Randolph beat Tully 44-43 in the championship game of the Tully Christmas Tournament on Friday at Tully High School. Submitted photo

TULLY — Playing despite a sore ankle, Griffin Nelson hit a jumper in the lane with 2.1 seconds remaining to send Randolph to a thrilling 44-43 victory over Tully in the championship game of the Tully Christmas Tournament on Friday.

The win sent the Cardinals, the top-ranked Class C team in the state, home with their second straight nail-biting win. On Thursday, they knocked off Herkimer 49-45 in the tournament’s first-round game.

Leading the way for Randolph was junior Drew Hind, who was named the Most Valuable Player. In addition to scoring 24 points, including 11 in the first quarter, he also collected five assists, four rebounds and three steals. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Kevin McElwain, who drilled three 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Roan Kelly, who was also playing with an ankle injury, had six boards as well.

The Cardinals led 17-9 after the first quarter and 28-21 at halftime, but the hosts closed the gap and led by a point in the closing seconds until Nelson hit what proved to be the game winner.

Connor Bastedo led Tully with 14 points.

There was plenty of drama in the junior varsity title game as well as the Cardinals’ Matthew Beaver drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to secure the win.

RANDOLPH (44)

Morrison 0 0 0, Kelly 2 0 6, Hind 9 3 24, Nelson 1 1 3, McElwain 3 0 9, Freeman 1 0 2, Totals 16 4 44.

TULLY (43)

Lorenzo 3 2 9, Bauer 0 0 0, Mohat 4 0 9, Bastedo 6 1 14, Verbanic 0 0 0, Mize 4 0 8, Shaffer 1 0 3, Totals 18 3 43.

3-point goals — Kelly 2, Hind 3, McElwain 3, Lorenzo, Mohat, Connor, Shaffer.

Randolph 17 11 7 9 — 44

Tully 9 12 10 12 — 43

SHERMAN EDGES PINE VALLEY

SHERMAN — Jacob Ferranto scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Sherman to a 40-39 victory over Pine Valley in a nonleague game.

Carson Pinzok added 8 points and nine boards for the Wildcats, who led 22-17 at halftime.

Miles Volk paced the Panthers with 19 points and Jon Sheldon chipped in 15.

PINE VALLEY (39)

Seabolt 2 0 5, JoSheldon 6 2 15, Miles 7 2 19, JaSheldon 0 0 0, Slade 0 0 0. Totals 15 4 39.

SHERMAN (40)

Pinzok 3 1 8, Beatman 1 2 5, Swan 1 4 6, Meeder 1 1 4, Ferranto 6 0 17. Totals 12 8 40.

3-point goals — Seabolt, JoSheldon, Miles 3, Pinzok, Beatman, Meeder, Ferranto 5.

Pine Valley 8 9 15 7 — 39

Sherman 15 7 12 6 — 40