by Steve Bradley
Friday evening’s game against the Hoosic Valley Indians was billed as a big game with two teams undefeated in league play and lead-in articles in all the major papers. Hoosic Valley was number three in the State rankings. One team was led by two high scorers and one team had scorers spread throughout the starting line-up. The game did not disappoint. Surprisingly, offense was not the highlight as defense stole the show in this game. The game ended with a 43 – 42 score, a season low for both teams.
The game was played evenly with the scoring going back and forth between the teams with two exceptions, the end of the second quarter and the end of fourth. The first quarter, which featured five lead changes, ended 16 – 13. Near the end of the second quarter two things happened, neither of which was good for the HV Indians. John Rooney, one of the Indians’ top players, left the game with an injury, and the Panthers got some hot shooting. Will Bradley hit three three-pointers. Mark Hackett hit one, and other players contributed to put the Panthers up 29 – 23 at the half. It was a lead that they would carry for the remainder of the game.
Rooney returned to play after the break, but the third quarter was an offensive struggle for both teams. The Indians scored 7, outscoring the Panthers by 1. The score at the end of three was Panthers 35, Indians 30.
The fourth quarter began with the Panthers outscoring the Indians 5 – 0 and getting what looked like a somewhat comfortable 10 point lead. The Indians began whittling away at the Panther lead. With time winding down and the Panthers hanging on, the Indians began to foul to extend the game. It took 5 fouls before the Panthers got to the line, a major hindrance for the Indians because each foul gave the ball back to the Panthers and ate up time the Indians needed. With the Indians breathing down the back of their necks at 43 – 42, the Panthers needed points. With one and one at the free throw line, the Panthers couldn’t buy a made free throw, missing five of six attempts.
Finally, with 1.8 seconds on the clock, Noah Chani was fouled rebounding a Hoosic Valley missed layup. Keeping with the theme, he missed the first free throw attempt. Instructed to miss the second one intentionally so the clock would start immediately, Chani did his part and missed. The clock started; the Indians didn’t have time to put something together, and the game came to an end.
The Panthers only scored 14 points in the second half, the Indians scored 19. Hackett led the team with 12 points, Austin Pitt had 10. The Panthers’ defense held the Indians’ high scorers to season lows with Rooney (18 points per game) scoring 14 and Pierre (20 ppg) scoring only 10.
Saturday vs. Greenwich
On Saturday the Panthers headed up to Greenwich for a makeup game postponed from earlier in the season. Defense again played a major part in the victory as the Panthers held 6’7″ Greenwich star Justin Carruthers to seven points, well under his season average of just over 20 ppg. The Panthers led the entire game, sometimes by as much as twenty points. Andrew Hoag had a fine game for the Panthers, scoring 21 points. Austin Pitt added 16, and Mark Hackett dropped in 12.
Tuesday vs. Granville
On Tuesday evening the Panthers made the trek to Granville to face the Golden Horde. The Panthers completely overwhelmed the Horde from the opening tip, taking a 22 – 7 first quarter lead and never looking back. With the halftime score at 39 – 13 all the players got plenty of playing time. The final score was 64 – 27. Mark Hackett and Andrew Hoag each had 11 in the victory. Justin Lynch added 9, and Josh Wood chipped in 2.
Looking Ahead
On Friday evening, January 17, the Panthers will be home against 1 – 10 Tamarac. There is a fundraiser prior to the game – Dinner for Dan, an all you can eat spaghetti dinner, will be held from 4 to 6 pm in the high school cafeteria. The dinner is being held to help good guy Danny Williams and his family. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for kids 4 – 12. Tickets can be purchased at the door. Hey, make it a date night … dinner and a basketball show. There is no charge for game admission. On Tuesday, January 21, the team travels to Schuylerville to face the 4 – 3 Black Horses. Game time for both games is 6 pm for JV with varsity to follow.
Sandwiched between those two games is a big non-league game. Saturday, January 18, the team will face the 8 – 0 Lake George Warriors on the HFCS court. Lake George is ranked the number one Class C team in New York State. The Warriors also boast the number one scorer in the area. Junior Joel Wincowski is scoring at a 31 points per game average and had a 47 point game this season. Wincowski, a 6’2″ Division I college prospect, has scored 217 points up to this point. The next closest scorer on his team has 49 points. There will be coaches and spectators from all over the area coming to this one. This game has two undefeated Section II teams in one of only five Section II games being played on this evening. This is a late Saturday afternoon game and there may be a large crowd so plan to get there early for a good seat. JV begins at 4 pm with varsity to follow around 5:30.