by Steve Bradley
Rachel Pine scored 24 points and Taylor Hayes dashed any chances of Mechanicville staging a big comeback win.
A big crowd was on hand Saturday evening to watch the Lady Panthers take on the Mechanicville Red Raiders in the Class B Sectional quarterfinals. The early arrivals got to see a great comeback game between Ichabod Crane and Tamarac. IC came back from a big fourth quarter deficit to steal a victory by two points with the winning basket coming just seconds before the final buzzer.
After that exciting preliminary, the fans didn’t see much first half excitement in the nightcap as the Panthers ran all over the Raiders. Rachel Pine led the Panther offense with 15 points and directed the offense with pinpoint precision. Everything was clicking for the Panthers and the Raiders looked completely overmatched and frustrated. Even the Panther student section, affectionately known as “The Zoo,” got into the act. Inaccurately counting down the Raiders possession shot clock, an old trick that never works, the students clock hit zero. There was actually about seven seconds left, but the Raiders player turned and threw the ball at the hoop. Everyone got a chuckle out of it, including the deceived player. Even funnier, the referees told The Zoo not to do it again.
By the end of the first half, the Panthers lead was 29 – 11, an 18 point lead. It looked like the Panthers could turn on the cruise control for the remainder of the game.
But, as in all sports, funny things happen during halftime breaks. Hot shooters cool off, cool shooters heat up, players or teams who played a so-so first half somehow come out and play an entirely different second half. Teams with the lead may think you just need to go through the motions, the game is won. Maybe the down team just needs a chance to regroup and get a fresh start. For whatever reason, things can change during that halftime break. That’s just what happened on this night.
Tamarac came out an entirely different team from the team they were in the first half. Playing with confidence, they began chipping away at that 18 point Panther lead. They were hitting three-pointers and closing fast. By the end of the third quarter, the Raiders outscored the now cool shooting Panthers 16 – 9, bringing the Panthers lead down to 38 – 27.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders kept at it. Quickly tacking on another five points, the Raiders came within six of the lead at 38 – 32. With six minutes to go in the game, the fans were getting more excitement from the game than they may have wanted.
Then, suddenly, everything changed. HFCS senior Taylor Hayes hit a three-pointer. Then she hit another. Then a two-pointer from ten feet. Then another three-pointer. Hayes scored 11 points over the final minutes of the game, at a time when the Panthers were slipping. With the crowd now vocally behind the team, and the team using the offensive spark to rally the defense, the Panthers shut down the Raiders offense and pulled away for a 22 point victory.
Rachel Pine scored 18 of her 24 points on three-pointers, with the Panthers hitting 11 three’s in all. Hayes added 11 points. Kelly Pine and Chelsea Stevens each added 8 points. Megan Flynn didn’t put much in the scoring column but had many big rebounds throughout the game.
With the win, the Ladies advance to the semifinals.
The semifinals were held Wednesday evening at Averill Park High School. With the game ending after deadline, there are a couple scenarios. If the girls won, they will play in the finals at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday, March 7, at 2:30 pm. Their opponent will be Schalmont or Watervliet, who also played their game Wednesday evening. If the girls lost their semifinal game, their season is over.
When the girls get in the finals, they’ll need plenty of fans to cheer them on. Hudson Valley Commutity College is about 40 minutes away. One easy way to reach it is to take Route 7 to 787 South, down to exit 7E / Route 378. Cross the river and up the hill to Route 4. HVCC is about 3/8 mile on the left. Enter at the main entrance, the gym is straight ahead. Saturday afternoon traffic should be minimal. Hopefully, after the game, you’ll be able to hop in the car and head up to the Glens Falls Civic Center for the boys game at 5:30.