By Rob Centorani

Staff Writer

For Oneonta High’s boys, it’s a chance to show their unbeaten start is legitimate, and do so at a venue they might re-visit later in the season when the stakes will be considerably higher.

For OHS’ girls, it’s a time to re-group following an uneasy 3-4 start to the season.

Oneonta High’s Alex Mirabito drives past Chenango Valley’s Seth Mohney during the Yellowjackets’ 77-56 home victory Thursday. The Yellowjackets are 9-0 start and should get tested when they begin play in the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic against unbeaten Lansing at 5:45 p.m. Friday at the Broome County Arena.

They’re among 37 area teams that will take part in holiday basketball tournaments over the next four days.

Oneonta’s boys could face two teams from the Interscholastic Athletic Conference that also have zeroes in their loss columns in the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Broome County Arena.

The Yellowjackets open against Lansing (6-0) at 5:45 p.m. Friday. The winner of that game meets Susquehanna Valley (2-4) or Candor (7-0), the third ranked Class C team in the state, at 5:45 p.m. Saturday for the Region II Championship.

Oneonta, ranked sixth in the state in Class B, and Lansing are also Class B teams and could meet again down the road in the playoffs, perhaps back at the Arena for the Section Four Class B title game in March.

Junior Dan O’Brien has led the balanced-scoring Jackets, averaging 13.2 points. After O’Brien, players such as Andrew Tenace, Devlin Vanderhoof, Brendan Harder, Alex Mirabito, Lance Ratchford and Zach Harlem have taken turns in the spotlight for OHS.

"First of all, we’ve been able to show our depth," OHS coach Jerry Mackey said of team’s 9-0 start, which already matches the number of victories the Jackets had last season, when they went 9-12. "Sometimes, it’s been a big man like Devlin or a guard like Lance or a swingman like Tenace or O’Brien. We have a number of guys who have proven themselves in (the Southern Tier Athletic Conference), so no matter what teams throw at us, we feel we can handle it."[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Through nine games, OHS has had six players lead the team in scoring.

Lansing’s leading scorer is forward Ryan Shaff, who averages 17.8 points for a Bobcats squad that is scoring nearly 70 points per game.

"They’re big and pretty experienced," Mackey said of the Bobcats. "They play a lot of 1-3-1 zone, they rebound well and try to turn you over."

The next best boys tournament appears to be at Unadilla Valley, where Sidney

See OHS on Page 13

and Sherburne-Earlville meet at 6 tonight and Norwich plays the host team at 8 p.m.

The Warriors (7-1), ranked ninth in the state in Class C, scrimmaged S-E before the season and Sidney coach Mike Brazee said, "they kicked our butts all over the court."

Brazee added his team has improved since that scrimmage and defense has been a big reason _ most notably the play of guards Andy Foote and Brett Pendorf, and forward Troy Hawley.

"The defense has been the key," Brazee said of his team’s man-to-man defense. "It’s triggered a lot of the offense. We’re holding other teams to under 50 points and that’s been a plus."

The Marauders are 7-0, including a decisive victory over Center State Conference rival Cooperstown.

Defending Midstate Athletic Conference champion Unadilla Valley (5-2) and STAC power Norwich meet in the other semifinal.

"It’s good for us to get these games in," Brazee said. "We’re looking to win our division and play in our league championship game and these games will help us."

The consolation is at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, with the championship at 8 p.m.

Other boys tournaments that begin tonight include: Walton playing Horseheads at 8 p.m. in a first-round game of the eight-team Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at Elmira Southside; Delhi facing Fort Plain at 6:15 p.m. in a first-round game of the Cobleskill Hall of Fame Tournament; Cooperstown opposing Camden at 8 p.m. in a first-round game of the Cooperstown Christmas Tournament; The Family School playing Schenevus at 6 p.m., and the host school facing Afton at 7:30 p.m. in first-round games of the Downsville Tournament; Roxbury facing Mount Markham and Edmeston playing Brookfield at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, in the Edmeston Christmas Tournament; Hunter-Tannersville opening play in its Booster Club Tournament against Coxsackie at 7:30 p.m.; Gilboa playing Keene at 10 this morning in the Lake Placid Olympic Center Holiday Hoopfest; Hamilton opposing Franklin at 5 p.m. and Mohawk meeting the host school at 6:30 p.m. in first-round games of the Ray Clement Tournament at Morris; and Unatego playing New York City’s Trevor Day in the Surf and Slam Tournament at San Diego today _ the first three games on the west coast for the Spartans.

On Thursday, the Pat Grasso Tournament at Laurens begins. South Kortright faces Milford at 6 p.m. and Cincinnatus plays Laurens at 7:30 p.m.

Worcester and Schenevus play for the championship at 6 p.m., and Windham plays Downsville at 4:30 p.m. in the consolation game of the Schenevus Tournament on Friday.

On the girls side, OHS, unbeaten Unatego and once-beaten Bainbridge-Guilford headline the Kazalski Tournament at B-G on Thursday.

The Yellowjackets open against Marathon at 3:45 p.m. and Unatego plays B-G at 7:45 p.m.

"We’ve played seven games and now we want to see what certain people can do as we get ready for the second half of the season," OHS coach Bob Zeh said. "Obviously, we’d like to win, but we also have nine games left to get ready for after the Christmas break."

Zeh said he’d like to find a consistent scorer other than sophomore Madie Harlem, who’s averaging a team-best 10 points.

"We have to find somebody else to give us some more points," he said. "Our biggest thing, and I told them today, we need somebody else to score 10-12 points a game."

Players such as Meredith Ridgway, Lauren Mahon, Sienna Wisse and Ashley Dunn have scored between eight and 12 points this season, but "I need to see it consistently," Zeh said.

An added perk, Zeh said, would be getting a second shot at Unatego, which beat the Jackets, 52-38, in the final of the Anthony C. Drago Tournament last month.

"That would be an added incentive," he said. "If they can duplicate what they did against B-G (a 41-26 win Dec. 19) and we can win, we’d get another shot. I’m sure B-G is thinking the same thing."

Unatego center MacKensey O’Hara scored 22 points in the first meeting against B-G. The defending MAC champion Bobcats made 10 of 51 shots, including 1-for-14 from three-point range, in the first game against Unatego.

The consolation game is 3:45 p.m. Friday and the title game is at 8 p.m.

Tonight at Davenport, three of the top players in the area will take part in the O’Connor Tournament. Junior Samantha Fox will lead Cooperstown (7-1) against Sybil Stanton and Walton (2-4) at 6 p.m., and Freshman Samantha Meyerhoff and Davenport (7-2) face Schenevus at 7:30 p.m.

Fox, a second-team Daily Star All-Star last season, is 6-foot-3 and has consistently scored in double figures this season for the Redskins, who are ranked 14th in the state in Class C.

Stanton, a senior, was a Daily Star First-Team All-Star last season and recently eclipsed 1,000 points.

Meyerhoff averaged 16.5 points and 13.6 rebounds through Davenport’s first six games.

Also starting today are the Cherry Valley-Springfield Tournament, which pits Edmeston against Richfield Springs at 6 p.m. and the host school against St. Johnsville at 7:45; the Stamford Tournament, which has Roxbury playing Laurens at 4:30 p.m. and Milford facing Stamford at 7 p.m.; and the Unadilla Valley Holiday Tournament, with defending Class D state champion South Kortright opposing Sherburne Earlville at 1:30 p.m. and the host school playing Worcester at 3:45.

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Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.