Marauders fight back from 13 point deficit to win season opener

SHERBURNE – Jack Lambert of the Cooperstown Hawkeyes tied the ball game at 48-48 with 1:00 remaining. Sherburne-Earlville’s Gabe Irwin hit what would be the game winning three-pointer with 31 seconds left. With just three seconds left, the Hawkeyes’ Owen Kennedy made a shot but it was one a two point bucket, giving the Marauders a 51-50 win in the first game of the season.

Cooperstown opened the first quarter with 15 points, jumping to a seven point lead over host Sherburne-Earlville. But with big second and third quarters by the home team, the Marauders bounced back to a three point lead going into the fourth.

S-E’s Tyler Bigford had a big second quarter, scoring 10 points of the team’s 15 while his teammate Hunter Lane led the team in third with 12.

“We just started making out shots. We had a lot of good looks early in the game and didn’t convert them,” said Marauders head coach Kevin Vibbard on the comeback by his team.

Cooperstown scored 13 in the fourth quarter, keeping the game close until the end. The Hawkeyes’ Lambert led all scorers on the evening with 23 points, 15 of them coming from three-point field goals. Kennedy chipped in 10 and Calvin Sander added seven.

The Marauders’ Lane finished with a team-high 16 and Bigford ended his night with 14. Irwin had both of S-E’s three-point field goals as he tallied a total of eight.