Kingston drops fifth straight at tourney

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. >> Pittsfield pulled away in the second half to deal Kingston High’s girls their fifth consecutive loss Saturday, winning 63-50 in the Amsterdam Holiday College Showcase basketball tournament.

Alex Sondrini had 16 points and Randi Duquette had 11 to pace Pittsfield.

Trista Lukaszewski scored 13 points, Lexi Diers and Ava Guralnick each had 11, Kalia Hylton-Jackson tallied nine and Serenity Herzog scored six to lead Kingston.

The Tigers stayed close throughout the first half and trailed only 26-21 at halftime. Kingston had tied it midway in the third quarter. Sondrini scored eight of her points in that period to help Pittsfield pull away.

“Right now, we’re finding ways to lose,” said Kingston coach Steve Garner, who saw his team execute a pair of great passes, but miss wide-open layups to begin the second half. Pittsfield followed with natural three-point plays.

“The first half was where we really gave it away. We had so many horrific passes, it wasn’t funny. It was bad basketball,” Garner said. “We got it close many times, but . ... We couldn’t hit anything in the fourth quarter. We had good shots. They made all their shots. The difference was this team made layups and we missed them.”

The Generals led by as much as 20 in the fourth.

“We’re not doing the little things that make the difference,” Garner noted. “If you’re a wing player and you shoot, you go in there and rebound, you get back, or you stand there and watch. There was a lot of ball watching.”

Kingston, now 1-5 overall, does not play until Tuesday, Jan. 7, when it is host to Saugerties in a non-league home game.