Schoharie Downs Middleburgh 65-53, Brown Scores 23

Despite holding home court advantage, with a boisterous crowd in attendance, the Middleburgh Knights struggled through out last night's Benefit Boys' Basketball varsity matchup against Schoharie, falling by twelve points, 65-53, to a determined Indians squad that Middleburgh had defeated just two weeks prior in the Cutspec Memorial Tournament.

 

Troy Hinkley gears up for a free-throw attempt

Led by Connor Brown's twenty-three point performance, with James Sacket contributing seventeen in support, the Indians took control of the situation from the opening tip-off and never looked back, only losing their game-long lead for a few seconds at a time. Schoharie would convert twenty-three shots from the paint and ten more from the free throw line.

 

Photo credit: Emilie Werner, Schoharie News

Middleburgh, which scored only four points in the opening quarter, came back from eight down in the second quarter to capture a brief lead after the half, due largely to the performance of Ryan Bechtold - the Knights leading scorer with fourteen points - who hit four three-pointers in a eight minute stretch, but it just wasn't enough to hold back Schoharie's sustained offensive attack.

Devan Smida positions himself for the inbound pass

At one point the Indians held a blowout twenty point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Knights were able to tighten the score with three consecutive three-pointers by Keith Campbell, who had the entire gym cheering on his amazing spree by the third conversion. However, by then it was too little too late for Middleburgh as their opponents would then run out the clock.   

Earlier in the evening the junior varsity matchup, which kicked off the benefit double-header that raised $284 from at door admission and two large boxes of food items that will be split evenly between Middleburgh and Schoharie area food banks, ended in a blowout victory for the Knights as they carried that contest 52-33.

                       1st   2nd   3rd   final
Middleburgh     4    26    36    53
Schoharie       12    28    53    65