Overtime win gives Indians a Sectional Championship

The quest for perfection is still on. With 35 points from Jared Suderley, 21 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime, the West Canada Valley Indians came from 12 points down in the first half to beat the Immaculate Heart Cavaliers  67-65 at the Utica Auditorium on Friday.

West Canada (21-0) went into Friday’s Section III Class C-2 Final battle tested, beating the #4 seed Onondaga Tigers by two (59-57) in the semifinals.

Coming through for the Indians then was Suderley. Doing it again against the Cavaliers was Suderley.

 After being held to eight points in the first half, one of his lowest point totals in the first half of any game this year, Suderley and fellow teammate Paul Atkinson put the team on their back and gave Immaculate  Heart (19-2) a fight they hadn’t seen all season.

 The Indians started to gain some confidence on their first possession of the second half when Xavier Maxwell hit his only three-point field goal of them game, bringing West Canada within singles digits of the Cavaliers  32-23.

It stayed that way until Immaculate Heart’s Connor Caldwell started breaking down the Indian defense, using his athleticism to score five points in the quarter and build the Cavalier lead to 13 points with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

A Kyle Humphrey three pointer and Suderley field goal gave the Indians a 5-0 run to end the quarter, and brought West Canada within six (45-39), the closest they had come since trailing by 21-15 in the second quarter with 4:23 left in  the first half.

 The fourth quarter started just like the third quarter for West Canada, with a three-point basket, this time from Atkinson.

For more on this story head over to the Herkimer Telegram.