Girls’ Basketball

Unadilla Valley 51, Harpursville 47

HARPURSVILLE – Unadilla Valley gained that signature win it had been looking for the past four seasons defeating four-time defending MAC champion Harpursville Tuesday night.

The Storm (9-1) turned a five-point deficit to start the fourth into a nine-point lead, and weathered a couple of late three-pointers to hold off the Hornets.

After Harpursville’s Miranda Drummond closed the UV lead to two with a three ball at the nine-second mark, UV senior Jordan Anderson sealed the win making a pair of free throws with three seconds left. “We just kind of chipped away at them in the fourth quarter,” said UV coach Brandi Backus. “We turned them over a couple of times, and had a couple of finishes on fast breaks. All of sudden, I looked up at the clock and we were up nine.”

UV senior forward Amanda Off was plagued with foul trouble in the first half, and sat most of the second quarter. During that time, Harpursville seemed to have control of the game taking an eight-point lead into halftime. “The first half was a lot like last year when we played them here,” Backus said. “We just couldn’t get into a flow on offense. We looked tired and it was like the game was already over. I just told them we needed to dig down and have a big second half.”