Weekly top reads: Hunter Dinerant closes, The Citizen All-Stars, new … – The Citizen

Those hoping to begin 2023 with breakfast at the Hunter Dinerant will have to make other plans, as the landmark Auburn restaurant served its last customers Saturday.

The 18 Genesee St. restaurant, which opened there in 1951, closed at 2 p.m. An employee confirmed the closure to The Citizen on Saturday. Owner Rachael Juhl declined comment.

Rachael and her husband, Bill, purchased the Dinerant in 2011, six years after meeting there while she was working as a waitress. The Juhls prided themselves on the attention they paid to the restaurant, a steel railcar perched atop beams over the Owasco River. Their work included renovating the neon signage that has been the subject of many a nighttime photograph over the decades.

The Juhls closed the Dinerant once before, after the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. in March 2020, but they reopened it eight months later. At the time, Bill told The Citizen he and Rachael hoped the city of Auburn would help them find a buyer for the restaurant the way it has other high-profile properties. The restaurant’s market value is $140,100, according to Cayuga County records.

That value, however, doesn’t account for the aesthetic and historic significance of the Hunter Dinerant. Along with its ’50s iconography, the restaurant is famed for its connection to current U.S. President Joe Biden. His first wife, Neilia Hunter, was the daughter of the restaurant’s namesakes and owners, Robert and Louise Hunter. After the death of Neilia and her and Joe’s daughter, Naomi, in a 1972 car accident, Biden and his sons, Hunter and Beau, continued to visit the restaurant. Their most recent visit was in 2014, when Joe and the late Beau took a picture with the Juhls there.

Speaking to The Citizen in 2020, Bill was confident that the restaurant’s history, and all the gravy fries and burger melts that come with it, would continue no matter what.

“It’s the city’s diner, it never was really ours. We’re just caretakers of it,” he said. “The diner will be back, no matter who owns it. It will always be a part of Auburn.”

Gallery: Landmark Auburn diner closing, served the community since 1951

If you have visited one of the three New York State Thruway rest stops that were rebuilt and reopened within the last few months, then you may have some thoughts about the size of these new facilities. 

A common criticism is that these new service areas are too small. The Thruway Authority has told the public that not all of the rest stops will be the same size. The first three to open as part of a $450 million project — Chittenango, Indian Castle and Junius Ponds — are among the smallest service areas to be reconstructed. 

On its website, the Thruway Authority says that Empire State Thruway Partners, which was awarded a 33-year contract to rebuild and operate the service areas, “planned different levels of service for each service area location based on sales history and traffic data over the last 10 years, as well as current services offered to the traveling public and services they’d like to see in the future.” 

The Thruway Authority has assigned “levels” to the 27 service areas. The levels indicate the size of the rest stop and how many “food concepts,” or restaurants, will be on site. All service areas have convenience stores and restrooms. 

Level 1 

This is the smallest of the six levels and covers two service areas — DeWitt (Interstate 90 eastbound near Syracuse) and Schuyler (I-90 westbound between exits 30 and 31). 

The level 1 rest stops will be 3,896 square feet with one restaurant and a convenience store. Once rebuilt, DeWitt will have a Starbucks and Schuyler will have a Dunkin Donuts. 

Level 2

Nearly one-third of the rest stops are in this classification, including the first three that reopened this year. The other level 2 service areas are Guilderland (I-90 east between exits 25 and 24), Mohawk (I-90 east between exits 27 and 26), Port Byron (I-90 east between exits 41 and 40), Scottsville (I-90 east between exits 47 and 46) and Seneca (I-90 west between exits 44 and 45). 

A level 2 service area is 5,742 square feet and has two restaurants along with a convenience store. For example, Junius Ponds Service Area has Shake Shack and Starbucks. 

Level 2A

The difference between level 2 and 2A is significant — a level 2A service area is more than twice the size of a level 2 rest stop. The 2A service areas will cover 14,654 square feet. 

