Waterville boys varsity basketball lost their rematch with West Canada Saturday afternoon at Utica College for the Mohawk Valley Basketball Classic 70-61.
It's the Indians' fifth consecutive loss in their toughest stretch of the schedule. WCS's next two games this week vs. Utica Academy of Science and Westmoreland also will be tough going for the young Indians.
Against West Canada, Waterville put together two runs to take the lead 19-13 through the first quarter. On their first possession the Indians' Tyson Maxam hit a corner three after taking the pass from Nathan Johnson, playing in his first game after recovering from a football injury.
On defense, Maxam poked the ball loose and Connor Marriott collected it for the steal. He passed it ahead to Cole Pearsall who was fouled on the layup. Pearsall made the first free throw and missed the second but Darren Johnson got the rebound.
Johnson passed it out to run the offense but Waterville's next shot didn't fall and West Canada got the rebound and turned it into a layup the other way. Maxam brought the ball upcourt and eventually found Pearsall with the pass and Pearsall finished the layup for a 6-2 WCS lead.
West Canada missed a shot and Pearsall got the defensive rebound which led to Marriott hitting Nate Johnson for the three. West Canada made two free throws, then hit a three and got the ball back.
Nate Johnson stole it and that led to Maxam finishing the layup. Darren Johnson scored on a layup off another assist from Marriott. Marriott got a defensive rebound to give Waterville a chance to extend the run but Waterville couldn't score and West Canada made a free throw to get the score to 13-8.
Maxam found Pearsall for the layup after a Pearsall block started a fast break for Waterville. Marriott then got a steal and finished it through contact the other way and no foul. The score was now 17-8.
West Canada scored two points and picked up a jump ball call and won the arrow. Maxam poked the ball loose again and Nate Johnson picked up the steal...