Shen denies Averill Park the ball and the win
CLIFTONPARK, N.Y. >> After delivering the much-anticipated first quarter battle that was expected between the Shenendehowa and Averill Park girls basketball programs Friday night, the Plainsmen were able to continue to grind out and convert their own scoring opportunities throughout the remainder of the contest and pull away from the Warriors, 52-37.
Shenendehowa limited Averill park to just a bucket in the second quarter, producing a 12-2 run and then limited the Warriors to under double- digits for the third straight quarter for a commanding 40-20 lead through three and holding off the late surge.
“I think what happened in the second quarter was we didn’t see the ball go through the rim,” Averill Park Coach Sean Organ said. “We were
getting good looks and we’re getting to the free throw line and we weren’t converting either and we had shots that just didn’t fall tonight. I think that some of our kids see those shots start to fall into second quarter it might be a different game.
“We went through a long stretch just about the entire second quarter where we came away with a couple of points and they made some shots. They went on a little bit of a run toward the end of the second quarter, hit a couple of threes, got a couple of run outs and all of a sudden and the game started to get away from us.”
After a sluggish first half
Tuesday night against defending Section 2 champion Bethlehem, the Plainsmen appeared poised and up the challenge facing the larger Averill Park defenders in the paint and see its defense step up for four full quarters.
“Defense, it was a hundred percent defense and rebounding the basketball, that was our goal for the two days that we prepped for this team,” Shenendehowa Coach Joe Murphy said. “We knew Averill Park is well coached, they play hard, they crash the glass, they can go to the line a lot and we said we’ve just got to play solid defense and rebound the basketball.”
With the defending Class A champion Averill Park returning Kelsey Wood and Amelia Wood in the paint, the Plainsmen had to adjust.
“We knew that Averill Park has a lot of post players, so what we were trying to do is if we got into the post to kick it back out for our jump shots and we were hitting those,” Shenendehowa senior guard Anna Milham said.
Milham led the Plainsmen with 16 points, including a trio of three-pointers with senior center Cat Almeida adding 11 and showing the versatility within her game.
“I feel like as a whole we all have stepped up a lot and the roles change night by night,” Milham said. “I feel like it can be anyone’s game each night.”
On Friday it was Milham’s as well as Almeida, who buried her own trifecta of three-pointers on the night.
“I started probably a cou- ple of years ago in the off season working on my three and then when it came to the school season Coach Murphy so how much it improved he started to let me take them,” Cat Almeida said. “It’s worked out really well.”
It has been a mission for the 6-foot 4- center to prove that she’s more than a one-trick pony and that her ability to hit a clutch three-pointer is not just as rare as a unicorn sighting.
BOYS BASKETBALL
SHEN 68, AVERILL PARK 67: A double overtime final decided Friday night’s meeting between the Warriors from Averill Park and the Shen Plainsmen. Zach Price’s three pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime and jake Reinisch hit a three at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime. Shen was able to close off the Warriors in the second overtime.
Shen 15-16-18- 4-5-10- 68 Averill Park 15-10-12-165-9- 67
SHEN (68) Sangare 6-2-18, Dzikas 0-5-16, Reinisch 0-3-12, Altenburger 4- 0-11, Seyoum 2- 0-5, Lemire 0- 0- 6 AVERILL PARK (67) Pascucci 2- 4-21, Hacker 6-1-17, Price 3-3-15, Romer 1-2-9, Re 1- 0-2, Matt Lettko 0-1-3
3-Point Field Goals: Shen - Dzikas 5, Sangare 2, Reinisch 3, Averill Park - Pascucci 4, Hacker 1, Price 3, Romer 2
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY 86, ALBANY 45: CBA earned the win Friday with a 55 point explosion out of the gate to make up for a slow start only gave them a three point lead going into the halftime. CBA was led offensively by Jordan King, who scored 34 points. Albany was led Tyrell Monroe.
CBA 12-19-29-26 — 86 ALBANY 17-11-7-10 — 45 CBA (86)
Jordan King 3- 5-34, Peter O’Toole 3- 0-13, Hagen Foley 2-1-11, Mike Hicks 0-01, Vince Tirino 0-1-3, Mike Murray 2- 0- 4, Dan Kelly 1- 0-2, Drew Signor 6- 0-16 ALBANY (45) Tyrell Monroe 6- 0-14, Jason Harrison 0-1-3, Kevin Seal 1- 0-3, Michael Benitez 5- 0-11, Wendell Colon 1- 02, Dabar Zarzuela 1- 0-2, Rasier Chandler 1-1- 5, najee McQueen 0- 0-5
3-Point Field Goals: CBA - Jordan King 5, Hagen Foley, Vince Tirino, Albany - Jason Harrison, Rasier Chandler
TAMARAC 75, GREENWICH 71: Frank Zotto’s And-1 at .2 seconds left gave Tamarac the win, making them 4- 0 to start the new season, beating last year’s win total.
