The second half of the Class C Final games tonight at the Aud in Utica featured New York State's #1 ranked team, the undefeated West Canada Valley Indians (20-0) and the Watertown - Immaculate Heart Cavaliers (19-1), the State's #10 ranked team. The Indians and Cavaliers also entered the game as the #1 and #2 seeded teams in the Section III Tournament respectively.
Visit Perfect Game Imaging for a photo album
When hearts stopped pounding and buzzers finished sounding, West Canada Valley had pulled out a dramatic 67-65 overtime win that will be remembered by the Indian nation for quite some time to come.
A sea of purple descended State Route 12 this evening, emptying the Village of Newport and transplanting hundreds upon hundreds of West Canada Valley students and fans into the seats of the Aud, creating a big home court atmosphere for their Indians.
DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME? OR LISTEN LIVE ON WIBX?-LISTEN TO THE GAME AT YOUR CONVENIENCE!
All webcasts are ready for replay as soon as the game ends.
(Clash of the Class C Titans...West Canada's Jared Suderly (33) puts up a shot as Watertown IHC's Connor Caldwell (23) goes up to defend.)
Watertown IHC quieted the huge crowd and jumped out quickly on the Indians, opening up a fast 6-0 lead in the first 3 minutes of the ball game. Connor Caldwell, the talk of the Frontier League, who averaged over 30 points per game this season, scored 6 of IHC's 11 points in the first quarter and the Cavaliers took an 11-8 lead after one.
The second quarter began with a Pat Caldwell putback for 2, followed by a steal and a three pointer from Connor Caldwell to increase the IHC lead to 16-8 just :27 seconds into the second quarter.
West Canada head coach Steve Porter, who has overseen a rodeo or two in his day, pulled out all the stops in the second quarter, switching personnel, calling timeouts to slow the IHC attack but nothing seemed to stick and the Cavaliers took a 32-20 lead to half time.
(West Canada's Paul Atkinson (22) drives the baseline during 4th quarter action.)
For the second time in less than a week, the Indians were seemingly on the ropes. Last week WCV needed overtime to top Onondaga in a brutal semi-final battle.
Indians senior center Jared Suderly scored 40 points in the 59-57 ovetime win over Onondaga and the Indians would need a similar effort tonight if they hoped to move on to the Class C overall title game.
Suderly came out of the break like a man on a mission, scoring 8 of his game high 35 points in the third quarter, pulling the Indians to within 45-39.
IHC's Connor Caldwell matched Suderly with 8 of his own in the third, but it was Suderly's 2 point put back, off his own missed layup with :23.5 seconds left in the third, that brought the sea of purple to its feet and began the momentum swing in favor of the Indians.
(West Canada Valley head coach Steve Porter looks to stop the bleeding early in the second quarter.) More Indians, more crowd noise, more momentum and most importantly - more Suderly filled the fourth quarter as West Canada outscored the exhausted Cavaliers 19-13 in the fourth to tie the game at 58-58, sending this one to O.T.
West Canada's Paul Atkinson got it all going for the Indians in the 4th, as the senior was fouled in the act of shooting a three pointer, then went to the line and calmly buried all three shots.
On the next possession, Atkinson nailed a three, followed by a three point play by Suderly, which gave the Indians their first lead of the game 50-49, with 4:28 to go in the 4th.
Despite playing without key big man Thomas Lazore, who fouled out of the ball game, the Cavs took a 63-61 lead on the Indians with 2:46 remaining in the first overtime period.
(West Canada's Xavier Maxwell (2) looks to slice thru Watertown IHC's Brian Magovney (left) and Pat Caldwell (right). Maxwell was called for a charge on Magovney on the play.)
That's when Jared Suderly put the Indians on his back again and nailed a three pointer, off a pretty screen by teammate Matt Butler to make it 64-63 WCV, with 2:20 to play.
Suderly went on to make 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to give the #1 ranked Indians an unbelievable 67-65 win over a very talented Watertown IHC squad.
A very talented squad that never quit. In fact, with less than five seconds to go in OT, Brian Magovney took a pass at midcourt, dribbled free to just above the top of the key and let one fly at the buzzer. Magovney and more than 3,000 others watched as his shot bounced off the rim as the horn sounded.
If the shot had dropped the Cavs would have won it. It was that kind of night at the Aud. Magovney’s steal and layup tied it at 65-65 with 1:31 left.
(West Canada's players celebrate the huge come from behind win.)
Suderly led all scorers with 35 points, while Indians teammate Paul Atkinson added 11 for the winners. Connor Caldwell led Watertown IHC with 23 points.
How is this for a night? WCV's Suderly not only scored 35 points, he also grabbed 26 rebounds, blocked 5 shots and of course drove the school bus home.
IHC ends its season at 19-2. West Canada Valley (21-0) advances to play Tully in the Class C overall title game on Tuesday.
West Canada Valley 67 Watertown IHC 65 OT
1 2 3 4 OT Total
Watertown IHC 11 21 13 13 7 65
West Canada Valley 8 12 19 19 9 67
Leading Scorers:
Watertown IHC
Connor Caldwell 23
Brian Magovney 15
Ryan Spicer 9
Patrick Caldwell 7
West Canada Valley
Jared Suderly 35
Paul Atkinson 10
Alex Maxwell 6
Xavier Maxwell 6
Tyler Porter 5
