Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY — Waverly led by seven at the half, but Owego dominated the second half en route to a 64-45 win here Saturday afternoon in STAC Central Division boys basketball action.
"Today’s game was very similar to our game at Oneonta," said Waverly coach Lou Judson. "In both games we were up seven at the half and then struggled in the third quarter.
"We played a great first half with a lot of energy," he noted. "Then, we came out flat, forced shots, turned the ball over and didn’t run our offense the way we were. Things got tough and we didn’t meet the challenge.
"The bottom line is these games are against Class A schools and we don’t play any of them in the postseason," said Judson. "Five of our last six games to finish the regular season are against Class A opponents.
"Last I looked, we were still 5-1 against Class B schools," added Judson. "We’ll be fine but we better figure out how to compete when things get hard."
Senior Fletcher Good and junior Porter Daddona, who knocked down a 3-pointer, scored five points apiece in the first quarter to help Waverly to a 15-13 lead.
Junior Hogan canned a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter to fuel Waverly's 17-12 run that gave the Wolverines a 32-25 lead at the half.
The River Hawks turned up the offense in the third quarter and used a 19-5 blitz to take a 44-37 lead into the final eight minutes.
Owego kept it up in the fourth quarter as Kingston Brainard pumped in 10 of his game-high 22 points in a 20-8 game-closing run to nail down the win.
Hogan Shaw led Waverly with 16 points and three steals, while Good had 11 points and six rebounds, and Daddona had seven points and four rebounds.
Junior Carter Davies added five points, four rebounds, and one blocked shot, while junior Ronin Ault grabbed six rebounds, and junior Peyton Robinson had two assists.
Waverly, now 9-9, hosts Chenango Valley Tuesday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Carter Davies. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Carson Rockwell. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
