Horseheads regains STAC West girls hoops bragging rights with clinching win over Corning
A sterling defensive performance and a clutch 3-pointer from Sophia Bonnell in the closing minutes helped Horseheads to a 42-34 win over visiting Corning on Wednesday night, clinching the Blue Raiders' first Southern Tier Athletic Conference West Division girls basketball title in eight years.
The teams entered the night tied for first in the division with 5-4 STAC records with two games to play. Horseheads (7-8 overall) won both regular-season games against Corning (9-6), giving the Blue Raiders the tiebreaker if they end up with the same league mark.
STAC semifinals are scheduled for Feb. 14, with Horseheads likely playing a road game against the highest-seeded champion from the Central and East divisions. The girls and boys STAC finals will be played Feb. 17 at Horseheads Middle School.
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Stars of the Game
Bonnell finished with 19 points, none bigger than her wing 3-pointer from way beyond the arc that gave the Raiders a 35-31 lead with 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. The shot ignited a streak of nine straight points for Horseheads and came after Jenna DiNardo's bucket with 3:03 left brought Corning within one.
Bonnell scored 13 of her points in the second half after struggling with her shot in the opening half, which followed an off game for her in a 38-33 loss to Binghamton on Saturday.
"Just real proud of her effort because she hung in there mentally and did a great job on the defensive end," Scott said.
Jordyn Gross contributed 13 points for the Raiders, including six in the opening quarter.
Alyssa Dobson led Corning with 12 points and Jayda Felker scored 10.
By the numbers
Horseheads captured its 12th STAC West championship since Scott took over as the program's head coach in 1999-2000. Elmira had its streak of division titles ended at six.
The Blue Raiders' last division crown before this one came in 2014-15, the tail end of a streak of eight straight STAC West titles during a stretch that also saw Horseheads win five sectional championships.
Scott praised his players' attitude and work ethic in reaching this goal.
"I’m really proud of them," he said. "This is a young group that was supposed to basically take a back seat for another year because a couple of other teams had some senior-laden teams and very talented kids too.
"I think our team’s grown. It was nice to get rid of the COVID deal so we could start doing open gyms again, start doing summer leagues again. That’s sort of the backbone of our program."
Key to the win
Fans of defensive basketball were in their element in the first half. Horseheads ended up leading 16-11 at the intermission after holding a 16-8 advantage throughout much of the quarter.
Corning, a Class AA state semifinalist last season, entered having won seven of its previous eight games. Among the Hawks' December losses was a 55-49 setback against Horseheads.
"That was the difference in the game, our defense on their better players," Scott said. "Just our overall team defense was fantastic."
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Horseheads beats Corning, earns first STAC West title since 2015
