Archive: Sports

The Lansing Bobcat boys varsity basketball team struggled a bit to close out 2017, with 3 losses against Newark Valley, Dryden, and Moravia entering the holiday break.

On Friday, December 15th, the Bobcats traveled to Newark Valley to face the Cardinals. Garrett Bell opened the scoring with a 3 pointer, and Griffin Nelson added a nice floater to give Lansing a quick 5-0 lead, but NV came back with 6 points of their own. Luke Winslow tied the game with a foul shot, but some sloppy defense allowed NV to build a 20-8 lead. The Bobcats battled back though, with a Winslow 3 pointer bringing the score to 22-19 Newark Valley at the end of the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, both teams traded buckets through most of the frame. Some misses from the charity stripe could have helped the Bobcats, but in spite of that, they were still able to gain a 35-33 Lansing lead on a Langston Hopkins drive just before the half time buzzer.

The 3rd quarter started with a dry spell for both teams, but NV started to pick up some crucial buckets to build a lead. Jack Babuka’s 3 pointer just before the buzzer closed the gap, but the Cardinals still held a 47-41 advantage. The 4th quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with the Bobcats closing to within 1 point several times through the frame. Both teams battled hard, but the Cardinals prevailed by a score of 69-61.

Luke Winslow led the Bobcat scoring with 27 points, and Garrett Bell chipped in 12. Langston Hopkins and Griffin Nelson added 7 each.

On Tuesday, December 19th, Lansing visited the Purple Lions in Dryden. Joe Miller-LaBar opened the scoring after a nice pass from Ethan Burt. The Bobcats used a 1-3-1 full court press and 2-3 zone defense early in the frame, with both teams initially trading buckets. Luke Winslow tied the game at 10 with a 3 pointer, but Dryden then began to build a slight lead, closing the quarter up 18-12. The 2nd quarter was a bit ugly on both sides of the ball, with several turnovers and missed shots from both teams. The half ended with Dryden holding the lead, 28-17.

The 3rd quarter was more of the same, with the Lion advantage staying almost the same as the prior quarter, ending at 38-28 Dryden. In the 4th quarter, the scoring on both sides picked up a bit, but the Bobcats couldn’t gain any ground, resulting in a loss, 53-43.

Luke Winslow led the Bobcat scorers with 17 points, and Garrett Bell added 16.

On Wednesday, December 27th, the Moravia Blue Devils came to Lansing for a contest against the Bobcats. Griffin Nelson opened the scoring for Lansing, but it would be mid-way through that first quarter before our team scored again, with Langston Hopkins adding two from the free throw line. A couple 3 pointers from Luke Winslow gave our squad 10 points, but Moravia put up 14 of their own by the time the first buzzer sounded. Garrett Bell opened the 2nd with a 3 pointer, but thru the quarter, the Bobcats weren’t able to make up any ground, and the Blue Devils took a 25-22 lead into the locker room at the half.

Moravia went on a 5-0 run in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half, with turnovers and missed layups handcuffing our team. Regardless, the Bobcats were able to stay close, with Moravia up 36-32 at the end of the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter would see Moravia turn it up a notch, with at least a couple put-backs coming from offensive rebounds. More Lansing turnovers and missed field goals would result in a Blue Devil win, with a 55-42 final score.

Luke Winslow had 12 points with Garrett Bell putting up 10. Griffin Nelson and Joe-Miller LaBar each had 7 points.

On December 29th and 30th, the Bobcats participated in Watkins Glen’s Holiday Tournament, losing their first game to the Spencer-Van Etten Panthers, but gaining a win in the consolation game against the Trumansburg Blue Raiders the following night. Watkins Glen was the overall winner of the tourney.
In their Friday night game, Lansing seemed to match up well against the Panthers, with both teams full court pressing, and both opposing teams handling those presses with some easy layups. SVE used some decent post play and offensive rebounding to build a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lansing squad’s free throw accuracy was improved over recent games, keeping them close to the Panthers at the half, only down 27-23.

In the 3rd quarter, Langston Hopkins got the Bobcats fans cheering with a nice coast-to-coast drive, and Griffin Nelson’s 3 pointer half way through the frame pulled Lansing to within a single point, down 33-32. Luke Winslow’s offensive rebound and put-back gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game with 2:30 to go in the 3rd. The SVE shooters were struggling to keep up with Lansing’s run, and the quarter would end with our boys in the lead, 43-36. In the 4th quarter however, the Lansing team went cold, only putting in 3 points to SVE’s 16 points. The game would end with a Panthers victory, 52-46.

Hopkins led the Bobcats scoring with 12 points, with Nelson and Garrett Bell adding 9 points each.
In the Saturday consolation game against the Trumansburg Blue Raiders, Winslow started the Bobcat scoring by hitting 2 of 3 free throws after being fouled on a long range shot attempt. Later in the quarter, Winslow hit a 3 pointer to even the score at 12, and Hopkins added 5 points late in the frame to give the Bobcats a 17-14 advantage as the 1st buzzer sounded.

The 2nd quarter would see a Griffin Nelson 3 pointer start the scoring, with the Bobcats producing 26 points in the frame, assumed to be the highest quarterly output all season. Hopkins would account for 11 of those points, to go along with the 10 he scored in the first quarter. The Raiders looked a bit out of sorts, and the Bobcats would take a 43-29 lead into halftime.

The 3rd and 4th quarters essentially had both teams trading baskets, with no real change in the advantage held by Lansing. The game would wrap with a Bobcat win, 65-52.

Hopkins would end the night with 23 points, with Winslow putting up 19, and Nelson adding 13 more.
Joe Miller-LaBar was chosen as a tournament All-Star, and Trey McDonald came away with a win in the 3 point shooting contest, scoring 16 of a possible 18 points in the final round.


On January 2nd, the Bobcats traveled to Watkins Glen for a game against the Senecas.

Griffin Nelson opened the scoring with a 3 pointer for the Bobcats. The Lansing perimeter defense was strong, with several steals and resulting layups all night, helping to offset the solid post play of the Seneca’s big man. The first quarter would end with the Bobcats leading 16-9. The 2nd quarter would start with an Ethan Burt 3 pointer, another Joe Miller-LaBar steal and layup, and a nice give-and-go between Nelson and Burt. After a 9-2 run in the first 4 minutes, the Senecas coach would call his first timeout. A couple more Lansing steals in the back half of the frame would help bring their lead to 33-16 at halftime.

The Senecas opened the 2nd half scoring from the field, but really struggled from the line. In spite of some calls going against the Bobcats, they would still hold the lead at the end of the 3rd quarter, 40-27. Nelson sunk 2 free throws to start the 4th quarter scoring. Miller-LaBar and Nelson each sunk 3 pointers in the final frame, helping the Lansing squad secure a victory, with a final score of 55-39.

Griffin Nelson led all Lansing scorers with 14 points, Ethan Burt added 11, and Joe Miller-LaBar and Langston Hopkins each chipped in 10.

The Bobcats face the Trumansburg Blue Raiders at home on Friday January 5th.

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