By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly jumped out to a quick 10-point lead, but needed a strong second half to pull away from Chenango Forks for a 65-48 win here Wednesday night in STAC boys basketball action.
"I thought we were a little sloppy in the first half, and let them back in the game," said Waverly coach Lou Judson. "They beat us up a little on the glass after Porter Daddona got in foul trouble, but we weathered the storm.
"We came out in the second half with a little more energy, and picked them up full court," added Judson. "Some of our defense led to some offense."
Junior Hogan Shaw and sophomore Bryce LaForest, who knocked down a 3-pointer and converted an old-fashion three-point play, scored six points apiece, and senior Fletcher Good scored three points to fuel a game-opening 15-5 blitz, but Forks finished the opening stanza with a 5-0 spurt to close the gap 15-10.
Waverly built its lead back to eight points on several occasions in the second quarter, but Forks scored at the buzzer to trim the deficit to 27-25.
The Wolverines opened the second half with a 10-2 run and led 37-27. Waverly led 42-32 entering the final eight minutes.
Hogan Shaw canned a pair of 3-pointers, and scored nine points in the fourth quarter to fuel a 23-13 run that gave Waverly its biggest lead, at 65-45, in the closing moments.
Hogan Shaw led Waverly with 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
"Hogan Shaw played a good game, kind of controlled the pace of the game," said Judson.
Good had 10 points, three assists, and three steals for the Wolverines, while Daddona had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots, and sophomore Ben Shaw had eight points and four rebounds.
LaForrest added six points in the win, while junior Ronin Ault hauled down eight rebounds, and junior Carter Davies and freshman Jack Pipher each had three rebounds.
Waverly improves to 6-3 on the season, and Judson believes his young team is coming into its own.
We've won five of our last six games, and are starting to trend in the right direction.
"I'm very proud of how hard the guys are playing. It's not always pretty, but the effort has been good," said Judson. "I really like what I'm seeing.
"We have a lot of young guys on the court who haven't played together," he noted. "Team chemistry is a little off at times with certain personnel on the floor, but one thing this team does is they compete on every possession.
"If you can do that at the high school level, you're going to be in most basketball games," added Judson.
Waverly returns to action Saturday afternoon against former IAC Large School rival Whitney Point.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Fletcher Good. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Hogan Shaw. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