Five service areas are considered level 2A rest stops: Iroquois (I-90 west between exits 29 and 29A), Oneida (I-90 east between exits 33 and 32), Ontario (I-90 west between exits 46 and 47), Warners (I-90 west between exits 39 and 40) and Malden (I-87 north between exits 20 and 21). 

The added space allows the level 2A service areas to have three restaurants with a convenience store. Ontario Service Area, which will be rebuilt in the second phase of the project, will have Burger King, Panera Bread and Starbucks. 

Level 2B 

A level 2B service area is the same size as a 2A (14,654 square feet) but will have amenities for truck drivers. When the Thruway Authority detailed the $450 million project in 2021, those amenities included fitness centers, laundry facilities and showers. 

The three level 2B service areas are Clarence (I-90 west between exits 48A and 49), Pattersonville (I-90 west between exits 26 and 27) and Ulster (I-87 south between exits 20 and 19). 

These rest stops will have three restaurants and a convenience store. 

Level 3

The seven rest stops at this level will be among the largest on the Thruway. The service areas will be 20,145 square feet and feature six to eight restaurants with convenience stores. 

The level 3 rest stops are Angola (I-90 east and west between exits 57A and 58), Clifton Springs (I-90 east between exits 42 and 43), Modena (I-87 south between exits 18 and 17), New Baltimore (I-87 north between exits 21B and 21A), Plattekill (I-87 north between exits 17 and 18), Ramapo (I-87 south between exits 16 and 15A) and Sloatsburg (I-87 north between exits 15A and 16). 

The Thruway Authority has already announced four of the restaurants at Clifton Springs, which is scheduled to open in early 2023. The service area will have Auntie Anne’s, Chick-fil-A, Shake Shack and Starbucks. 

Level 3B

A level 3B service area will have the same number of restaurants (six to eight) as a level 3 and cover the same square footage (20,145). The difference, though, is that it will have amenities for truckers — fitness centers, laundry services and showers. 

The only level 3B service area is Pembroke (I-90 east between exits 48A and 48), which is under construction and scheduled to reopen in early 2023. The restaurants planned for the rest stop include Burger King, Dunkin Donuts and Panera Bread. 

Will size matter? 

A majority of the rest stops along I-90 (10 of 19) are either level 1 or 2 facilities, including the first three that reopened. But that same stretch of the Thruway will also have some of the largest service areas in the state. 

The Thruway Authority thinks the complaints about the size of the new rest stops will subside once the construction phases are completed and all service areas are open. There has been increased foot traffic at the new rest stops, in part, because other service areas are closed. 

Time will tell if the authority’s prediction is correct. 

A Moravia man was picked up by the New York State Police Wednesday morning on several charges, including driving while intoxicated with a child in the vehicle.

State troopers from the Auburn station stopped a vehicle on East Venice Road in the town of Venice, a news release on the state police website said. Subsequently, Joshua K. Allen, 38, was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child under 17 in the vehicle, open container law, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and several traffic tickets. He was taken to the Cayuga County Jail for arraignment.

The Dec. 28 state police public information reports for Troop E, which includes the Auburn station, said Allen was also charged with two counts of possession of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle and he was arrested at 1:05 a.m.

In her first year of high school, Kyleen Brady has already accomplished more than many of her older contemporaries. 

Brady, a freshman at Auburn, returned to the New York state championships this fall and, along the way, continued to establish herself as one of central New York’s top distance runners — of any age. 

Running, Brady said, is a family thing. Both her mother Karen (who is also the Maroons’ varsity coach) and brother Keegan (a member of Auburn’s boys varsity team) are runners too. 

“I got into it because of that and I seemed to enjoy it,” Brady said. “I stared training when I was in fifth grade, around then. I started running more and being more serious. But it wasn’t until I first joined varsity (in seventh grade) that I got really into it.”

Joining a varsity team can often be overwhelming for any middle schooler, but circumstance helped ease Brady’s transition. Due to COVID-19, all invitationals were canceled that season and teams were limited to dual meets only. 

