STAC BOYS BASKETBALL: ONEONTA FORCES OVERTIME AT BUZZER; TOPS WAVERLY, 63-51 (24 PHOTOS) (February 4, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Britten Zen knocked down an off-balanced 3-pointer at the buzzer, and state-ranked Oneonta outscored Waverly, 17-5, in the extra session to pull out a 63-51 win in STAC boys basketball action.

"As a coach you're going to second-guess the decisions you make in a game like that, but at the end of the day, we took the 17th-ranked team in Class A in New York State, and one of the best teams in the STAC right to the wire," said Waverly coach Lou Judson. "We outplayed them for four quarters, and should have won the game."

Judson, who was ejected in the closing moments of Friday's loss at Norwich, was serving a one-game suspension and was unable to coach.

"I'm really proud of the coaching staff," he said. "We came up with a great game plan, and I thought coach (Peyton) Miller did an outstanding job. He got the kids to play hard for him, and gave the team a chance late in the game to win."

Waverly led 5-0 in the opening minute on a 3-pointer by senior Hogan Shaw, and a lay-up by freshman Braiden Judson, but Oneonta scored the next seven points, and led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Oneonta bumped its lead to 10, at 28-18, late in the second quarter, but Waverly closed the gap to four, at 28-24, on consecutive 3-pointers by Hogan Shaw and junior Bryce LaForest.

Oneonta scored consecutive buckets in transition to up its lead to 32-24, but senior Porter Daddona's free throw made it 32-25 heading into the halftime locker room.

Junior Ben Shaw and Judson scored five points apiece in the third quarter, and the Waverly defense limited the Tornadoes to just two points. The Wolverines' 12-2 run gave them a 37-34 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

With the game tied, Judson rebounded his own miss and scored with 2:25 remaining to give the Wolverines a 43-41 lead, but Oneonta made two free throws with 2:02 remaining to tie the game.

After an exchange of possessions, Daddona, off a feed from Hogan Shaw, scored in the low post to give Waverly a 45-43 lead with 1:02 left in regulation.

After Oneonta missed a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining, Waverly ran the clock to 5.8 seconds before Daddona was fouled. He made 1 of 2 to make it 46-43.

Oneonta rushed the ball up the court, and called a timeout with 3.4 seconds left.

On the in-bounds play, Zeh made the catch, took one dribble and pump faked. He ducked under the leaping defender, and hit a 3-pointer while leaning forward at the buzzer to force overtime.

Zeh knocked down a 3-pointer with with 2:34 remaining in overtime, but Hogan Shaw answered 10 seconds later to make it 49-49.

The key moment in the extra session came about 20 seconds later when Mason Chard put Oneonta ahead, 51-49, with a point-blank shot and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the Yellowjackets rebounded and kicked the ball out to Zeh, who buried a 3-pointer to make it 54-49 with 2:02 remaining.

Judson made two free throws with 1:59 remaining to close the gap to 54-51, but those were the last points Waverly would score.

Oneonta closed the game with a 9-0 run, and made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Judson was pleased to see his team rally from a 10-point deficit in the second quarter, and be in position to win late in the game.

"We showed a lot of composure, where at times this season we haven't," he said.

"If you're working hard and playing defense, it's going to keep you a lot of basketball games, and we do play pretty solid defense," noted Judson. "We held them to 34 points through three quarters, and led by four points late in the game.

"But at the end of the game, (Zeh) made an outstanding shot. He's good, and he showed how good in overtime

"I think we were really shell-shocked going into overtime, knowing we had that game, and let it slip away," added Judson.

Judson led Waverly with 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Hogan Shaw had 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and seven boards, Daddona scored 12 points and hauled down 12 rebounds, and Ben Shaw added five points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

Zeh led all scorers with 20 points, while Maddox Imperato and Brady Carr scored 15 points apiece.

Despite the gut-wrenching loss, Judson believes it will help his team in the long run.

"All these games are adding up," he said. "We've been in a lot of close games this year ... we lost at the buzzer at Windsor, we were up four at Norwich and lost, and then tonight.

"Those game are only going to help us down the stretch and in the playoffs," added Judson.

Waverly, now 10-6, returns to action Saturday at Chenango Forks.

————————

IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Braiden Judson. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Hogan Shaw. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.

Print Friendly Version