By ROB JONAS
GUILDERLAND – Shenendehowa's three-year reign as Section 2 Class AA champions came to an end Monday night.
Tessa Hughes made a key defensive stop with less than 30 seconds left, and Molly Kirby and Julie Okoniewski each sank free throws down the stretch to lift No. 4 Bethlehem to a 49-45 victory over No. 1 Shen in the Class AA semifinals at Guilderland High School.
“It felt so good,” said Kirby, who led Bethlehem with 17 points. “It felt like a miracle was happening.”
Shen (19-3) led exactly three times in the game – after the opening three-pointer by Alexandra Tudor, late in the second quarter and midway through the third quarter. But almost as quickly as Shen took the lead, Bethlehem (15-5) took the lead back.
“Credit Bethlehem. They hit shots when they needed to, and they hit free throws when they needed to,” said Shen coach Joseph Murphy.
Bethlehem's “core four” of Hughes, Okoniewski, and Molly and Maggie Kirby each came up big when the Lady Eagles needed it. Hughes had the defensive play of the game when she blocked a shot with 22 seconds left that would have potentially given Shen a one-point lead.
“That is a defensive rotation that we have worked on all year. Sometimes, it takes four months to get it right,” said Bethlehem coach Matthew Bixby. “We finally got the rotation right on that play.”
Okoniewski hit several baskets in the first half to help Bethlehem take a 23-21 halftime lead, but it was her defensive work on Shen center Catherine Almeida that made a difference. Despite giving three inches in height to the 6-5 Almeida, Okoniewski limited the junior to four points.
“I would argue that Julie was the mismatch,” Bixby said of Okoniewski. “She's defended players taller than her. She's defended players three inches shorter than she is. She's been playing great all year for us.”
The Kirby twins were clutch from beyond the three-point arc when Bethlehem's offense stagnated in the second quarter. Maggie Kirby drained a pair of threes to keep the Lady Eagles in front while Shen was rallying from a five-point deficit. Then after Cameron Tooley made a pair of free throws late in the second quarter to put Shen ahead 21-20, Molly Kirby sank a three-pointer to give Bethlehem its two-point halftime advantage.
Shen scored six of the first eight points of the third quarter to grab a 27-25 lead before baskets by Maggie Kirby, Okoniewski and Molly Kirby propelled Bethlehem back in front. Shen got within one point several times after that, but Bethlehem pulled away each time to hand the Plainsmen their first Section 2 playoff loss since 2015.
“Shen has always been our rival,” said Molly Kirby. “They're a tough-to-beat team. We just had to keep playing hard and working together.”
Okoniewski contributed 12 points, and Hughes and Maggie Kirby each added 10 points for Bethlehem, which advances to Saturday's Class AA final against No. 2 Colonie, which defeated No. 3 Shaker 57-47 in the other semifinal game.
Tudor paced Shen with 17 points, and Tooley chipped in with 10 points.
By ROB JONAS
TROY – Six years to the date they last won the Section 2 Class AA girls basketball title, the Colonie Garnet Raiders have ascended to the top of the mountain.
Aliyah Wright hit four of her seven three-pointers on her way to a 23-point afternoon to lead No. 2 Colonie past No. 4 Bethlehem 67-49 in the championship game Saturday, March 3, at Hudson Valley Community College.
“It means so much,” said Wright, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. “Last year, we were the eighth seed and we lost in the first round. This year, we won it as the second seed.”
“We talked about signs,” said Colonie coach Heather DiBiase. “Realizing that six years to the day we won our last title, and here we are six years later – sectional champions.”
Colonie came out of the gate strong and never let up. A 9-0 run midway through the first quarter opened up a 13-4 lead. Then, the Garnet Raiders started the second quarter on a 12-4 run to push their advantage to 17 points. Bethlehem never got any closer than 11 points the rest of the game.
“We just never got into a good rhythm,” said Bethlehem coach Matt Bixby. “Nothing consistent enough to make a substantial run.”
At the heart of Colonie's championship performance was a trio of four-year starters – Wright, Erin Fouracre and Alivia Paeglow. Besides Wright's 23 points, Paeglow was a force in the paint with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fouracre had eight points, contributed three assists and did not turn the ball over once. Sophomore forward Sareena DiCerbo added 13 points and eight boards.
“This group has been together for a long time,” said DiBiase. “They deserved this today.”
Bethlehem had its own group of experienced starters – seniors Julie Okoniewski, Tessa Hughes, and twin sisters Molly and Maggie Kirby. The Lady Eagles wanted to establish Okoniewski near the basket, but Okoniewski committed two fouls in the first three minutes of the game and sat out much of the first half. Okoniewski was limited to four points and five rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Maggie Kirby led Bethlehem with 15 points and seven rebounds. Molly Kirby contributed 10 points, and Hughes and Ava Clair each added seven points.
