Corning Slides By Horseheads

February 23, 2020

Corning 52, Horseheads 48

Tuesday sent me back on the road, this time to the far western end of Section 4 for my first Southern Tier game of the shortened season. Horseheads, a perennially strong program in Section 4 Class AA, hosted a Corning team on the rise that had already beaten them once this season. In a game that featured 7 ties, 7 lead changes, and a margin that never surpassed 6, Corning made the push that counted most to go 2-for-2 against their neighbors to the east.

Alyssa Dobson ran the point and finished with 8 points in a balanced effort in Corning's W.

The back-and-forth start was a sign of things to come. Offense didn't come by easily in the 1st half, as each team impacted the other with their defensive looks. A Jenna Granger (Horseheads 2021, Niagara CC signee) and-one on a putback put Horseheads up 7-4 early before Corning answered with a 6-0 spurt. A pair of Alyssa Dobson (Corning 2023) free throws gave them a 12-10 lead at the end of the 1st. Horseheads tied it early in the 2nd, but in a low scoring frame, three drives & scores from three different Hawks was enough to keep Corning up 18-17 at intermission.

The offense picked up quickly out of the locker room. Samantha Lee (Corning 2022) and Maddie Johnson (Horseheads 2021, Nazareth commit) traded threes to start the 3rd, and another Johnson bucket briefly gave Horseheads the lead at 23-21. Corning then scored 5 straight, including another Lee three, to regain the edge. They pushed the lead to six at 34-28 with another trey from Lee before Horseheads answered with a 6-1 spurt. After yet another triple off the right hand of Lee, her 4th of the quarter & 5th of the night, Corning led 38-34 going into the 4th.

Horseheads started the 4th on the right foot, producing another 6-1 spurt & eventually taking the lead back at 41-40 on a Johnson bucket with 6:33 left. Corning answered with a Jayda Felker (Corning 2023) layup on a baseline out of bounds play, and after a Dobson bucket, they got another one the same way from Felker to complete a 6-0 spurt and push their lead to 45-40 with 4:06 left. Johnson banged a three to trim Horseheads' deficit to two, but Corning extended the margin back to 6 with two Lexi Lapierre (Corning 2022) free throws and a Jenna DiNardo (Corning 2023) drive & layup. Horseheads cut it to a one-possession game once more when Granger completed another three-point play to cut it to 49-46 with 2:17 left, but Corning got three stops and hit enough FTs - 3/6 in the closing minutes - to push the lead back to 6 in the waning seconds and ice the victory.

Corning was particularly balanced in the win, with all 52 points coming from their starters and all of them scoring at least 8 points. Samantha Lee led them with 15 on the strength of 5 of their 7 triples, and Jayda Felker hit their other 2 and finished with 12 points. Jenna DiNardo added 9 points, and Lexi Lapierre & Alyssa Dobson chipped in with 8 apiece. Horseheads was paced in the books by their two longtime contributing seniors, as Jenna Granger had a team high 13 points and Maddie Johnson added 12.

Jenna Granger paced Horseheads with 13 points in the narrow defeat.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

- This was another one of those 'we know each other really well & we've done our homework' games. A grind at times because everyone knows each other on a first-name basis, what they do well, what they like to run, etc., but watching the strategy that goes into those matchups and seeing who steps up & makes plays in that environment always makes it fun.

- This may go hand-in-hand with the first point... this game may have been the most 'balanced' overall that I've seen this season. I've had a lot of games where individuals have taken over or at least come through with big statistical performances. In this matchup, aside from the three-point barrage from Lee in the 3rd quarter, it felt like every positive play for each team was made by someone different than the time before.

- I thought the most interesting part of the game was how each team's defensive gameplan and how it impacted their opponent. For the most part, Horseheads matched up; and for the most part, they were very sound defensively. They got beat off the dribble a few times in the 2nd quarter and lost Samantha Lee a couple times when they switched up defensive looks in the 3rd, but their active hands/feet, willingness to get up & pressure, and overall toughness made things pretty difficult for a Corning team that is guard-heavy and wants to space the defense out. Corning tried to make Horseheads uncomfortable by switching up defensive looks a lot. They matched up a little bit but threw out various zone looks while also varying levels of pressure, and on many occasions, they would wait for Horseheads to get into a particular offense & change defenses mid-possession. Although Horseheads took advantage of it at times in the 3rd quarter and put them on their heels - and they did look prepared for it - I thought it did enough to keep them off balance.

Jenna DiNardo was part of Corning's balanced attack - she finished with 9 points, including their last 5, in the close W.

- All 5 of Corning's starters - and in the process, all 52 of their points - came from players that'll be back next year too. They featured two 2022s and three 2022s in the starting lineup, so I think it's safe to say that when we get back to a 'normal' schedule with postseason play, the Hawks will have to be very much in the mix in the Section 4 Class AA discussion.

- Despite the loss, I think Horseheads did many things right. They scrapped, dug in when shots weren't falling, controlled the glass, seemed to be first to loose balls many times, got some important stops, and I thought they got decent looks... just didn't shoot it very well. Great that they didn't let that impact other things that they could control (effort, energy, physical engagement & mental focus), but those kind of losses also sting. They get to shake that off quickly though with a quick turnaround, the nature of the beast in a quick season - upcoming games with strong Class B squads Waverly & Newark Valley get their attention.

- A major THANK YOU to Horseheads coach Andy Scott for making it happen so I could check this one out in person - it's sincerely appreciated!