That meant Brady’s competition was limited to the dozens, not hundreds. 

“It was like varsity with training wheels,” said Karen Simmonds-Brady, Kyleen’s mother and coach. “She was able to get accustomed to it without too many overwhelming situations. It was dual meets and just getting to know what it’s like. 

“Modified would’ve been tough because there were not a lot of kids running and with dual meets, they’d be up against a lot of incomplete teams.”

Invitationals were back on the table in fall 2021 for Brady’s eighth-grade season and she ran like a veteran, posting first-place finishes at both the McQuaid and Weedsport invitationals. 

By finishing fourth at the Section III Class A championships, she earned her first berth at the New York state championships.

That set the table for an excellent freshman year. Brady started strong with a first-place time at the McDaniel-Baxter Invitational at Chenango Valley — the same site as last fall’s state meet — and later won the Weedsport Invitational for the second straight year. 

Brady’s favorite meet, she said, actually came at the Salt City Athletic Conference meet at Baldwinsville in October when she finished third overall. 

“I felt good at leagues,” Brady said. “I really liked the course and the conditions were good. The weather wasn’t too bad. It just felt like a fast course.”

Less than a month later, Brady made her second appearance at the state championships, which were held at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in November — the same course Auburn opened its season this year. 

She came in 15th out of 107 of New York state’s top Class A runners, benefiting from the prior season’s experience. 

“I’m glad I had states last year,” Brady said. “This year I knew what to expect and what people would be there. I based myself off of last year, like with my time and place, to see how much I improved. It really helped me to have that.”

Brady wasn’t Auburn’s lone representative in the girls race, as teammate Ali Pineau, a sophomore, also qualified. 

Whether it be dual meets or invitationals, Brady and Pineau are often joined at the hip. That constant competition helps both runners thrive. 

“It’s great because if one of them is having a rough day and not feeling it, the other one is pushing them along and getting them moving,” Simmonds-Brady said. “They always seem to complement each other really well. They know how to measure where they should be off each other and that makes them feel more comfortable in a competitive environment.”

Already with an impressive resume, Brady has plenty of opportunities remaining to add to it. Along with three more years of cross country, she also runs for Auburn’s indoor and outdoor track teams in the winter and spring. 

From and coach and mother’s perspective, Simmonds-Brady hopes to see her daughter continue to have fun over the next three-plus years. 

“I want her to enjoy what she’s doing, and the rest will fall into place,” Simmonds-Brady said. “Because she had success as a young athlete, I don’t want her to feel overwhelmed and pressured by that. It can be tough. 

“I think the most important thing is to continue to have fun as it goes along and see where it goes from there.”

The Citizen’s Girls Cross Country All-Stars

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Kyleen Brady, Auburn

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Maggie Brown, Cato-Meridian

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Tobi DiRubbo, Skaneateles

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Lucy Fleckenstein, Skaneateles

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Olivia Genson, Moravia

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Zoyee Newton, Weedsport

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Ali Pineau, Auburn

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Abigail Ringwood, Auburn

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Olivia Snodgrass, Weedsport

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Alexcia Snyder, Port Byron

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Elaina Williams, Cato-Meridian

Fall 2022 Girls Cross Country All-Stars: Julia Wilson, Cato-Meridian

AUBURN — There will be a new champion in the boys side of the Cayuga County Holiday Tournament. 

Southern Cayuga knocked off Weedsport, 55-54, in the first round of the tournament Tuesday at Cayuga Community College. 

After allowing 20 points in the opening quarter, Southern Cayuga’s defense stiffened for the remaining three. The Chiefs then took a two-point lead with 15 seconds left in the third quarter on a breakaway layup by Brandon Vanacore and did not relinquish their advantage. 

Weedsport did not go down without a fight. Trailing by six with 2:36 remaining, the Warriors scored the game’s next five points to bring the score within one. 

Southern Cayuga was called for a foul with 13 seconds left with Weedsport in the bonus. However, the Warriors missed the first of the one-and-one and the Chiefs’ Dan Davis controlled the rebound to prevent a second-chance opportunity. 

