Holiday high school basketball tournaments tipping off around the Mohawk Valley
RICHFIELD SPRINGS — Schools’ break for the holidays is here and with that comes a busy week for basketball tournaments.
Richfield Springs hosted a tournament for girls last week and tournaments tip off in Cooperstown and Oriskany on Monday evening. The schedule picks up Tuesday and Wednesday with several area teams competing over the next three days.
The state-ranked Frankfort-Schuyler girls are playing in a tournament in Oriskany and open up Monday with a game against Westmoreland. Oriskany and Canastota play the second game, and the championship will be decided Tuesday. Frankfort-Schuyler started the season 4-2 and was No. 13 in the New York State Sportswriters Association’s first Class C rankings released last week.
Cooperstown’s Dick White Holiday Tournament for boys and girls is an annual event drawing teams from multiple sections. The Cooperstown boys play Section IV Edmeston Monday following a game between Section IV’s Richfield Springs and Syracuse’s OnTECH Charter School. The Cooperstown girls meet Whitesboro after Unatego and Whitesboro open varsity tournament play earlier in the afternoon. Both tournaments conclude Tuesday.
Richfield Springs’ boys had been scheduled to host a tournament this week but canceled after having a team withdraw. The remaining visiting teams — Herkimer and Brookfield – will play a single game Tuesday at Richfield Springs.
Tournaments in Little Falls and St. Johnsville start Tuesday while Poland’s boys and girls both travel to Fabius-Pompey. West Canada Valley and Canajoharie have tournaments starting Wednesday while Edmeston makes a quick turnaround to host following the Dick White Holiday Tournament.
Little Falls’ girls are back with their Kasner Klassic, playing Canajoharie in Tuesday’s first round following the 5:30 p.m. opener between Central Valley Academy and Adirondack.
Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville starts its Coach Cutspec Holiday Classic with a game against North Warren following Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. game between Fort Plain and Argyle. Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville is No. 11 and Argyle No. 20 in the NYSSWA rankings for Class D boys.
Poland’s girls play McGraw at 2 p.m., and the Poland boys plan Cincinnatus at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Fabius. Each game will be followed by Fabius-Pompey and Otselic Valley.
The tournaments starting Tuesday wrap up Wednesday, while three others get started, including Edmeston’s tournament pitting the Mt. Markham boys as the lone Section III team against Sidney from Section IV in the first round before Edmeston meets Oxford Academy in the third of the Panthers’ four scheduled games in four days.
In Newport, unbeaten West Canada Valley puts its No. 2 state ranking in Class C up against Adirondack in the first round following a game between Holland Patent and Central Valley Academy, an honorable mention in Class B where it defeated No. 13 Vernon-Verona-Sherrill last week.
Canajoharie’s Andy Palmer Christmas Classic tips off with a 4 p.m. game between Dolgeville and Schoharie followed by Canajoharie and Cherry Valley-Springfield.
More: Area's holiday basketball tournament season gets started in Little Falls
Mt. Markham girls, Little Falls boys already winners
Mt. Markham’s girls and the Little Falls boys already have claimed titles in early holiday tournaments. Little Falls defeated Frankfort-Schuyler in the first round and beat Central Valley Academy 62-50 in the Dec. 11 championship game at its own holiday classic.
Mt. Markham routed Central Valley Academy 54-20 in Thursday’s championship game at the girls’ tournament in Richfield Springs. Mt. Markham had beaten 56-45 in the first round of the three-day tournament and Central Valley Academy beat Herkimer. Brookfield was a 58-46 winner in Thursday’s consolation game.
Richfield Springs does not have varsity girls this year but stuck to its plans to hold the tournament, and the junior varsity Indians won their portion of the tournament.
Prior to the varsity championship game, Central Valley Academy’s Brooklyn Hassett and Payton Lynch defeated a pair of Brookfield shooters to win the tournament’s three-point-shooting contest. The Thunder won 13-12 on a shot at the buzzer by Lynch; Lily Vleer-Elliott had all 12 of the Brookfield baskets during her one minute of shooting. Hassett had hit eight in the first round for Central Valley Academy.
