For the first half of Friday night's Cooperstown Holiday Tournament, the host Redskins gave undefeated Little Falls all it could handle, leading by as many as eight points and taking a one point lead into the locker room.

But a turnover-filled third quarter led to Cooperstown's demise, as Little Falls, 9-0, outscored the Redskins 20-5 on the way to a 67-55 victory. Tournament Most Valuable Player Phil Schoff, a 6-5" sophomore, led the Mounties with 19 points, while 6-4" senior guard Jeremy Davis had 16 points, including four three-point shots.

"In a lot of ways the first half against Little Falls was our best half of the season," Cooperstown head coach Mike Cring said. "But I also knew a one-point lead against what many people consider the best Class C team in the state wasn't comfortable. They came out really wanting it in the third quarter, and we came out flat. I thought three of the four quarters we played as good or better than them, and that's something to build on."

Cooperstown sophomore Jeremy Holmes hit six three-point shots, including four in the first quarter, on his way to a game-high 22 points. Brad Hill added 14 and Bill Hribar eight.

Both Holmes and Hill were named to the all-tournament team along with the Mounties Brian Mosher, Unatego's Corey Judd and Delhi's Doug Vredenburgh.

Cooperstown advanced to the championship game with a 63-57 victory over Unatego, who had beaten the Redskins in last year's tournament. Cooperstown led the entire way, but the Spartans came back to tie the score at 57-57 with just under two minutes remaining.

Hribar gave Cooperstown the lead back with a basket off a missed foul shot, and freshman Shane Connolly forced a couple of turnovers down the stretch.

"We had four guys in double figures and I thought we played a very strong first half offensively, and a strong defensive second half," Cring said. "Blair Budine had a big first half because we were hitting him deep on the press."

In the junior varsity portion of the tournament, Cooperstown defeated Little Falls 66-50 to improve to a perfect 9-0 on the season.

The Redskins barely kept their unblemished record in tact in the first round Thursday against Unatego, escaping with a 78-77 victory.

"Their record is really amazing when you consider we have three sophomores and a freshman on the varsity," Cring said. "It bodes well for our future."

The junior varsity is coached by Dave Bertram, a former Division One basketball player.

"I thought the tournament as a whole was a success," Cring said. "We had pretty good turnouts at all the games, and all the games were pretty close. Hopefully, we'll see the same four teams back here next year."

Cooperstown returns to action with two home games this week, Thursday against Canastota and Saturday against Westmoreland in a game originally scheduled for Dec. 14.

...This year's tournament was dedicated to Ted Lamb, who has manned the ticket table at Cooperstown home games for 30 years. In its dedication, the Cooperstown Sports Booster Club wrote: We proudly dedicate the tournament to Ted Lamb—ticket seller, team bus driver, fan and fixer-upper extraordinaire...Phil Schoff's older sister, Karyn, played for St. Johnsville in the mid-1990's and ended her career with the most points in Section Four girls history.