Colonie advances to the Class AA regionals next weekend against the Section 3 champion.
By James A. Ellis
LOUDONVILLE – In the 2022 Section II Class A quarterfinals, the Gloversville Dragons pulled off a double-overtime 76-72 upset victory over top-seeded Troy.
The Horses were determined to not let it happen again this season.
The squads faced off again in the Class A quarterfinals; only this time third-seeded Troy did not let its lead slip away as the Horses held on for a 70-64 victory Sunday at the UHY Center on the campus of Siena College.
“Last year we were the number one seed and they broke our hearts,” Troy coach John Killian said. “They went to the foul line 34 times and made 32 and knocked us out as the one seed in double overtime. This year we went out and played them on a Saturday off a back-to-back playing Ballston Spa the night before and were able to grind out a 73-70 win. I have a great respect for [Gloversville coach] Ed Collar over there and those kids are tough. They never quit and you saw that, they battled right to the end.”
Troy advances to face second-seeded Hudson Falls in a Class A semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
Stetson Merritt the Troy offense rolling in the opening quarter, hitting 10 first-quarter points, while Terrance Clark added seven points, while Dom Dorman hit a pair of 3-pointers for Gloversville as the Flying Horses took a 24-17 lead.
Troy stretched its lead to 13 midway through the second quarter before Gloversville went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to three, 35-32, with two minutes left in the half. The Flying Horses settled down to close out the half with a 7-0 run to take a 42-32 lead into the locker room at the break.
“We knew we had to try to stop Stetson Merritt and Terrance Clark,” Coach Ed Collar said. “Stetson got off to a great start and Dom [Dorman] made a couple of 3s to keep us in it. It just seemed like they were making everything in the first half. We tried to take their stars away and their role players stepped up and were making shots. We tried to figure something out and made some halftime adjustments.”
Senior James Collar found his shooting touch in the third quarter, hitting 13 of the Dragons’ 17 points to trim Troy’s lead to seven, 56-49, heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Gloversville opened the fourth quarter on a 6-2 run to again cut the lead to three, 58-55 before Stetson Merritt hit back-to-back baskets and Legend Merritt added a basket to take the Flying Horses lead back up to nine with just over three minutes left in regulation.
Gloversville put together a final run, cutting Troy’s lead to four, 66-62, with 42-seconds remaining before Clark added a pair of baskets to help close out the 70-64 victory.
“We played a really tough schedule this year and were 10-10 overall and you know how tough the Suburban Council is,” Killian said. “So we were battle tested. I told the guys just now that being battled tested is what helped us close that game out at the end.”
Stetson Merritt finished with 24 points for Troy, while Clark finished with 19 and Legend Merritt added 14 points. The Flying Horses made 12 of 15 free throws in the contest.
James Collar led Gloversville with a game-high 32 points, while Mariano DiCaterino hit for 16 and Dorman finished with nine points. The Dragons shot 18-for-20 from the free-throw line.
“The second half we cut it to three but if we could have tied it or taken the lead it might have changed the a little bit of the thinking on some parts. A couple of key calls here and there and maybe a couple of loose balls didn’t go our way and it was just hard to come back again. I thought our players gave a full effort. A lot of it boils down to shooting the ball. They made more of their open looks than we did. Sometimes you go back and try to pick apart what you could have done more. But sometimes it just boils down to they made the open shots and we didn’t. When you lose at the end the year, the one thing you want from your players, as a coach, is to go out empting the tank and playing with everything you got and being able to say the other team just played well and beat us. Credit Troy, they played well.”
Troy 70, Gloversville 64
Gloversville 17 15 17 15 - 64
Troy 24 18 14 14 - 70
Gloversville scoring: J. Collar 9-14-32, Dorman 3-0-9, DiCaterino 5-4-16, Porter 1-0-3, Halloran 1-0-2, Insonia 1-0-2. Troy scoring: S. Merritt 9-3-24, Tucker 1-0-2, Wiltshire 1-0-2, Faust 1-3-5, Clark 7-5-19, L. Merrit 6-1-14, Gilmore 2-0-4. Team scoring totals: Gloversville: 20-18-64. Troy 27-12-70.
By ROB JONAS
TROY – Like she did so many times during the course of the Section 2 Class C girls basketball final, Sophie Phillips drove the lane looking for either a shot or a foul. She got the shot.
