VVS boys win tip-off basketball tournament at Richfield Springs

Jon Rathbun, Times Telegram
·4 min read
Sauquoit Valley Indian Donovan Nelson (left) blocks a shot by Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devil Elijah Donegan (23) Saturday during the Richfield Springs Indians Tip-off Tournament championship game.
Sauquoit Valley Indian Donovan Nelson (left) blocks a shot by Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devil Elijah Donegan (23) Saturday during the Richfield Springs Indians Tip-off Tournament championship game.

RICHFIELD SPRINGS – The Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devils claimed a championship and the Richfield Springs Indians notched their first win of 2021 Saturday at the Richfield Springs Indians Tip-off Tournament finals.

The Red Devils, who had beaten Richfield Springs 83-35 in Friday’s opening round, were 71-42 winners over Sauquoit Valley’s Indians in the Saturday championship game. Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (2-0) had runs of nine and 10 straight points in the first quarter and led by 15 at the end of the opening period. Sauquoit Valley (1-1) never got closer than 12 points after that.

Richfield Springs (1-1) had beaten Laurens (0-2) 59-35 in the consolation game prior to the championship contest. The Indians scored the game’s first five points and never trailed against the Leopards, rivals from within Section IV’s Tri-Valley League. Laurens got back within one point in the first quarter and trailed 9-7 before Richfield Springs scored 10 straight points as part of a 23-1 run bridging the end of the first quarter and start of the second.

A Class D sectional finalist and 20-win team in 2019-20, Richfield Springs had lost each of its eight games during Otsego County’s COVID-19-abbreviated season in the spring. The Indians’ last victory had been a 77-60 win over Jefferson in a sectional quarterfinal on their home court Feb. 28, 2020. The Indians welcomed back players from Owen D. Young for 2021-22 after the Wildcats fielded their own team in Herkimer County during the spring.

The win was also Richfield Springs’ first under new varsity coach Jeff Busch.

Damon Boss (23) brings the ball up the court for Richfield Springs against Donta Sherwood (10) and the Laurens Leopards during the Richfield Springs Indians Tip-off Tournament consolation game Saturday.
Damon Boss (23) brings the ball up the court for Richfield Springs against Donta Sherwood (10) and the Laurens Leopards during the Richfield Springs Indians Tip-off Tournament consolation game Saturday.

Dylan Hosford scored 17 points Saturday and represented Richfield Springs on the tournament all-star team. Jordan Diliberto added 12 points while Bradyn Dunckel scored eight and Aric Steenburg had seven.

Logan Conklin led Laurens with 15 points while Cyller Cimko added eight and joined Hosford as an all-star selection.

Bryce Palmer scored 16 points to lead five Vernon-Verona-Sherrill players in double figures in the championship game and was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player. Jackson Horodnick added 13 points, Ben Wittman scored 12, and Elijah Donegan and Nate Costello each had 10.

Donovan Nelson led all scorers with 19 points for Sauquoit Valley while teammate Jacob Jouben scored 11.

Richfield Springs Indians Tip-Off Tournament MVP Bryce Palmer (left) poses with all-tournament picks Elijah Donegan, his Vernon-Verona-Sherrill teammate, Dylan Hosford from Richfield Springs, and Jacob Jouben and Donovan Nelson from Sauquoit Valley (from left) following Saturday's championship game. Not pictured is all-star Cyller Cimko from Laurens.

Donegan, Jouben and Nelson joined Hosford, Cimko and Palmer on the all-tournament team.

Prior to the championship game, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill teammates Ethan Killian and Nathan Costello defeated Sauquoit Valley’s duo in the tournament’s three-point contest. Killian and Costello won 9-6 with each shooter getting one minute.

More: Area's high school basketball season tips off with tournament in Richfield Springs

Richfield Springs Indians Tip-Off Tournament championship game

VERNON-VERONA-SHERRILL 71, SAUQUOIT VALLEY 42

VERNON-VERONA-SHERRILL (2-0) – Ben Donnelly 0 0-0 0; Mike DiGiorgio 1 0-0 3; Isaac Jacobs 3 0-0 7; Ben Wittman 5 2-5 12; Jackson Horodnick 6 1-2 13; Ethan Killian 0 0-0 0; Bryce Palmer 8 0-0 16; Elijah Donegan 5 0-0 10; Nate Costello 5 0-0 10. Totals: 33 3-7 71.

SAUQUOIT VALLEY (1-1) – Donovan Nelson 8 1-2 19; Zachary Latino 2 0-0 6; Garrett Stalker 1 0-0 2; Andrew Price 0 0-0 0; Ben Logalbo 1 0-0 2; Colin Jones 0 0-0 0; Jacob Jouben 5 0-0 11; Nick Miller 1 0-1 2. Totals: 18 1-3 42.

Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 23 16 16 16 – 71

Sauquoit Valley 8 15 12 7 – 42

Three-pointers – Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 2 (DiGiorgio 1, Jacobs 1); Sauquoit Valley 5 (Latino 2, Nelson 2, Jouben 1).

Richfield Springs Indians Tip-Off Tournament consolation game

RICHFIELD SPRINGS 59, LAURENS 35

LAURENS (0-2) – Adam Peddie 2 0-1 4; Donta Sherwood 1 0-0 2; Cyller Cimko 1 5-12 8; Nick DeBoer 0 0-0 0; Logan Conklin 6 3-6 15; Anthony Provost 2 2-4 6. Totals: 12 10-23 35.

RICHFIELD SPRINGS (1-1) – Austin Bowman 2 1-4 5; Andrew Oakley 1 0-4 2; Brogan Graves 1 0-0 2; Damon Boss 2 2-2 6; Dylan Hosford 6 3-3 17; Bradyn Dunckel 3 0-0 8; Vladimir Hula 0 0-0 0; Nathan LaVere 0 0-0 0; Jordan Diliberto 5 0-0 12; Aric Steenburg 3 0-0 7; Gabriel Kilburn 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 6-13 59.

Laurens 7 6 4 18 – 35

Richfield Springs 11 27 14 7 – 59

Three-pointers – Laurens 1 (Cimko 1); Richfield Springs 7 (Diliberto 2, Dunckel 2, Hosford 2, Steenburg 1).

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: VVS boys win tip-off basketball tournament at Richfield Springs