Bolton boys basketball earns first ever trips to states

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

For the first time in program history, Bolton boys basketball is moving on to the state Final Four.

The 24-1 Eagles punched their ticket Saturday at Clinton Community College defeating Heuvelton 69-65 in the Class D regional final.

Head Coach Cody Kober said that after the win “at first I was speechless.”

“I’m very proud of them because I know the effort and energy they put in,” he said.

“These guys started playing together back in second grade,” Kober said. “They’ve built up team chemistry.”

Junior guard Jaxon Egloff, the 6’3” league MVP, led the Eagles with 22 points. He has scored nearly 1,700 career points.

“He’s been our go-to guy,” Kober said. “He’s a floor general, has a smooth shot and smooth touch around the rim, and can handle the ball really well. He’s the complete package.”

Liam Foy, the 6’4”, 260 pound senior center, poured in 21 points.

“We had a size advantage over them and we wanted to capitalize on that,” Kober said. “We utilized our size well.”

The Eagles also had to break a press when “we hadn’t been pressed like that in almost a month,” coach said.

Another senior, Jace Hubert, has about 1,400 career points. Bolton’s starting five is rounded out with seniors Jacob French and Will Hens.

Players coming off the bench — senior Andrew Morehouse, junior Abe Figueroa, freshman Sam Foy — also make an impact. “We run seven to eight deep on an average night,” Kober said.

Expectations were high going into this season.

“Last year we made it to the regional semifinals, and we only graduated one senior,” Kober said. “We knew we had a bottleneck of talent. As soon as our season ended we were geared up and thinking about this time of the year.”

Bolton plays Bridgehampton (20-2) from Long Island, Saturday, March 21, at 11:45 a.m. in the state semifinals at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. A victory puts them in the finals, Sunday at 10 a.m.

Kober calls Bridgehampton “a traditional powerhouse, but if we’re all clicking it’s difficult to stop us,” he said.

“They play athletic and press a lot. They like to get teams razzled. We’ve got to focus on taking care of the ball and handling their pressure, and on keeping them off the boards. We can’t let them jump out to an early lead. They play fast, up-tempo.”

Bolton’s only loss of the season so far was a 75-48 setback in a holiday tournament on New Year’s Eve against Vermont’s Burr & Burton Academy.

To prepare his team for states, Coach Kober says, “We’re trying to keep them level-headed. That’s the main thing.”

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