Weedsport’s last gasp came with 0.8 seconds remaining on an inbounds pass at midcourt. Vanacore got a finger on the ensuing pass, however, and denied Weedsport any opportunity at a last-second field-goal attempt. 

Vanacore was Southern Cayuga’s only player to reach double figures in scoring, as he exploded for 39 points. Thirty-six of those points were standard field goals, and he added a 3-for-5 showing at the free-throw line. Isaac Brozon chipped in with eight points. 

Ryan Adams was Weedsport’s leading scorer with 15 points, which included nine in the opening quarter. Point guard Lucio Cole added 11 and James Renner figured in with nine. 

Southern Cayuga will play for its first county title since 2014 and 11th overall since the tournament began in 1973. The Chiefs will play either Port Byron or Union Springs at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cayuga Community College. 

Gallery: Southern Cayuga, Weedsport basketball teams face off in county holiday tournament

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Playing both ways is a predicament common for small school football players. 

Whether he’s in the offensive backfield or defending the middle of the field, Bo Turo makes his presence felt. 

Turo ran for 1,061 yards during the regular season, which tied for 10th in all of Section III, while also operating as one of Cato-Meridian’s top tacklers. 

Football, Turo said, has been the “biggest part of my life.” He grew up in a family  rich in talent — brothers Isaiah and Dante were stars for Mexico High School (Dante advanced to play at Alfred University). Another brother, Marcus, was an all-state selection for Cato-Meridian in 2019, while younger sibling Angelo is a current player for the Blue Devils. 

“I’m the fourth-oldest out of seven,” Turo said. “It’s competitive. It’s crazy. We share everything and there was always someone to play with. We were outside always doing things of that nature, always playing sports. All of us were pretty athletic.”

Turo has played competitively since age 5 when he joined a flag football league. His varsity career actually began at Mexico as an eighth grader, prior to his transfer into the Cato-Meridian school district for high school. 

The transition wasn’t difficult. Turo found his new community welcoming. 

“Honestly, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be,” Turo said. “The program I came from, I came to a better one. There was a lot more opportunity. That’s one of the reasons I did move. 

“As far as the playoff, it wasn’t too different than what we ran (at Mexico). I picked it up fast and it’s been fun ever since.”

Turo had an immediate taste of success at Cato-Meridian in 2019, as the Blue Devils won their first nine games of the season and advanced to the Section III Class C championship, before falling to Lowville at the Carrier Dome. 

Over the next three years, the Blue Devils’ dependence on their two-way star only grew. Entering senior season, Turo’s goal was to lead Cato-Meridian back to the Dome, run for over 1,000 yards and score 20 touchdowns. 

He accomplished his yardage goal. He came close in the scoring category. 

None started the season hotter. Turo ran for 230 yards in a blowout win over Hannibal in the season opener, then had 243 in a dramatic comeback win over Onondaga in Week 2. 

In the latter game, Cato-Meridian trailed by two touchdowns in the third quarter before Turo reeled off an 85-yard run that inspired the rally. 

“In a game like that where it’s so back and forth, it’s whatever team breaks first and whatever team has the most heart. Whatever team can say, I’m tired right now but can push that to the side,” Turo said. “That was a big win. It felt really good.”

After a midseason lull, Turo exploded in the Blue Devils’ final two games. He posted a season-high 254 yards in a losing effort against Beaver River, then capped off his regular season with a 173-yard, five-touchdown performance against Utica Notre Dame. 

“He’s been with us since he was a freshman, back in 2019 when we went to the Dome,” Cato-Meridian coach CJ Hannon said after the game. “He’s gotten better and better every year, and works so hard in the offseason. It pays off for him and tonight was a great night.”

Turo’s senior season did not have the storybook ending he hoped for. Cato-Meridian landed the sixth seed in the Section III Class D playoffs, which meant a trip to Beaver River. 

The Blue Devils, who were one of Section III’s top scoring teams, were shut out to end their season. 

