By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
CORNING — Down 16-14 after one quarter, the Corning Hawks went on a 14-0 run to start the second quarter and never trailed again as they beat Elmira 84-69 on Tuesday night to claim the STAC West title.

“Great feeling,” Nolyn Proudfoot said of the win. “We came into it, tough team, won by 20. Got it done on defense. It was senior night, great night to do it. Seniors came in, got some run and STAC West Champions.”

The Hawks knew they would face a tough test on Tuesday.

“We knew it was going to be a big battle from the start and we just wanted to fight from the first quarter to the fourth and that’s just what we did,” Makai Daniels said.

Corning scored 25 second-quarter points and led 39-25 at the half. In the third quarter Elmira came out strong. Dash Harris had a drive and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Julian Colon grabbed the rebound and got the put back to cut the deficit to 10.

That’s as close as Elmira would get the rest of the game.

Teigen Gill hit a three to put Corning up 15. Proudfoot hit athree to make it a 16-point game and then Proudfoot hit a 30-foot three to push Corning’s lead to 19.

Colon had a steal and a layup to get Corning within 13 and Zyquise Matias had a layup to get Elmira within 12. But, Elmira wouldn’t get any closer.

For the Hawks the night was filled with players making the extra pass which led to good shots and a strong offensive display.

“I thought that was huge,” Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. said. “That extra pass to find the open man. We made some shots tonight and that was huge. And, we needed to do that tonight. Tonight was a big game. It had implications. Should we not come out on top we would have been playing at Elmira in the tiebraker on Saturday.

“It’s huge from that standpoint and now we can focus on Johnson City on Thursday to finish out the regular season the road. (Felix) Morales had 54 for them the other night out of their 68. He’s a dude. Then we turn around and we’ll play Seton Catholic on Wednesday at Seton Catholic I believe.”

For Corning’s players the game on Tuesday was an indication of what the offense can do.

“It’s a great feeling,” Proudfoot said. “We played togethere as a team. The last game was right, but we just came into this as dogs. We were moving it down the floor and getting wide open shots.

“Coming into the season we have shooters everywhere. You are coming down the floor and they are collapsing and you’ve got Makai Daniels, Carter Proudfoot, Teigen Kill, Kyler Stevenson. Kyler Stevenson may be a motor guy, but he can really knock down that shot.”

“It’s relaly fun, it feels like every shot is going in, we are flowing,” Daniels said.

What made things more special for Daniels was that he, Jeremy Spears and Spencer Castle were recognized on senior night before the game.

“It’s really special for me,” Daniels said. “We just came out there and we relaly worked. It is really special. We just had that loss from our last game and it gave us a fight and urge for this game.

“It was pretty emotional (senior night). I was still happy for the most part. The game gives us a lot of confidence and us moving the ball more, that gives us a lot of confidence.”

The last game the Hawks played they fell at Union-Endicott, so they were happy to come out and play a strong game all night on Tuesday.

“It was really tough at U-E,” Proudfoot said. “It was just a bad game, coming in it feels great, doing what we were doing before.

“We are not the biggest, but we all got dog in us. We are all fighthing for rebounds. The ball moves faster when it’s moving (with passes) not when it’s just us dribbling down the floor.”

As Corning would hit big shots you could see the emotion that they were playing with throughout the game.

“They were really excited to play tonight,” Johnston Jr. said. “I knew they were confident and they went out and they displayed that. I can’t ask for anything more.

“One of the things we talked about was we have got to get back to sharing the ball. It can’t be a one-man show. I looked down the floor and we have five shooters, guys that can knock down a three on the floor and it’s a tough matchup. Fortunately, tonight we put it in the basket.”

Corning hit 11 threes in the game.

Proudfoot was 4-for-7 from three and 10-for-16 from the field for 28 points, with five boards, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Stevenson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, along with four assists and two steals. He was 2-for-3 from three and 7-for-9 from the field.

Kohl Hogue had 14 points, with two threes and 4-for-4 shooting from the line. he had five boards, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot and Daniels had six points, five boards, three assists and a steal and Gill had six points, three assists and a rebound. He hit two threes.

Carter Proudfoot had five points, with a three, a rebound, an assist and a steal and Castle had four points and two rebounds, with a blocked shot. Spears had three points and an assist and Nick Robbins had a point.

Julian Colon had 20 points for Elmira, with six boards, Dash Harris had 12 points and Nyheim brown had 10 points with two rebounds.

Matias had eight points and Byron Hall Jr. and Anthony Kitching each had six points, with Kitching grabbing nine rebounds.

James Harris had four points and seven rebounds and Darien Harris had three points.
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES