Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018: Owego digs out of holes twice to win in 2 OTs

   Leading off today: Thirty-two minutes simply wasn't enough to get the job done in some big boys basketball games Friday night.

   Nor was a 36-minute effort sufficient in a couple of cases.

    Down by four points early in the first overtime and then five early in the second OT, Owego fought back to defeat visiting Johnson City 76-75. Owego is ranked 22nd in the state in Class B this week.

   A Dylan Evans 3-pointer -- one of his three after the end of regulation -- and a pair of Christian Sage free throws moved Owego in front with :42.8 seconds to go, but JC's Xavier Hill (31 points) answered with a bucket with :04 to play. Sage then won it with a pair of free throws after being fouled with :02.2 left.

   Sage finished 18-for-20 from the line on his way to 35 points as Owego won its 11th straight game.

   Johnson City was without starting guard Ladarius Thompson, who injured an ankle in Wednesday's practice.

    • Dylan Casey (19 points) hit a three-pointer and two free throws in the second overtime to give Maryvale a 68-63 win over Cheektowaga.

   Maryvale's Ray Blackwell had 24 points.

   Cheektowaga's Alekzander Bryant (18 points) made a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to force OT.

    • On Thursday, junior forward Jarell White delivered a putback at the regulation buzzer and scored two more baskets the same way in the extra period as host Bellport remained undefeated with a 73-58 win over Deer Park in Suffolk IV action.

   Deer Park is ranked 15th and Bellport 21st in the state in Class AA.

   SNY Invitational: Long Island Lutheran will play Cardinal Hayes in the SNY Invitational championship Saturday.

   Long Island Lutheran is ranked fifth and Cardinal Hayes 10th in the state in Class AA.

   LuHi advanced with a 77-67 triumph against No. 19 Archbishop Molloy. Tyson Etienne, Frankie Policelli and Andre Curbelo scored 16 points apiece to offset 34 -- including 10 straight in the final 2:00 -- by Molloy junior Cole Anthony, son of former Knick Greg Anthony.

   The Crusaders held 7-foot-2 UCLA commit Moses Brown to seven points.

   "We have a couple big guys, and we said that if we try to play tentatively on him, he's just going to eat us up," coach John Buck said.

   Despite being left with a thin bench due to injuries, Cardinal Hayes spruced up its resume with a 57-55 win over Hudson Catholic, one of New Jersey's best teams.

   Senior Tyrese Williams paced the Cardinals with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Richardson also scored 16.

   More boys basketball: Senior guard Nigel Scantlebury (20 points) made the game-winning jumper as No. 11 Greece Athena defeated No. 18 Pittsford Sutherland 58-56 in a Class A battle between state-ranked Section 5 teams.

FINAL: @GAHSBoysHoops 58, @PCSDAthletics 56! @_Nigel___ with a long distance 2 pointer for the win! 58-56! @sectvbb @ATHDRichardson @AthenaHigh @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/lCN6ghH4Tg

— Greece Athena Boys Basketball (@GAHSBoysHoops) January 27, 2018

   Senior guards Christian Jones and Patrick Meisenzahl added 11 points apiece for the winners.

   Boys hockey: Chris Hilliard scored in the closing seconds as North Rockland upset Suffern, ranked seventh in the state in Division I, 3-2.

   UPrep star gone: University Prep forward Jabez Thomas, 14th-team all-state in Class AA a year ago as a sophomore has left school.

   UPrep coach James Reaves told the Democrat and Chronicle that Thomas is believed to be headed to North Carolina, possibly to enroll at Mount Zion Christian Academy.

   "It may be a better situation for him," Reaves said. "We wanted to improve his performance in the classroom, as well as on the court. He needed a little bit more than we could give."

   Reaves benched Thomas at least twice this season for rules violations, the paper reported.

   For planning purposes: Joe Girard III scored 54 points in a 91-71 win Friday over Johnstown -- and picked up a scholarship offer from Michigan coach John Beilein, who was in attendance.

   Girard's latest huge scoring performance leaves him 38 points shy of Lance Stephenson for the state record in career points. The big moment could come Tuesday at Amsterdam, but don't plan on witnessing it in person unless you already have a ticket.

Tickets for the Tuesday, Jan. 30 varsity basketball game against Glens Falls are now sold out. Entry will not be permitted without a ticket and there will be no tickets sold at the door.

— Amsterdam Schools (@AMSTGASD) January 25, 2018

    • After the teams thrilled a sell-out crowd at the County Center in their first meeting, Iona Prep has moved its Feb. 3 rematch with Archbishop Stepinac to Iona College.

   The college arena has a capacity of 2,611 and its a good bet every seat will be filled even at the lofty price of $10 for adults and $5 for students. Stepinac defeated Iona Prep 82-78 in double OT in their first meeting this season.

   Extra points: I had intended to write about Rush-Henrietta senior track star Lanae-Tava Thomas about a month for now in my weekly column for PressConnects.com.

   Not wanting to be any later to the party than I already was, I moved that story up to this week. She already wiped Carol Lewis out of the U.S. record book in the long jump last summer, and now the USC commit is dangerously close to the world youth and junior records of one of the greatest athletes from the East German dynasty.