by Steve Bradley
The HFCS girls basketball team lost its bid for a second straight Section II Class B championship Saturday when they were defeated by the Glens Falls Indians at Hudson Valley Community College. Three pointers, something neither team was known as being especially good at, were the downfall of the Panthers.
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The Lady Panthers (21-3) haven’t lived or died by the three-pointer this year, instead they have depended heavily upon their inside tandem of Megan Flynn and Kelly Pine. Glens Falls appeared to have a good notion of this as the Indians double-teamed each of them every time either touched the ball. Every point the tandem scored in the paint was hard earned. The Indians played excellent defense throughout the game, holding the Panthers to five points in the second quarter and four points in the third. In the end, the Panthers made just 14 of 58 shots from the field.
Hoosick Falls got off to a good start, grabbing a 13-9 advantage by the end of the opening quarter. The team looked sharp and confident they could play with Glens Falls. But the second quarter was a different story. Glens Falls began making three-pointers and Hoosick Falls couldn’t make anything. By the half, the Indians held a 24-18 lead.
The third quarter was a struggle for Hoosick Falls. Glens Falls, the number two seed, increased its lead while the Panthers looked for some way to add some points. The Panthers found themselves down double digits to a good team and looking for a way to get back in the game. Glens Falls Sophie Tougas, a 6’1” freshman forward, was dropping in threes. She hit five of them in all. The Panthers’ hopes were slipping away.
Down 13 points, 35-22, to start the fourth quarter, the Panthers searched for answers, and suddenly they began to find some. They started to claw their way back, a three-pointer here, a defensive stop there. The Panthers outscored the Indians with a 12-3 run. As the deficit shrunk, the HFCS crowd came alive and erupted with every point added. Glens Falls called a timeout in an attempt to slow this frightening change of events.
By the time there was less than two minutes left in the game, the Panthers never give up attitude had brought them back to within four points of their opponent at 38-34. The Indians were on their heels and if they didn’t come up with something quick, this game was going to slip right into the Panthers win column.
Unfortunately, they found it. The Indian’s Caitlin Hogan took a three-point shot from the corner with two minutes left. As the ball spun through the air every Panther fan in the place said, “No” under their breath, right up until it swished through the net. It was a killer. You could feel the air come out of the Panthers sails. All that effort to get back to being down four and that one shot changed everything. A defensive stop there and the Panthers had a good shot of bringing home a win. But it wasn’t to be.
After the Panthers began fouling to lengthen the game, the Indians tacked on a few more points to end the game. Panther Raven Brenenstuhl hit a two point shot to bring the deficit into the single digits.
Megan Flynn had 10 points and 14 rebounds, while Kelly Pine added 11 points along with eight rebounds. Anna Wysocki grabbed nine rebounds. Flynn and Pine were selected as All Tournament Selections. Sophie Tougas had 18 for the Indians and was honored as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The girls had a great year. They always played hard and clean. The season turned out better than most had expected after the graduation of some excellent players the previous year. Looking ahead, senior Megan Flynn’s loss will be a tough one. Flynn always gave it all she had, and was the rock of the team. She never complained, always worked hard to her points and rebounds. Always hustling senior Anna Wysocki will also be missed.
Despite the loss of the graduating players, there’s no doubt Coach DeGraff will have the team ready to play next season.
HF 54 – Voorheesville 45
Averill Park HS, 2/24. The Panthers had no easy task to get to the HVCC Finals on Wednesday when they had to get past Voorheesville. After both teams started with turnover filled play, the Panthers settled down first and began to pull away from the Blackbirds. With four minutes left in the second quarter, the Panthers had outscored Voorheesville, 24-8, and it looked like this game might be a walk in the park. By the half, the Panthers had a 30-14 lead and things were looking rosy.
But the Blackbirds, with a little help from Panther fouls, would make a game of it. After the half, Meg Flynn got into foul trouble, eventually having to sit out with four fouls. The Blackbirds began nibbling away at that lead by outscoring the Panthers 18-9 in the third quarter. By the time there was four minutes left in the game, the Panther lead evaporated to six, 48-42. With 1:35 left it remained a six point lead. From there, the Panthers opened up a more comfortable lead and everyone began to make plans to go to HVCC to watch the Panthers play the Glens Falls Indians, who defeated Hoosic Valley in the early game.
Meg Flynn scored 23 points to go along with her 14 rebounds. Kelly Pine scored 18 points and Anna Wysocki hauled in 10 rebounds.[/private]