Lady Rams Claim Fifth Sectional Title

DELHI – The South Kortright Lady Rams defeated Stamford/Jefferson 49-38 at the Clark Sports Complex on the SUNY Delhi campus on Saturday in a rematch of the Delaware League title game on Feb. 28. It is SK's first sectional title in five years under veteran coach Josh Burroughs. Their last title came in 2020, the year the season was never finished due to the pandemic. 

SKCS Athletic Director Bob VanValkenburgh will be realigning the trophy case once again to include two more hoop trophies and another sectional plaque. And, the season isn’t over yet,

It is the eighth sectional title for Coach Burroughs, who also coaches girls varsity soccer. His team won the sectional title in soccer last fall, with many of the same players experiencing that sectional victory. Their goal was to claim another sectional title.

Burroughs is looking forward to moving on to the state tournament after the disappointing end to the season in 2020. “We defeated Stamford in 2020 and were headed to there regional title game in Livingston Manor when the phone rang as we approached Roscoe to inform us that the games had been postponed. Eventually the state tournament was cancelled.”

The two teams have played each other three times previously, twice in regular season and in the league championship. 

Delaware League fans were ecstatic to see an all-Delaware League final.

Both teams received fire department escorts out of town. Anyone in the vicinity of Hobart or Stamford around 2:30 last Saturday may have wondered if the world was coming to an end as the Stamford parade ended where the SKCS parade began with the scream of sirens and flashing lights. It was fun to watch all the enthusiastic fans who gathered for the send offs.

Coaches will tell you it is difficult to play the same team four times and win every time.

“Each time we played them, we employed the same game plan. They are a solid team, and we expected each contest to be a battle. Taking care of the ball and team rebounding was a priority as it is every game,” said Burroughs.

S/J took an early one-point lead from the opening quarter, but SK owned a two-point lead at the half. SK added to the lead over the third quarter and was up by eight points going into the final quarter where they outscored S/J 14-10 to bring home the win.

Caitlyn Deysenroth led SK scoring with 16 points on the night with a balanced effort by the rest of the team. Madysen Reeves and Carlee Dropp each scored nine points, Addy Eckert chimed in eight points and Nora Trimbell contributed seven points.

“It certainly was a total team effort. Addy and Carlee were marked well, but others were able to step up a bit in different spots to find a way to contribute. In the second half we made some adjustments to our attack and were able to find Caitlyn in the post.”

For S/J, McKenna Hoyt scored the game high of 19 points, with Gabby Castilleja adding eight points.

“McKenna is one of the top players in the area, we knew she would score the ball, we just wanted to make her possessions tough and not give up easy baskets to her or her teammates,” said Burroughs.

It was a good rematch of the two teams, with Eckert and Hoyt both reaching 1,000-point milestones this season. 

South Kortright will now move on to play LaFargeville, the section three champion at Tompkins-Cortland Community College in Dryden at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 15. Burroughs said they will continue to key on their defensive strength and team balance.

The Rams fans are always up for another road trip and you can bet they will be in Dryden to root on their favorite girls team. The Lady Rams are now 20-1.The Lady Rams were also the sectional champions in soccer this season.

The S/J team has also had a great season, finishing with a 16-4 record.