Burnt Hills-ballston Lake goes up against Tamarac in hoops tournament action.
Bengals rout host BH-BL, 57-22, in holiday tourney
BURNT HILLS — Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake girls basketball coach Sue Gestwick summed up her feelings after Wednesday’s holiday tournament opener in one word. “Frustrated,” she said tersely.
The Spartans could probably relate. Visiting Tamarac established control of the game from the opening tip, parlaying a 15-2 first-quarter run into a 57-22 triumph.
“The other team had a good strategy,” Gestwick said. “Let’s give the team that just beat us credit. They pressed us, we didn’t handle it well, they got up by 20, and we didn’t come back after that.”
After falling behind by 13 in the opening stanza, BH-BL clawed back into the game
with a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to seven early in the second quarter.
“I thought we could be aggressive and go after them,” Gestwick said.
Unfortunately for the hometown crowd, that would be the closest the Spartans would get.
Bolstered by a multifaceted offense and a defense based on full-court pressure, the Bengals answered the Spartans’ 6-0 spurt with a 9- 0 outburst. The hosts stopped that run with a Morgan Sullivan basket, but Tamarac then went on another, an 8-0 stretch that ended the first half.
Up 32- 10 at the break, Tamarac then scored the first eight points of the third quarter before emptying its bench midway through the period. The intensity remained high, though, as the Bengals scored 16 of the game’s final 24 points.
“Their press just rattled us out of our whole strategy,” Gestwick said.
Tamarac junior forward Briana Matazinsky had a game-high 16 points, while fellow Bengal Jenna Erickson added 15. Sophomore Molly Gallagher’s six points and two assists led BH-BL.
The threat of winter weather forced changes to the tournament’s schedule. Columbia and Duanesburg were set to play a 7 p.m. nightcap Wednesday, but will instead play their semifinal at 2 p.m. on Friday at the high school.
Tamarac will face the winner of that game in the championship contest on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, the tournament hosts will take on Fri- day’s losing team in the consolation game in that day’s first game, a 1 p.m. tilt.
The break gives the Spartans time to put this one behind them, and Gestwick hopes they come out on Saturday ready to play hard.
“I hope they’re angry, and that (this loss) drives them to improve,” she said.