Chiefs wins over Cats, fall in close contest with Raiders

By Ginna Young

It was a week that saw split games for the Cornell boys basketball program, as they began the conference season.

Dec. 6 vs. Birchwood conference (W 52-40)

First up, was Birchwood on the road, who ususally has a tall lineup, but was without their power forward, who was out with sickness. Despite that, the Bobcats out-rebounded Cornell, 44-25.

“Twenty-six of their boards were offensive and we should have lost the game for that reason alone,” said coach Steve Parker. “However, we outscored them in transition and our defense forced a high percentage of missed shots.”

The Chiefs went into halftime up by three points, but in the second half, Birchwood put the pressure on.

“We nursed a two-point lead with six minutes left, and closed out the game on a 10-0 run,” said Parker.

With that boost, Cornell took the game, 52-40. The Chiefs shot 50 percent from two-point range and 35 percent from behind the arc.

Senior Dylan Bowe had a monster game, scoring 31 points (5-8 from two-point range, 7-14 from three-point range). He finished the night with 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Junior Bentley Spangler chipped in with a point and had 4 steals, while senior Dawson Munson scored 9 points and had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Junior Daniel Person ended the night with 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals, and senior Blake Anders had 6 points. Sophomore Hunter Anders finished with 2 points.

“Cornell supposedly hasn’t won at Birchwood for a long time, and it was nice to break the curse,” said Parker.

Dec. 9 vs. Bruce conference (L 70-69)

Bruce then came to call, with Cornell looking for payback on the Raiders, who beat the Chiefs by 40 points in each match-up last year.

“Our team has come a long way to become competitive among the conference’s other best teams,” said Parker. “We’re serving notice that we are not a team to take lightly.”

Cornell was down by five at halftime, but played well most of the contest, out-rebounding the Raiders and finding open teammates on the offensive end. But, in the end, it was a heartbreaking last-second three-pointer from Bruce, to win the game for the visitors, 70-69.

“Tonight was a tough loss,” said Parker. “I was proud of how our team rallied twice from a double-digit deficit, to either tie or take the lead.”

The Chiefs were down a starter from illness, but sophomore Parker Modl stepped in and hit a couple of big threes for his team, ending with 6 points. However, he had limited playing time, because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out halfway through the second half. H. Anders came in off the bench and played solid, committing no turnovers and tallying 5 rebounds, 3 assists and generating a steal, while notching a shot from beyond the arc.

“I am also proud of Daniel Person for stepping up tonight, and rediscovering his offensive ability,” said Parker. “I give props to Blake Anders, as well, for his all-around effort and for shooting 7 for 8 from the free throw line. Dylan Bowe served as floor general again on offense and he played stalwart defense.”

Bowe finished the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while Person had 16 points and 9 rebounds. B. Anders completed the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Munson came up with a three-pointer, ending with 6 points.

“We will work on stopping the ball further out, to force a lower percentage shot in games to come,” said Parker.