Phillips hit the go-ahead basket with 13.1 seconds left in overtime to help No. 1 Cambridge knock off No. 2 Mekeel Christian Academy 62-59 Saturday, March 3 at Hudson Valley Community College.
“I knew we just needed it, any way we could get it,” said Phillips, who finished with a game-high 19 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
“One of the big keys to the game was to drive to the hoop,” said Cambridge coach Anthony Bochette. “They saw the lane, and they were aggressive to the basket.”
Rebekkah Dean paced Mekeel with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but she suffered an ankle injury on the opening tip of overtime.
“She was playing well. She was finishing off down low,” Mekeel coach Kelsey Collins said of Dean. “She could have helped us (in overtime).”
Sophie's twin sister, Lily Phillips, opened the scoring in overtime with a runner in the lane. Liz Singleton made one out of two free throws with 1:06 left, and dished a pass to Maraya Davis for a layup with 22 seconds left to give Mekeel a 59-58 lead.
Cambridge didn't take a timeout to gather itself, though. Instead, the Indians put the ball in Sophie Phillips' hands, and the freshman guard delivered the shot that propelled them to their first Sectional title since 2001.
“They showed they were much more mature than freshmen,” Bochette said of the Phillips twins and Fiona Mooney, who added four points and seven rebouds.
Mekeel built a 33-23 halftime lead on the strength of six three-pointers, but Cambridge stormed back with an 18-8 run to tie the score at 41-41 late in the third quarter. Madison Show nailed a three-pointer with three seconds left in the period to put the Lions ahead 44-41.
“They just came out with more energy than we did,” said Collins.
Show nailed another three-pointer to start the fourth quarter to make the score 47-41, and for a while, Mekeel managed to maintain a two-possession lead before a three-pointer from Grace Snyder and foul shots from Helen Mooney and Lily Phillips put Cambridge ahead 52-51. Altagracia Delarosa answered with a three-pointer to give Mekeel a 54-52 advantage, but two foul shots from Sophie Phillips and an open jump shot by Mooney propelled the Indians back into the lead.
Mekeel's Jillian Ballard tied the score at 56-56 with a driving layup in the final 35 seconds of regulation, and a Cambridge shot fell short with one second left to send the game into overtime. Neither team scored a point through nearly the first two minutes of the extra period before Lily Phillips made her shot.
Mooney netted 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Lily Phillips added 11 points and eight boards for Cambridge, which advances to the Class C regionals at Saratoga Springs High School.
“We're going to watch some film to see who we've got the next game,” said Bochette. “First, I'm gonna let the girls have a day (to celebrate).”
Delarosa sank four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, and Show added 11 points for Mekeel.
By James A. Ellis
LOUDONVILLE — The Amsterdam Rams checked another of their preseason goals off the list.
The top-seeded Rams defeated No. 8 Columbia 60-45 to advance to the final four of the Section II Class A postseason tournament Sunday at the UHY Center on the campus of Siena College.
“We are going back to Glens Falls. That is where we wanted to be", Amsterdam coach Tim Jones said, "It has been a tiring time off. We are advancing and doing the right things. We are just appreciative of being able to play Lansingburgh next for a shot at the title."
The Rams will face fourth-seeded Lansingburgh in a Class A semifinal Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
Despite a two-week layoff since their last game, the Rams came out shooting and put up a 9-0 run to open the game and roll to a 15-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Amsterdam kept the momentum on its side, stretching its advantage to 13 points, 23-10, just under three minutes into the second quarter. The Blue Devils cut the lead down to seven, 23-16, with 3:45 left in the half before the Rams took their lead back into double-digits for a 30-20 halftime advantage.
Amsterdam remained in control of the pace in the second half
With Alec Bartone, Ceasar Thompson and JaShean Vann doing the bulk of the scoring in the second half to close out the 60-45 victory.
Bartone led the Rams with his double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with five blocked shots, while Thompson finished with 15 points and Vann added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists to go with 13 points and three assists from Jhai Vellon.
Evan Rainville led Columbia with is game-high 25 points, while Peyton Walters added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Amsterdam 60, Columbia 45
Columbia 8 12 11 14 — 45
Amsterdam 15 15 15 15 — 60
Columbia scoring: Walters 5-2-12, Rainville 9-6-25, Fisher-Layoton 2-0-4, Thorpe 0-2-2, Blake 1-0-2. Amsterdam scoring: Vann 5-4-14, Dueno 1-0-2, Thompson 7-0-15, Vellon 4-5-13, Bartone 8-0-16. Team scoring totals: Columbia: 17-10-45. Amsterdam: 25-9-60.
