Blackhawks fall by one point

BINGHAMTON – Perhaps the most telling of ironies surfaced in the post-game comments of Union Springs coach Tim Darnell after his club’s Section IV, Class C championship game against Oxford Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

“It’s been 24 years since our school has won a sectional basketball title, and 14 years since our school has won any sort of sectional title,” Darnell said after his Wolves eked out a 49-48 victory over the Blackhawks.

While Oxford’s sectional title drought will move to at least 39 years, Union Springs’ ended against the very same school it defeated nearly 2 1/2 decades ago – the Blackhawks. “We had a couple of spells in the fourth quarter where we had empty trips down the floor,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We turned the ball over and they got some points in transition. We also had some shots and didn’t convert them. Other than those empty trips in the fourth, I don’t think our team could have played much better.”

Union Springs made a name for itself in the first two games of postseason on the defensive end. Holding Oxford without a point for two three-minute stretches in the fourth quarter, the Wolves led by as many as six points in the last stanza. Nick Schooley hit two free throws with 18 seconds left to up Union Springs’ lead to 47-43.

Alex Champlin scored just 6.2 seconds later for Oxford (19-4), and the Blackhawks’ Champlin fouled immediately on the ensuing inbounds play. Unfortunately, it was not the ideal player for the Blackhawks to place on the line at such a critical juncture.

Pat Chandler, he of the game-high 16 points including four three-point daggers in the corner, drained two more freebies at the charity stripe to all but seal the win. “Chandler was not the one we wanted to foul, and I pretty much knew he would make both free throws,” Davis said.

Oxford sophomore Cory Seiler hit a three-pointer with under a second to play, and at that moment, he seemed to have a glimmer of hope, but Seiler’s head sunk as he watched the clock and the Blackhawks’ season run out – just one point short.