In the championship game, Mt. Markham (6-1) took the lead with nine straight points to end the first quarter and extended that run to 14-1. The Mustangs never trailed after taking the lead and avenged a 59-46 loss to Central Valley Academy (2-4) on the road six days earlier.
Caroline Entwistle had 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals for Mt. Markham in the championship game and was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player. Teammate Hannah Pcola was picked for the tournament all-star team with Central Valley Academy’ Madison Obreza and Ava Judd, Herkimer’s Aubrey Lewis and Brookfield’s Megan Kupris.
Logan Frederick was the most valuable player in Little Falls.
Richfield Springs Holiday Tournament championship game
Mt. Markham 54, Central Valley Academy 20
Mt. Markham (6-1) – Hannah Pcola 4 0-2 11; Jenna Kocienda 4 0-0 10; Morgan Sayers 2 0-0 4; Caroline Entwistle 4 6-10 16; Emma Kocienda 1 6-8 8; Zoe Hoke 2 1-2 5. Totals: 17 13-22 54.
Central Valley Academy (2-4) – Madison Obreza 4 2-8 10; Cameron Moshier 1 0-0 2; Brooklyn Hassett 0 0-0 0; Kaelin Napoli 1 0-0 2; Samantha Helmer 0 0-0 0; Molly Canipe 0 0-0 0; Ava Judd 1 0-0 2; Avery Rich 2 0-0 4; Payton Lynch 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 2-8 20.
Mt. Markham: 14 13 13 14 – 54
Central Valley Academy: 8 6 4 2 – 20
Three-pointers — Mt. Markham 7 (Pcola 3, C.Entwistle 2, J.Kocienda 2); Central Valley Academy 0. JV championship: Richfield Springs defeated Central Valley Academy.
Notes: Central Valley Academy had previously beaten Mt. Markham 59-46 Dec. 17; Caroline Entwistle 10 rebounds, seven steals; Emma Kocienda nine rebounds; Jenna Kocienda eight rebounds; Hannah Pcola five steals; Morgan Sayers seven rebounds; Zoe Hoke six rebounds.
Most Valuable Player: Caroline Entwistle, Mt. Markham.
Tournament all-stars: Aubrey Lewis, Herkimer; Ava Judd, Central Valley Academy; Megan Kupris, Brookfield; Madison Obreza, Central Valley Academy; Hannah Pcola, Mt. Markham.
Three-point shooting championship: Central Valley Academy (Brooklyn Hassett, Payton Lynch) 13, Brookfield (Lily Vleer-Elliott, Sara Brean) 12.
Next up: Mt. Markham plays at Cherry Valley-Springfield Wednesday. Central Valley Academy is entered in Little Falls’ Kasner Klassic, another holiday tournament, Tuesday and Wednesday, and starts the new year with its own trip to Cherry Valley-Springfield Jan. 4.
Richfield Springs Holiday Tournament consolation game
Brookfield 58, Herkimer 46
Brookfield (6-3) – Lily Vleer-Elliott 5 7-12 21; Sara Brean 6 0-4 12; Stephanie Brean 0 0-0 0; Delaney Karn 0 0-0 0; Emma Stetson 0 0-0 0; Nicole Murphy 0 0-0 0; Grace Reilly 0 0-0 0; Danica Karn 1 1-4 3; Megan Kupris 7 8-12 22. Totals: 19 16-32 58.
Herkimer (2-4) – Arrissa Bunker 0 0-0 0; Aubrey Lewis 7 2-6 16; Charity Dygert 4 0-0 8; Kassidy Brown 1 0-0 2; Madison Marusic 4 2-2 10; Danielle Gilbert 4 0-0 9; Bailey Bray 0 1-2 1. Totals: 20 5-10 46.
Brookfield: 21 14 11 12 – 58
Herkimer: 8 16 9 13 – 46
Three-pointers — Brookfield 4 (Vleer-Elliott 4); Herkimer 1 (Gilbert 1).
Notes: Megan Kupris eight rebounds.
Next up: Herkimer plays at home Wednesday against Sauquoit Valley. Brookfield next plays at Morris Jan. 3.
Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Holiday high school basketball tournaments getting started