While Turo was picked for the exceptional senior game, reality soon set in that he might never strap on a football helmet again. As of now, he’s interested in joining the workforce and learning a trade. 

If this is truly the end, he appreciates all the special Friday nights Cato-Meridian provided. 

“I really found this hometown and consider it my home,” Turo said. “It was very inviting and everyone was kind to me. Now it’s just become my family. 

“It’s wild. I kinda got over that feeling (of the end of his career), but it hit me my last game. It’s been a ride, a lot of fun.”

The Citizen’s Football All-Stars

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Bo Turo, Cato-Meridian

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Austin Brunelle, Jordan-Elbridge

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Will Feeney, Skaneateles

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Jacob Guy, Weedsport

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Patrick Herr, Skaneateles

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Riley Jones, Moravia

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Nixon Karcz, Jordan-Elbridge

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Matt Laird, Port Byron/Union Springs

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Luke Landis, Moravia

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Dom London, Auburn

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Nathan Murdock, Cato-Meridian

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Kemauri Perry, Auburn

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Kyler Proper, Moravia

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Robert Quigley, Weedsport

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Desean Strachan, Auburn

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Angelo Turo, Cato-Meridian

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Nate Shattuck, Skaneateles

Fall 2022 Football All-Stars: Jru White, Port Byron/Union Springs

As the state Attorney General’s Office continues its assessment into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man who was being held at the Cayuga County Jail, the sheriff said his staff tried to resuscitate the man after he was found unconscious.

Sheriff Brian Schenck on Thursday said that Fred Williams, 35, of 1052 Lake Como Road, Summerhill, was found unresponsive during routine rounds at about 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 24. He said that staff immediately began resuscitation measures and that Williams was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he died the following day.

Schenck said the sheriff’s office immediately contacted the state Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation to investigate the incident because state law mandates that the AG’s office investigates any incident involving the death of a person while in the custody of a police or peace officer.

A spokesperson for the AG’s office said in November that while the office would conduct a “preliminary assessment” of the incident, it would not necessarily open an investigation.

The Office of Special Investigation looks into incidents “where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person, by an act or omission.” A full investigation, therefore, is only opened if an assessment indicates an officer caused the death.

The AG’s office on Thursday said that the “preliminary assessment of the incident remains ongoing.”

Schenck said while an internal investigation would also be conducted by members of the sheriff’s office, releasing any details of that investigation would have to wait until the AG’s office decides upon its course of action.

Schenck said that Williams was being held at the jail on a state parole violation and a pending new charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

A new Auburn pizzeria is serving an old favorite recipe.

The locally renowned pizza of Piccirillo’s Ristorante, caramelized crust and all, is now available at DeTomaso’s Pizzeria, which opened in July in CC’s Tavern on Columbus Street.

It’s the second pizzeria location for owner Tonya DeTomaso, following one in the Rochester suburb of Victor that she opened in 2017. She told The Citizen she was looking to expand somewhere else in Auburn when CC’s owner John Hurd offered her his kitchen, hoping to get out of the restaurant side of his business. Construction delays caused by COVID-19 made it an easy decision.

Chargrilled chicken tenders with multiple sauce options, arancini (rice balls) and fried Oreos join the Piccirillo’s pizza recipe as some of the signature items on the DeTomaso’s menu. She received the recipe from a relative who worked in the kitchen of the restaurant, which stood at 16 Genesee St. for decades. They wanted to make sure the recipe stayed in the community, DeTomaso said.

“It’s something that had been around for 40 years,” she said. “Once we turned the phones on they didn’t stop ringing.”

Unlike Piccirillo’s, DeTomaso’s pizza is available in slices as well. With many employers in the Columbus Street area, DeTomaso wanted to make sure the restaurant offered convenient lunch specials like two slices and a 20-ounce soda for $9, or one slice, five wings and a 20-ounce soda for $13. She said she worked with other pizzeria owners on her wings, which Piccirillo’s didn’t sell.

