Senior Edward Wright has a week forever.
Wright scored his 1,000th career point in Oriskany’s win over Sherburne-Earlville on Wednesday.
The moment catapulted the senior to the next level of greatness for Skyhawks boys basketball. On Friday night, the senior impact came into play again.
Wright scored 30 points, including one in Oriskany’s 67-65 win over Hamilton.
“He really stepped up for us,” Oriskany coach Marc Smith said. “She has nerves of steel.
The Emerald Knights held a 30-22 lead at the break. The Skyhawks went on a 25-15 run in the third quarter to give them a 47-45 advantage.
The two teams found themselves tied at 65-65 with 20 seconds left in the game. After Hamilton called a timeout, they took several three-point attempts, but both missed.
Then Wright stole the ball with 10 seconds left, went the length of the court and made the game-winning layup.
As the buzzer sounded, Oriskany’s bench exploded with excitement and then proceeded to bench Wright in celebratory fashion.
Wright made seven free throws and knocked down three shots from beyond the arc.
Smith called the senior standout a “super competitor.”
“Eddie took over,” Smith said. “It was incredible to witness. He’s a very clutch player. The kids feed off his energy because he brings it to every practice and every game.”
Smith noticed a momentum shift when the Skyhawks switched to a diamond-and-1 defense.
“We were down most of the game, then we turned it around in the third quarter,” Smith added. “We got some steals and made some timely shots. That got us into the fourth quarter.”
Aiden Pysink scored 15 points for Oriskany, including five from the charity stripe. Dawson Foss contributed eight points.
For the Emerald Knights, Lukáš Langel scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers and four free throws. Levi Neuenschwander chipped in 15 points, including 12 from 3-point range. House of Dye added 10 points.
“Hamilton is a very good team so it was a big win for us today,” said Smith.
The Skyhawks (12-2), winners of six straight, will host Remsen on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Hamilton welcomes Cooperstown to town on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.
Leave a Reply