Southside boys, Horseheads girls top section seeds

The Southside boys and the Horseheads girls have earned top seeds for the Section 4 basketball playoffs, it was announced Tuesday.

Southside is the top seed in Class A and will host eighth-seeded Johnson City at 7 p.m. next Wednesday. Also in Class A boys games next Wednesday, fourth-seeded Corning West hosts fifth-seeded Maine-Endwell and second-seeded Elmira Free Academy hosts seventh-seeded Corning East. Both games start at 7 p.m.
The Horseheads girls are the top seed in Class AA and received a first-round bye. Horseheads will host either fourth-seeded Ithaca or fifth-seeded Vestal at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at Horseheads Middle School in a semifinal game.
Other pairings:
* Class AA boys: Horseheads is seeded fourth and will host No. 5 Ithaca at 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Horseheads Middle School.
* Class B boys: Waverly, the No. 5 seed, received a first-round bye and will play at No. 4 Oneonta in a quarterfinal game Feb. 28. Watkins Glen, the No. 3 seed, also received a first-round bye and will host either Windsor or Dryden in a quarterfinal Feb. 28.
* Class C boys: Notre Dame is seeded third and received a first-round bye. The Crusaders will host either sixth-seeded Odessa-Montour or 11th-seeded Unatego in a quarterfinal Feb. 28. O-M and Unatego play at 7 p.m. next Wednesday in Odessa.
Also, 12th-seeded Spencer-Van Etten plays at No. 5 Walton at 7 p.m. next Wednesday.
* Class A girls: Waverly is seeded third and will host sixth-seeded Corning East at 7 p.m. Tuesday; fourth-seeded Corning West hosts fifth-seeded Southside at 7 p.m. Tuesday; and second-seeded Elmira Free Academy hosts seventh-seeded Johnson City at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
* Class B girls: Fifth-seeded Notre Dame hosts 12th-seeded Whitney Point at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and ninth-seeded Watkins Glen plays at eighth-seeded Chenango Forks at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
* Class C girls: Odessa-Montour earned the No. 2 seed and will host 15th-seeded Marathon at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Southside boys fall in STAC semifinals

NORWICH - For fashion, it's not recommended to put purple and green together. But it can make for an entertaining basketball game.
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The Norwich Purple Tornado clashed with the Southside Green Hornets on Tuesday night and emerged with a 66-55 win in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys basketball semifinal game. Norwich will next take on Vestal, a 69-46 winner over Seton Catholic in the other semifinal, at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at Binghamton University in the championship game.
Norwich (17-2) hit seven 3-pointers in a 43-point second half, coming from behind to put Southside away down the stretch. Josh Borfitz led the assault with 19 of his 24 points in the third and fourth periods.
"It's nice to shoot like that against such a good team," Norwich coach Mark Abbott said. "And I can't say enough about what a scrappy, athletic team Southside is. John (Fesetch) is doing a great job there and they're just a fantastic team. I'm awfully excited that we beat them."
In a fast-paced first half, Southside (13-6) led 18-13 after the first quarter and 27-23 at halftime. Brent McLaurin fueled the Hornets in the opening period, slamming a two-handed dunk for the game's first points and capping his eight-point quarter with another two-handed slam off an offensive rebound.
Mike Backer scored five points for Southside in the second quarter, but Norwich closed to within 25-23 on Borfitz's first 3-pointer. Kevyn Walker hit a 16-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Hornets the four-point halftime cushion.
Borfitz tied the score at 30-30 in the third period with the first of his five second-half 3-pointers. By the time Richie Bonney hit two free throws to finish the third-period scoring, Norwich had eased out to a 43-40 lead.
Bonney contributed eight fourth-quarter points to finish with 19, and Borfitz continued his hot shooting with 11 points in the final quarter.
"Our big guys were setting good picks," Borfitz said. "I'm just happy to get the good looks and lucky I was hitting the shots. We're known for our 'D,' so to hit some threes in a big game is a plus."
McLaurin and Bryan Gilbert each had 12 points to lead Southside. Anderson Brooks came on in the fourth quarter to hit three 3-pointers and twice bring Southside within a point. Southside was within 56-55 with about three minutes left, but Norwich scored the game's final 10 points.
"I'm not disappointed with the way we played," Southside coach John Fesetch said. "In fact, I'm happy with how we played. It's just that Norwich knows how to use that 3-point line, and we couldn't stop them."

