioga made 4 of 10 from the charity stripe to put the game away.

Bellis led Tioga with 15 points and 16 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, three steals, and two assists, while Howey had seven points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals, and two blocked shots, and Abby Foley had seven points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals.

Junior Kyra Bailey had four rebounds, three steals, and one blocked shot in the win, while senior Mariah Nichols hauled down six boards, and senior Gabby Foley recorded four steals.

Ricardo led Candor with nine points, while Wilcox added eight, and Isabel Makie chipped in with four.

Tioga, now 2-10, returns to action Friday at Groton

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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s Julia Bellis. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.