DeTomaso also welcomes feedback from customers, which led to the slices and lunch specials. Some are patrons of CC’s, she said, while some have come to the tavern for the first time for the pizza.

Along with being the second restaurant for its namesake, DeTomaso’s is her fourth business. She started New Beginnings Home Care in 2006, serving people with traumatic brain injuries and dementia in Auburn and beyond. Through DeTomaso Properties, she rents multiple real estate units and provides winter storage for watercraft. And in 2021, she opened DeTomaso Tanning near Las Vegas.

That makes for a lot of travel from her home in Victor, she said with a laugh. But two of her three children are helping at the Auburn restaurant, the oldest having moved onto another career.

They will become as familiar to DeTomaso’s customers as the Piccirillo’s pizza recipe is to people who haven’t savored it in years, she said.

“People wanted it,” she said. “And I wanted to be a part of it.”

An Auburn High School math teacher was the sole Cayuga County-area educator to be accepted into the New York State Master Teachers program this year. 

Kelley Horbal was one of the 221 people newly accepted into the master teacher program, run by the State University of New York system. A news release from the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul last week said the recently chosen teachers “are dedicated professionals who teach science, technology, computer science, robotics, coding, engineering, math, and integrated STEM courses across grades K-12 including Advanced Placement, Honors, and Regents levels.” Multiple teachers from Cayuga County-area school districts have been chosen for the program in prior years.

Horbal, who was a math teacher in the Southern Cayuga Central School District from 2011 to 2014 and has been teaching at AHS since 2014, told The Citizen Thursday she was thrilled to be accepted into the program and to continue to learn about teaching. She initially applied for the program around six years ago, once she had the minimum five years of teaching experience required to get in.

She was not accepted then or when she tried again about a year later. Now in a master teaching fellowship in a partnership between the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and the University of Rochester, she said, Horbal was reluctant to apply for the state master teacher program a third time but was convinced by a colleague to try again and applied in late June.

While wrapping presents for her children in the basement of her Auburn home Dec. 23, Horbal received an email telling her she made it into the program. She said she feels she has more experience now than she did a few years ago and she is honored to be recognized as a state master teacher. 

“It’s just exciting to realize that even though I applied two times before and didn’t get in, the continued work that I do on myself as a teacher is making progress,” she said. “I like to continuously learn and do what’s best for my students. Getting into the program opens so many more doors of opportunity that it was just really an overall exciting moment.”

As a part of their four-year participation in the program, master teachers get a $15,000 annual stipend and will “engage in peer mentoring and intensive content-oriented professional development opportunities throughout the academic year,” along with other aspects of the program, the governor’s office said.

Horbal, who is also the girls varsity softball coach for AHS, said she is excited to work with other master teachers in the state and to “continue to grow my knowledge and understanding of teaching.” 

Through her time with the teaching fellowship under the Noyce scholarship, which is set to wrap up for her in June 2023, and over a decade of teaching, Horbal feels she has a better grasp on how students learn and looks forward to keep applying her knowledge in different ways over time.

“I just have learned so much more about students and how they learn and how content is actually received. Just because it was, quote-unquote, ‘taught in the class’ doesn’t mean that students are learning it. So I feel like our students, with time, just like anything, students change, people change, best practices change,” she said. “So I have been able to really learn so much about how I learned as a student and how these students today are learning and how they continue to learn. I do something different every single year and something different every single class.”

AUBURN — The longest current championship drought for the Cayuga County Holiday Basketball Tournament is over. 

Union Springs boys basketball, which hadn’t won the annual gathering since 2010, took down Southern Cayuga 87-79 on Wednesday at Cayuga Community College. 

Based on how each of the tournament’s four entries have fared so far this season, the end result could be a surprise to some. Weedsport had won the tournament five straight years, Southern Cayuga is a state-ranked team and Port Byron has displayed a prolific offense so far this season. 

Yet it was the Wolves, who entered the tournament with an even .500 record, that emerged. 