Southside will play at STAC Central champion Norwich at the opening rounds of the STAC Tournament Tues Feb 17 2009

The Green Hornets will next play in the four-team STAC tournament, starting with Tuesday's semifinals. Southside will play at STAC Central champion Norwich at 6:30 p.m.

1st Place STAC West ...Elmira Southside (13-5) overall and (8-1) West STAC

1st Place STAC Central...Norwich (15-3) overall and (8-0) Central STAC

EFA upsets Elmira Southside in a STAC West archrival Game

Southside losses for the first time in STAC West Conference game to EFA 66-63

EFA boys 66, Southside 63: Reggie Corley scored 27 points as Elmira Free Academy handed Southern Tier Athletic Conference West champion Southside the loss.
Southside (13-5, 9-3) jumped out to a 23-16 lead after the first quarter, but the Blue Devils had the scoring edge in every quarter after that. EFA (10-8, 6-6) trailed 49-48 heading to the fourth quarter.
"Academy just played with an awful lot of heart," Southside coach John Fesetch said. "They deserved to win this game."
Mike Backer led the way for Southside with 18 points.
The Green Hornets will next play in the four-team STAC tournament, starting with Tuesday's semifinals. Southside will play at STAC Central champion Norwich at 6:30 p.m.

Update: Elmira Southside Boys Basketball move up to 23rd in the State rankings Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association

Elmira Southside Green Hornets under Coach John Fesetch continue their climb up the New York State High School Basketball Rankings as one of the best elite teams in Class A.

The Green Hornets move up to 23rd in the State today according to The NYS Sportswriters Association.

Earlier this year, Elmira Southside knocked off 15th ranked EFA and 17th ranked Vestal. But the most impressive performence was a big win over 5th ranked Newark in OT. at The Coaches for Cancer title game in front of over 4000 people.

Elmira Southside Green Hornets 2008-09 Boys Basketball Schedule and results

Elmira Southside 2008-09 Results 13-4
(8-0 in STAC West)

(2/10/09) Elmira Southside @ Corning East 86-75 W

(2/6/09) Elmira Southside @ Elmira (EFA) 80-77 W

(1/30/09) Elmira Southside @ Corning West 67-53 W

(1/23/09) Elmira Southside @ Horseheads 78-60 W

(1/20/09) Elmira Southside @ Union-Endicott 66-69 L

(1/16/09) Ithaca @ Elmira Southside 42-81 W

(1/13/09) Vestal @ Elmira Southside 67-81 W

(1/6/09) Elmira Southside@ Binghamton 54-59 L

(12/29/08) Newark @ Elmira Southside 64-65 W

(12/28/08) Elmira Free Acad. @ Elmira Southside 48-58 W

(12/27/08) Horseheads @ Elmira Southside 54-66 W

(12/23/08) Elmira Southside @ Henninger 55-84 L

(12/16/08) Corning East @ Elmira Southside 65-96 W

(12/10/08) Corning West @ Elmira Southside 45-59 W

(12/5/08) Rochester East @ Elmira Southside 61-72 W

(11/29/08) Elmira Southside @ Gates Chili 63-73 L

(11/28/08) Elmira Southside @ Dr. Freddie Thomas 65-55 W

Elmira Southside Boys beat stuborn Corning East 86-75 in a STAC West match-up

Elmira Southside improves their record to 8-0 in the STAC West Conference and 13-4 overall. Elmira Southside is ranked as of Feb 4 2009 24th in Class A High School basketball by The New York State Sportswriters Association.

Southside 86, Corning west 75

Mike Backer scored 14 of his 19 points in the 4th quarter to help Elmira Southside outlast STAC West opponent Corning East.

Three other Green Hornets scored in double figures, as Bryan Gilbert had 18, Kevin Walker 14 and Anderson Brooks 12.

For Corning East, Brandon Griffin and Justin Cramer Paterson each scored 19 points, and Joel Crammer 16.