#3 Tupper Lake Upends #2 Madrid-Waddington

Bryant Shipman of Tupper Lake moves the ball around the outside. Bryant led the Lumberjacks with 12 points all coming from beyond the 3 point line.
Photo by: Robert Bice

The Lumberjacks and the Yellowjackets duked it out in the Class C semi-finals Tuesday night at Canton High School. A match that will be remembered for being a well fought battle in Section X basketball. Both teams came out to start the game on all cylinders. Each team found their way to the rim numerous times but failed to knocked down their shots. This proved to set the tone of a low scoring playoff game. The Yellowjackets came out with a 6-4 lead after one. In the second the Lumberjacks looked to find some rhythm on offense and looked to none other than Zach Durfee. But the Jackets stifling diamond and one defense took out Zach Durfee as an offensive threat. Coach Steve Skiff knew he would have to adjust and have to find a new offensive catalyst. Tupper Lake found themselves up 12-10 with seconds winding down going into half-time, but David Uppstrom got a quick steal and the lay-up to tie the game 12-12 and gain some momentum as the Jackets headed to the locker room. In the third quarter, Tupper Lake would begin to push their zone outward and challenge the Yellowjackets outside shooting. The 'Jacks really wrapped up the rebounds in a "one and done" philosophy, as they went up 20-15 with 2:28 left in the game after Bryant Shipman hit a huge three-pointer. After 2:23 seconds of offensive struggle by both teams, George Martin grabbed down an offensive rebound and got the put back to cut the Lumberjack lead to 20-17 after three quarters played. In the fourth the Jackets had to make up some ground as John Martin cut the 'Jacks lead with six minutes left to play, 20-19. The Yellowjackets picked up their defense in the fourth holding the Lumberjacks offense off for most of the fourth quarter. Ryan Dunn tied the game up with 1:42 left in the game, but that would be the final field goal for the Yellowjackets. As the clock quickly ran down, the Lumberjacks needed to find an answer to break the stalemate. They found their answer with 19.7 seconds left when Bryant Shipman hit a deep three point shot proving to be the game winner when Mike O'Bryan's 3-point shot attempt to tie the game for the Yellowjackets rimmed out. The Lumberjacks earned the right to face the #1 seeded Brushton-Moira Panthers in the Class "C" Title game. George Martin had 8 points to lead Madrid-Waddington. Bryant Shipman hit four three's in a 12 point effort to lead the way for the Lumberjacks.