P.O. Box 5
Afton, NY 13730
607.639.8200

Left: Victory over Oxford, 68-58. The crowd erupts.

Boys Varsity Basketball Video (QuickTime Streaming
Video, 10.4 MB)

Boys Basketball: Afton's rally falls short in final

BY KEVIN STEVENS
Press & Sun-Bulletin , March 2, 2003

BINGHAMTON -- Downsville withstood a fourth-quarter charge headed by indefatigable Afton whiz Josh Winans and claimed a 52-49 victory Saturday for its third consecutive Section 4 Class D basketball championship.  

Six-foot-5 senior Kyle Emerich converted on a powerful drive through the lane on the back end of Downsville's press-breaker for the final points with 28 seconds to play.

Afton's crack at an equalizer, by Kerry Mohrien from about 20 feet out on the left wing, caromed off the rim in the waning seconds.

Those in attendance at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena were treated to one of the most intense contests to unfold on that floor in recent memory.

Too, they witnessed late-coming, baseline-to-baseline brilliance by Winans, a 5-foot-1 senior who made his final quarter in an Afton uniform one to remember.

From start to finish, there were seemingly as many teenagers' bodies horizontal as vertical, leaving flesh to be scraped from between the Arena's floorboards.

Afton (18-5) trailed by 10 midway through the third period, and started the fourth down by 38-31. To that point, Winans -- a 22.4-per-game scorer -- was 1-for-14.

The shot that appeared to spark Winans was a three-pointer from the wing, fired while fading to his left with 6:08 to play that pulled Afton within 39-34. Moments later, in one of his many headlong lunges for a free ball, Winans absorbed an elbow to the nose and was forced to the sideline for a brief spell.

He re-entered and hit two free throws to make it 41-36, and with 2:32 to play, Winans stole an inbound pass, scored in traffic, was whacked and added the free throw to pull his squad within 45-41.

With just over two minutes left, Winans flung in a deep three-pointer and it was 46-44. Next came a jumper after strong penetration into the lane that dropped through as he crashed to the floor. He completed another three-point play to reduce the deficit to 48-47.

But this Eagles squad, coming off a win over previously unbeaten and top-seeded rival South Kortright, showed its mettle in the closing moments of play.

Emerich, a 20.4-per-game man who has attracted interest from NCAA Division II suitors, drew a foul against Winans and hit both ends for a 50-47 lead with 50 seconds remaining. But back came Afton for a bucket by Dan Metch, who rolled down the lane after accepting a drop-off feed from Josh Jennings near the free throw line, and it was 50-49.

Downsville inbounded against Afton's heavy full-court heat, got the basketball to Emerich, and he finished for the three-point margin.

Afton called timeout with 15.8 seconds left, worked the ball around in search of a tying three, but Mohrien's attempt from near his team's bench was strong and off the mark.

Winans, recipient of a post-game embrace from each and every player and coach representing Downsville, shook free of his prolonged shooting difficulties to finish with a team-high 18 points.

"I hadn't been on the floor that much all season," said a teary-eyed Winans, as he pointed to a collection of bumps and bruises incurred. "I'm going to be sore tomorrow."

Said Downsville coach Jeffery Baier, "We had a nice 10-point lead, and all of a sudden we don't make our free throws. And Josh Winans is probably the best point guard I've seen in Section 4 in a long, long time. We didn't take care of the ball, he'd steal it from us and take it to the other end.

"He's quick, so quick he can take over a game."