The Groton Indians will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Cortland Purple Tigers at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with ten consecutive losses dating back to last season for Groton and seven for Cortland dating back to last season.
Groton pushed their score all the way to 55 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. The match between Groton and Tioga wasn't particularly close, with Groton falling 71-55. While losing is never fun, Groton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 535th, while Tioga is ranked 249th).
Meanwhile, Cortland struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill had 11 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Cortland fell 51-41 to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
Despite the loss, Cortland saw an underclassman step up: Owen Johnson scored 12 points along with seven rebounds. Those 12 points set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Cal Albright, who scored nine points along with six rebounds.
Groton's loss was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 0-3. As for Cortland, their loss dropped their record down to 0-6.
