SYRACUSE — Section III champion Sackets Harbor eliminated Section IV champ Edmeston with a 56-45 win in the Class D boys basketball Central Region game Sunday, March 15, at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
Edmeston build a lead in the first quarter, going up by as many as 11 points on a jumper in the lane by Hunter Dye.
Sackets Harbor responded by getting hot from outside, and within two minutes had cut the lead to 17-14.
Braymon Clark made it 19-14 with 20 seconds left on a putback of his own shot.
Gavin Zinger banked a half-court shot just after the buzzer that did not count. But the Panthers led after eight minutes, 19-14.
In the second quarter, Edmeston led by as many as 10 points, 28-18, on Zinger’s corner three from the right side on an assist by Clark with 5:23 left in the half.
However, the Patriots closed the quarter on a 14-0 run and led at halftime, 32-28. During the quarter, Landon Wust, Brock Redner, Zinger, Max Bolton and Clark all picked up their second fouls.
“We have a hard time winning when we have foul starters on the bench,” Edmeston Coach Darren Belden said.
Belden pointed to a discrepancy in foul calls, saying his team was whistled 25 times compared to three for the Patriots.
“You can’t fight city hall,” Belden said. “For there to be a 25-3 discrepancy in fouls, what can you do? And the way that football game was going out there, there was no way they only had three fouls.”
Clark brought Edmeston to within a basket to begin the second half, 32-30, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.
The Patriots scored the next eight points and Clark and Zinger picked up his third foul in the first two minutes of the half.
Wust scored a couple of baskets to get Edmeston within six, 40-34, with about five minutes left. Neither team could get much offense the rest of the quarter, but Hunter Dye made a three pointer from the right wing in the final minute to make it 43-37 going into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Bolton hurt his left knee early and left the game, Clark and Zinger fouled out in the final two minutes, and the Patriots made free throws down the stretch to pad the lead.
Clark and Zinger each scored 15 points to lead the Panthers, which also got seven points from Dye and six points from Wust.
Edmeston ends its season at 20-4, and with its first section title in boys basketball.
“I told the boys they did all they could today,” Belden said. “They had a great season, it just stings getting past this today. Our goals were to win a Tri-Valley League title, finally get past winning a Section IV title and we did those things. It just ended in a way that was hard to handle.”