Tamara 14-19-24-18 — 75 Greenwich 16-19-15-21 — 71
TAMARAC (75) Patrick Manello 0- 0- 3, Anthony Ciampolillo 3- 08, Nate LaPlante 0- 0-1, Danny Hansinger 2- 0- 4, Frank Zotto 12- 0-29, Dalton Maxon 2- 0- 4,Bo Catherwood 4- 0-9, Jarod Defreest 6- 0-17 GREENWICH (71) Carson Mosher 2- 0- 4, Luke Pemrick 3- 0-8, John Walsh 9-1-27, Alex Curtis 0- 4-14, Jesse Kuzmich 2- 0-11, Sam Howard 2- 0- 4, Kaden Hall 1- 0-2
3- Point Field Goals: Greenwich John Walsh
GALWAY 50, NORTHVILLE 29: Galway defeated Northville 50-29 Friday night and were led offensively by Carter Scribner and Mike Sowle. Galway improves to 3-3 this season. Galway 15-7-17-11 — 50 Northville 12-9- 6-2 — 29 GALWAY (50) Carter Scribner 5- 0-11, Ryan Lovelass 3- 0-9, Mike Sowle 5- 0-11, Christian Hines 2- 0- 6, Erik Malanoski 1- 0-2, Dave O’Connell 2- 0-7, Nick Zuk 1- 0- 4 NORTHVILLE (29) Zeke Pulliam 3- 2-14, Ryan Germani 2-0- 4, Adam Esposito 0-1-3, Jake Keyer 0- 0- 3, Ben Hilton 1- 0- 3, Tristen Heitzman 0- 0-2
COLUMBIA 45, COLONIE 41: Columbia owned the f loor from tip off Friday night and powered their way to the win over Colonie. Columbia was led offensively by Dylan Quimette and Cooper Zwanka. Colonie was led offensively by Marcus Shelton. Columbia 11-13-9-12 — 45 Colonie 8-7-10-16 — 41
COBLESKILL 51, ALBANY ACADEMY 43: Cobleskill picked up the win Friday night after the trailing following the first quarter. Dannible and Meade each led Cobleskill with 12 points while Albany Academy was led by Aaliyah Juste.
Cobleskill 13-7-12-11 — 51 Albany Academy 9-12-1218—43 COBLESKILL (51) Alicia Pressley 1- 0- 6, J. Meade 3-1-12, Sabrina Pressley 2- 0- 7, Maggie Hantho 2- 0- 4, Emma Osterhoudt 1-1- 6, E Dannible 4-1-12, Lindsay Becker 1- 03, Eleesia Comino 1- 0-2 ALBANY ACADEMY (43) Sarah Richardson 3- 0-8, Meleena Ottati 1- 0-2, Mianna Jackson 3-1-12, Aaliyah Juste 8-1-21
3-Point Field Goals: Cobleskill — J. Meade, Emma Osterhoudt, E. Dannible, Albany Academy — Mianna Jackson, Aaliyah Juste
CAMBRIDGE 64, SARATOGA CATHOLIC: Cambridge held the Saints scoreless in the first quarter while bursting out to a 29- 0 run to set the tone for Friday’s Wasaren League contest.
Sophie Phillips led the Indians with 18 points followed by Lilly Phillips with 12 and Stasia Epler adding 10. Saratoga Central Catholic’s Ryleigh Connell finished with six points on the night.
Saratoga Catholic 0 5 14 5 — 24
Cambridge 29 13 13 9 — 64
SARATOGA CATHOLIC (24)
Katie Cronin 1- 0- 3, Ryleigh Connell 2- 2- 6, Faith McKenna 1-1- 4, Lauren Maiten 2- 1- 5, McKenna Anne 1- 0- 2, Molly O’Reilly 0-1-1. Totals: 8- 524. CAMBRIDGE (64) Lilly Phillips 5- 0-12, Sophie Phillips 7- 0-18, Ruth Nolan 2- 0- 6, Stasia Epler 4-2-10, Abby Maher 1-13, Fiona Mooney 4- 0- 8, Brecke Gifford 2-1- 5, McKayla McLenithan 1- 0-2. Totals: 26- 4- 64.
3-point Field Goals: Saratoga Catholic — Katie Cronin, Emy Murray, Faith McKenna. Cambridge — Lilly Phillips 2, Sophie Phillips 4, Nolan 2.
SHAKER 70, SCHENECTADY 51: Shaker picked up the win Friday night over Schenectady thanks to a 17 point game from Maddi Mahoney. Shaker led from the tip off and never looked back as they reached the 70 point mark Friday. Schenectady was led offensively by Laneria.
Shaker 18-16-14-22 — 70 Schenectady 9-9-21-12 — 51