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Wednesday, February 10, 2016
The Lyndonville Boys Basketball team finished their season in style last night with a massive home win over Elba – in overtime. The win knocked off the Lancers as potential Overall GR League Champion, and in-turn vaulted Attica into the top-spot as winner of the Overall GR League Title – with Elba still winning Division II over the Tigers by way of tiebreaker.
The game last night was perhaps the best I have seen in the GR League throughout the past several years, as a packed house at Lyndonville High School energized each side to produce their most-exciting performances of the season.
To begin the game, the first two quarters were all Lyndonville, as the Tigers opened up an 11-point halftime lead over the Lancers behind hot shooting from Zach Johnson and Nick Hinkson, in addition to strong play along the interior from Eddy Schildt and Eric Neace. At the half, the score was 26-15 in favor of Lyndonville, who had punched Elba square in the mouth to begin the game.
However, able to pick themselves up off the canvas to begin the second half – the Lancers were not about to go away quietly. Outscoring the Tigers 22-13 during the third quarter, Elba brought their deficit all the way down to just two at the conclusion of the frame – setting the stage for one heck of a finish.
Throughout the fourth each side went blow for blow for its entirety, and with under ten seconds to go the game was tied at 50 – and following one last heave from the Tigers, the game went to overtime.
During overtime neither side was able to score for the first few minutes, but after the drought was over, the Tigers found a way to strike first on a big shot from Neace – which was then followed by a bucket from his teammate Schildt to put the Tigers’ lead at 4 with little time left to play.
Following the bucket from Schildt, Lyndonville got a big stop on the other end, forcing Elba to foul with only 4 seconds left on the clock, and down four – essentially putting the game out of reach for the Lancers. After the ensuing free throws, and one last heave from Elba, the entire city of Lyndonville (it seemed) rejoiced – for their Tigers had won their last game of the season over the top team in the league.
Lyndonville has beaten Elba #GeneseeRegion #BoysBasketball pic.twitter.com/UvLjSl6TDV
— Batavia’sBest Scores (@BB_Scores) February 10, 2016
On the other side of the coin, for Elba and their fans, the loss meant a fall to second place in the overall GR League Standings due to a head-to-head tiebreaker with 2016 Champion Attica – but as I mentioned before, the Lancers do still hold on to their Division II Title – having spit their two h2h matchups with the Tigers this season, and having the better Divisional record.
So when the dust settled last night, the Lyndonville win meant a lot for three different teams in the league – showing just how truly competitive the league was this season until the very end. And despite losing out in terms of winning a league or divisional title, Lyndonville has plenty to be happy about today as they can proudly say they were the only team in the league to defeat every league opponent they went up against this season at least once.
Congrats to all on a fun and exciting GR League season. It sure was one to remember.
Other articles you may like:
Attica Boys Basketball wins Overall GR League Title
Kendall defeats Wheatland-Chili Boys Basketball as three score in double-figures
Byron-Bergen Boys Basketball edges Holley as Burke goes for a double-double
Pembroke Boys Basketball rights the ship with win over Oakfield
