STAC BOYS BASKETBALL: WAVERLY SHAKES OFF BAD START IN 67-57 WIN OVER NOTRE DAME AT PALMER TOURNAMENT (24 PHOTOS) (December 28, 2025)
Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — Waverly shook off a poor first quarter, and put together three strong quarters to beat former IAC nemesis Notre Dame, 67-57, in the opening round of the Josh Palmer Fund / Elmira Holiday Classic Regional Bracket here Saturday afternoon at Elmira High School.
"Notre Dame coming in unbeaten and ranked in the State in Class C, and it being an old rivalry game from the IAC days, it's a good win," said Waverly coach Lou Judson. "It was a good game, a fun game."
Judson said he misses the Notre Dame rivalry, but believes the move to the STAC prior to the 2023-24 school year has been beneficial for his program.
"There were several good programs in the IAC we battled with for years," he said. "We had some classics with Notre Dame, and I miss that.
"I felt as today's game went on, and I've said this before ... ever since we went to the STAC and we play an IAC team, we're a little more battle-tested," he noted.
"The physicality of the play and the speed of the game, everything favored us later in the game because we've been there before," added Judson.
Notre Dame, ranked 15th in Class C, took a quick 11-4 lead, and a Max O'Connor 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter gave the Crusaders a 14-6 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Once the second quarter began, Waverly senior Hogan Shaw took over. After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Shaw pumped in 29 points over the final three quarters. He also grabbed six rebounds.
"Hogan went for a good stretch in the second and third quarters where he was dominating the game," said Judson.
Hogan Shaw had 11 points in the second quarter, but it was a 3-pointer by junior Bryce LaForest with 2:45 remaining in the half that finally pulled Waverly even at 24-24.
After a 3-pointer by Rocco Sayers put the Crusaders back ahead at 27-24, Waverly senior Porter Daddona knocked down a 3-pointer in the final minute to send the game into the halftime locker room tied at 27-27.
"As poorly as I felt we played in the first half, I was pretty happy to go into halftime tied," Judson noted.
Judson said things came together for the Wolverines in the second half.
"We cleaned up some of the unforced turnovers we were committing, which gave us more possessions in the second half.
"We changed up our defense, which helped us in certain areas, and we also did a much better job in our defense and our rotations," Judson said.
"And, shots started falling for us," he added. "Since we weren't turning the ball over, we were getting good looks."
Hogan Shaw drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the third quarter, and a 3-pointer from the top-of-the-key by junior Carson Rockwell put Waverly up six midway through the stanza.
However, a 3-pointer by O'Conner triggered a late Notre Dame run closed the gap to 44-43 heading into the final eight minutes.
Hogan Shaw canned two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give him four in the game, while Daddona scored five points and freshman Braiden Judson added a pair of buckets as Waverly closed the game with a 23-14 run.
Daddona had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while
Judson had nine points, four boards and two assists, and Ben Shaw had five points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Rockwell had five points and five rebounds in the win, while junior Bryce LaForest chipped in with four points and two assists, sophomore Jack Pipher had three rebounds and two assists, and señor Carter Davis grabbed three boards.
Sayers led Notre Dame with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while O'Connor scored 12 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Spoon Jackson added 11 points.
Waverly, now 4-2, will play Corning in the finals Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Elmira High School.
——————————
IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Hogan Shaw. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Carson Rockwell. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
Print Friendly Version
