Warwick pulls away to beat Kingston 45-26

Kingston High couldn’t build on a strong offensive first quarter Tuesday night, falling to Warwick 45-26 in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association crossover girls basketball game.

The setback dropped the Tigers’ record to 2-11 on the season.

Kristen Desrats scored 16 points, Isabella Astorino had nine and Emily Unger added seven to lead the Wildcats.

Lexi Diers had 12 points as part of a solid all-around performance while Kalia Hylton-Jackson scored six points to carry Kingston.

The Tigers held their own in that opening quarter, trailing Warwick only 13-11.

“It was a pretty good first quarter for us,” Kingston coach Steve Garner said. “We played very hard, played very good defense, cut down on our turnovers. Overall, I was pleased with our effort.”

But Warwick’s size and length with Unger (6-foot-1), Astorino (6-0) and Sarah Davis (6-0) provided matchup problems for the smaller Tigers.

Warwick opened a 24-15 lead by halftime and widened the margin to 17 after three quarters. A stretch of four turnovers doomed Kingston in the that quarter.

“That stretch hurt us,” Garner said. “We righted ourselves and played them even after that.”

The Tigers have a busy weekend coming up with three games in four days. They are home to Middletown in an OCIAA Division 1 game 6:30 p.m. Friday, then play host to Bethlehem in a 2 p.m. non-league contest on Saturday. Kingston is right back to divisional play Monday at Pine Bush.