The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Cougars fall to Cavaliers in sectional semifinals
Piddock scores 32 to lead Watertown IHC to final
Stockbridge Valley’s best girls basketball season ever ended with a loss to Watertown IHC on Sunday.
SYRACUSE » Stockbridge Valley couldn’t have asked for a better start to Sunday’s Section III Class D girls basketball semifinal game against Watertown Immaculate Heart Central, scoring the first 10 points for a big early lead. Then Jackie Piddock took over. The seventh grader scored 32 points for the Cavaliers, who ended the Cougars’ season for the second straight year with a 56-37 victory.
“We kind of worked with the fast intensity game in practice the last couple days and they were quicker than we thought,” said Stockbridge Valley coach Jackie Fort. “You can’t have two players running the floor the whole game and being the only scorers on the team.”
Stockbridge Valley’s seventh grader, Jillian Jacobs, was also her team’s leading scorer with 13 while senior Olivia Marshall netted 10 for the No. 1 seed Cougars in her final game with the team.
Abigail Piddock added 10 points for No. 4 seed Watertown IHC in defeat.
Marshall provided a spark for Stockbridge Valley at the start of the game, opening the scoring with a 3-point play. The senior scored seven points during the game-opening 10- 0 run over the first three minutes but only managed three points over the remainder of the game.
“She’s been prepared for doubleteam defense all season long but I think mentally it might have gotten to her a little bit,” said Fort. “She’s a tough kid but she’s been taking a lot of heat on her shoulders all season long.”
The younger Piddock sister then began to find her groove. The seventh grader scored all 12 of her team’s points in the opening period, helping Watertown IHC pull even at the end of the quarter.
The other Cavaliers, whose press
defense slowed the Cougars after their hot start, began to get involved offensively in the second as well. Abigail Piddock made a 3-pointer to give the No. 4 seed a lead it would never give back. Amanda McElheran added another 3-pointer for Watertown IHC and Jackie Piddock scored seven more in the period, putting Stockbridge Valley in a 29-23 hole at halftime.
Abigail Piddock scored the first basket of the third before Stockbridge Valley used a quick burst to cut into the eight-point lead. Ashleigh Staudt made a 3-pointer and Jacobs scored 2 on the next Cougars’ possession, bringing their team within 31-28. Jackie Piddock helped made sure the No. 1 seed wouldn’t get any closer with two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws as Watertown IHC extended its lead to 45-37 going into the final eight minutes.
There the Cavaliers defense put the finishing touches on its strong performance, holding the Cougars without a point in the fourth quarter and ending their season for a second straight year. Watertown IHC upset Stockbridge Valley in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
The Cavaliers advance to the Section III Class D final to face No. 7 Sackets Harbor. The Cougars best season in program history ends with an 19-2 record that included the school’s first girls basketball Central Counties League title and its deepest playoff run.
“I’m pretty proud of their effort,” said Fort. “We’ve never come this far in school history so we’re pretty proud of that.”