| | Richfield Springs’ Fred Russ (24) tries to block the shot of New York Mills’ Jason Stevener (12) during a Center State Conference Division IV basketball game, Saturday, at Richfield Springs Central School. Russ had 17 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks in the Indians’ 55-28 victory. (Photo by Mike Root) | |
Richfield Springs all but assured itself the Center State Conference Division IV boys basketball crown this past weekend by knocking off the second and third place teams Friday and Saturday night. On Friday, the Indians beat second place Oppenheim-Ephratah, 59-54, on the road before coming back home to throttle New York Mills, 55-28, Saturday night. Richfield improved to 14-2 overall and 9-0 in the division with three CSC IV games left. With one more division win, the Indians clinch a tie, and with two wins, they are CSC IV champs. Richfield hosts Owen D. Young (1-12, 0-7 as of Jan. 25) Friday night before traveling to New York Mills (11-5, 7-3 as of Jan. 27) Tuesday. The Indians host Old Forge (4-11, 3-6 as of Jan. 25) Friday, Feb. 8, in their regular season finale. “This was a huge hump for us to get over,” Richfield head coach Bill Stevens said after Saturday’s victory over New York Mills. “Last night was a tough, tough game at Oppenheim and to come back and beat Mills on tired legs, it took a lot of guts to do that. Of course, they were playing back-to-back also.” The Indians came out fired up and looked deserving of their No. 8 ranking in the state Class D poll. Richfield controlled the tip, with Dan Bloomfield grabbing the ball before charging to the basket with a defender at his side. Bloomfield made a great pass to a wide-open Alex Sovocool on the other side of the basket, who simply bounced it in off the glass for the early lead. The Indians made passes like that the entire night. “We moved the ball well,” Stevens said. “They don’t sit back. Mills always comes out in that 1-2-2 or the 1-3-1. We moved the ball pretty well. We got a lot of shots along the baseline. I was real pleased with the way we passed the ball.” Freshman Fred Russ had 17 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks, and Sovocool had 18 points and 12 boards for the Indians. Richfield limited the Marauders to seven second half points, but Stevens isn’t expecting a lopsided victory Tuesday, when the Indians travel to New York Mills. “It’s always hard,” Stevens said of facing the Marauders. “They’re well coached, they’re a scrappy team and they have a good post player (Shawn Smelcher). Tonight, we were able to get them on the ropes and keep them there. It could be a totally different game next time.” Jeremy Miller led New York Mills with 15 points. Richfield hosts Owen D. Young, Friday, at 7:30 p.m. A win would clinch a share of the division title for the Indians.
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