Pine Plains girls too much for Millbrook
Bombers fire on all cylinders en route to making it three straight sectional titles
The Pine Plains girls team wins its third straight Section 9, Class C title with a 56-41 win over Millbrook.
Pine Plains High just had too many weapons for a young, scrappy Millbrook team to handle Friday night as the Bombers captured their third consecutive Section 9, Class C girls basketball championship, pulling away for a 56-41 triumph at Mount Saint Mary College.
Ashley Starzyk scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half and also had eight rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Pine Plains. Bella Starzyk (11 points, seven rebounds, two blocks), Frances Snyder (11 points, five assists), Cat Simmons (eight points, four steals) and Tia Fumasoli (five points, four steals, three assists) also had big contributions for the Bombers.
“This means the world to us. It’s the same feeling as the past two years. It means everything. It’s what we worked for all season,” Ashley Starzyk said. “You don’t want to run sprints at practice but, at moments like this, you realize it pays off.”
With the win, the (17-6) Bombers earned a berth in Tuesday’s 5 p.m. state regional semifinal at SUNY New Paltz against Section 1 champion Haldane. The Blue Devils have been Pine Plains’ opponent in this round the last two years and the Bombers have won both meetings en route to the state final four.
Freshman center Erin Fox had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Millbrook.
Fox carried the Blazers’ offense, scoring 12 points in the first quarter. With Simmons and Snyder each hitting a pair of 3-point field goals, Millbrook clung to a 14-12 lead with 1:47 left in the period.
Fox came out for a rest and the Bombers countered with a 9-0 run. Haley Strang made four straight foul shots, Ashley Starzyk hit Pine Plains’ fifth 3-pointer of the quarter and Snyder hit a pull up 15-footer at the buzzer for a 2114 advantage.
That set the tone. As Fox goes, so went Millbrook. The Blazers managed just two points in the first half when she was not in the game. She picked up her third and fourth fouls early in the second half and sat out seven minutes.
“Defensively, we had to shut (Sam) McKenna and Fox down,” said Simmons. “We did the best we could there. On offense, (coach Rich Starzyk) said if we had an open shot, take it. We did.”
McKenna was held to six points.
“Our defense was very, very good today. When we play great defense, we do well on offense,” said Snyder. She, Fumasoli and Strang had numerous deflections on Millbrook’s interior passes. “We had a lot
of not necessarily steals, but we had a lot of deflections to interrupt the plays and that really helped.”
Junior Kaitlyn Daly scored all nine of her points in the second half to keep Millbrook within reach. Fox’s baseline jumper had the Blazers down only 2926 early in the third quarter, but it was the closest they would get. Millbrook was still within six heading into the fourth.
“We knew that we’d have to work for it and they made us work for it,” Ashley Starzyk said.
With Fox and sophomore forward Carrie Halpin both in foul trouble, the Bombers took charge inside, getting 10 layups in the second half. Pine Plains kept sending the ball down low to Ashley Starzyk, who responded with 12 straight points. She finished the run when she recovered a loose ball and drove baseline for a reverse layup.
A minute later, Simmons cashed in a steal with a 12foot jumper and a 52-40 margin with 3:32 left to play.
“If our shots are not falling, that’s when start pounding it inside, mix it up a little and do other things,” Snyder noted.
“They had awesome passes inside,” Ashley Starzyk said. “We’re a team where we do what we have to do to win. It’s not a selfish team. Whoever’s on, you give them the ball. That’s how we do it.”
The Bombers are a battle-tested, experienced squad that is eager to move on in the state tournament. Millbrook’s starting lineup featured the freshman, two sophomores and two juniors.
“We’re definitely use to this atmosphere. It wasn’t intimidating to us,” Snyder said. “I feel like Millbrook is a young team and they haven’t necessarily been here before, so this might have impacted them differently than it might have us. As the games go on, it does get much more difficult, but I think if we play our best, we can definitely handle it.”
“We do have the experience, which is nice,” Starzyk said. “We just try to prepare as much as we can and then the rest is playing from your heart.
“When I was in eighth grade, we didn’t even make sectionals, then my freshman year we make section finals and we’ve only being going up since, so knock on wood,” added Starzyk, who quickly rapped on the court. MILLBROOK (41)—McKenna 2 1-2 6, Babbitt 0 0-0 0, Daly 4 1-4 9, Fox 9 0-0 18, Halpin 1 0-0 2, Fisher 0 0-0 0, Martell 2 0-0 4, Radovic 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 2-6 41. PINE PLAINS (56)—A. Starzyk 7 2-6 17, Strang 0 4-4 4, Snyder 4 1-2 11, B. Starzyk 4 3-5 11, Simmons 3 0-0 8, Fumasoli 1 2-2 5. Totals 19 12-19 56. Millbrook ...................................................... 14 9 13 5—41 Pine Plains .................................................... 21 6 13 14—56 3-point field goals: McKenna; Snyder 2, Simmons 2, A. Starzyk, Fumasoli.