“This group has some new faces and I knew coming into the year we would have some growing pains,” Union Springs coach Dan Cerro said. “I have pushed this group harder than I have any other group. We’re learning as we go. I can’t be more proud. The team buys in. 

“I don’t know if we surprised anybody. We were better than we’d shown so far.”

Union Springs delivered the game’s first punch, building a decent lead in the first quarter which held through the end of the half. 

Cerro anticipated Southern Cayuga would punch back though, and the Chiefs delivered in the third quarter. Nate Thurston knocked down a 3 less than two minutes into the second half that provided Southern Cayuga its first lead of the game.

The teams traded scores for the next few possessions, but Union Springs was dealt a blow when senior Damon Brown was called for his fourth foul and subbed out of the game. 

In his absence, the Wolves’ role players filled the void. Luke Parker knocked down a pair of 3s, while Jru White provided quality minutes around then rim.

“I’ve watched every tape of Southern Cayuga, and I think in every game they’ve been down. But they’re a really, really good team and they’re not going away,” Cerro said. “They wanted it just as bad as we did and I knew they were gonna play. They just keep coming back. That’s a testament to what they’re doing over there.

“You have to play through the ups and downs. I don’t think we’ve done that in the past, but this group is a little tougher-minded even if we’re not as skilled as we have been in the past. We have some grit about us that I really like.”

With only 0.6 seconds left in the third quarter, Aaron Johnson dished an inbound pass to Collin Park, who heaved a prayer toward the basket that fell through the hoop for a 3-pointer. 

The miracle shot put the Wolves ahead by six. 

Union Springs stayed ahead throughout the fourth, despite some uneasy moments. Consecutive 3s from Brandon Vanacore and Isaac Brozon brought the Chiefs within four, 81-77, with a minute to go. But Southern Cayuga was called for a simultaneous personal foul and technical foul on the ensuing Union Springs possession. 

Brown, who had re-entered the game to start the fourth, knocked down all four free-throw attempts to secure the win. He was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for his efforts over the two days, which included a 25-point night in the finals.

“He’s a fourth-year player for me and has really come along,” Cerro said. “At times he might not have liked how I pushed him, but he’s seeing why now.”

Joining Brown on the all-tournament team was teammate Collin Park, Southern Cayuga’s Vanacore, Port Byron’s Matt Laird and Weedsport’s Lucio Cole. 

Vanacore finished with 27 points for a two-day total of 66. Brozon figured in with 21 and Dan Davis added 10. 

Park, a junior, was Union Springs’ leading scorer in the championship game as he posted 36 points in an outing that included five 3-pointers. He was also effective at both ends, posting a pair of blocks including one at the tail end of an impressive first quarter.

“He works on his game all the time,” Cerro said of Park. “He calls me and wants to be in the gym, even in days when it’s not allowed. The kid works tirelessly, has gotten stronger. With him and Damon, I always feel we’ve got a shot.”

Cerro is a former player for Union Springs, having represented the school in holiday tournaments past. He understands what Wednesday’s victories mean to the community, and credited all the school’s basketball coaches for the time invested to make this week a successful one. 

He also knows, pertaining to his team specifically, that they can’t rest on their laurels as the Wolves look ahead to the second half of the season. 

“We had a chance last year and kinda let it slip away. Being the underdog I knew we had a chance to sneak up on some people,” Cerro said. “It means a lot to our community. It’s fun to have sports teams that are good, because we work so hard.

“It’s on to the next one now.”

CONSOLATION GAME

Weedsport 72, Port Byron 60: Trailing by three after the first quarter, the Warriors scored 20 or more points in each of the final three frames to pull away from the Panthers.

Four players reached double figures for Weedsport, led by Isaiah Richardson with 19 points. Other top scorers included Ryan Adams (17 points), Lucio Cole (14 points) and Troy Brown (11 points).

The two teams meet again next Wednesday, Jan. 4 at Weedsport.

Gallery: Southern Cayuga, Union Springs meet in holiday tournament finals