Bolton tops Bridgehampton, advances to championship
BINGHAMTON — Bolton built a lead and fought off a tenacious Bridgehampton 62-50 in a NYSPHSAA Class D boys’ basketball semifinal Saturday in Binghamton. With the win, the Eagles (25-1) advanced to the state championship for the first time in school history. We kind of came out with a game plan, and we stuck to it for most of the game,” Bolton head coach Cody Kober said.
“(Bridgehampton) did rattle us a little bit with that pressure. We knew it was going to be coming but overall, getting it over half court and just trying to utilize the foul line still didn't hit as much as we usually do. We knew they were going to come out fired up, and we just wanted to make sure we matched their intensity.
” Bolton went on runs throughout the game to get distance. It started with an 8-0 run in the first quarter to build an early lead they would relinquish only once when Bridgehampton at 20-19. Once the Eagles grabbed the lead back at 23-20, there was no looking back.
“I feel like, obviously, shooting so many shots of practice, you know, a lot of 3-pointers,” Bolton’s Jaxon Egloff said. “You know, we know that, especially scouting their team that didn't have a really big guy to guard our big man, so we knew he was gonna be able to take it out to us, and we're gonna be able to knock shots all across the board. ” And that’s what the Eagles did while the Killer Bees were unable to match shot for shot.
“We went to Old Reliable with Jackson Eagloff. He banged down a couple long 3-pointers, got to the rim, got some, got to the foul line a couple times, and that kept us moving along,” Kober said. “That opened up Liam Foy down low.