Albany Times Union (Sunday)

Witches unblemishe­d

- By James Allen jallen@timesunion.com 518-454-5062 @TUSideline­s

Taking the program’s alltime leading scorer off the Greenwich girls’ basketball team this season denied the Witches a potent threat and veteran leader, but it failed to deny the Wasaren League team a chance at completing a magical regular-season campaign.

Saturday, Greenwich once again showed how much it has grown as a unit following the graduation departure of Molly Brophy, who now plays at Division II St. Michael’s College and completed her varsity career with the Witches having scored 1,864 points.

A new wave of stars put together a great season to date, and this season’s team capped its regular-season slate in fine fashion Saturday afternoon in the Wasaren League tournament title game. Eighth-grader Brooke Kuzmich made sure top-seeded Greenwich got off to a strong start and the Witches fended off repeated pushes by Mechanicvi­lle in the second half to register a 48-35 victory to complete a 20-0 run before the start of the Section II Class C tournament.

“It’s special. We haven’t won (a Wasaren League title) in a while,” Kuzmich said.

Greenwich coach Jason Slater believed he had the proper components in place to produce a special season. Getting through Saturday’s contest was the right way to complete play prior to the start of the postseason for the fifth-ranked Class C team in the state.

“Losing the program’s alltime leading scorer was something we had to overcome. I knew there would be a learning curve this season. Once we got rolling, everything fell into place,” Slater said.

The Witches have won by double digits in 19 of 20 games this season, having outscored opposition by an average of 36 points per game. The only game Greenwich failed to win by double digits, it posted a 55-46 victory at Tamarac Jan. 14.

Saturday, Kuzmich may have been the youngest starter on the floor between the two teams, but she performed like a veteran throughout and helped the Witches open up a 15-10 advantage after one quarter.

The Red Raiders suffered through a horrible shooting stretch in the second quarter, going just 1-for-14 to go along with seven turnovers, as the Witches led 28-18 at halftime.

Mechanicvi­lle, featuring four prominent seniors in Chloe Goverski, Hailie Phelps, Jillian Germain and Sara Fitzgerald, refused to fold after three times falling behind by 13 points in the third quarter and worked its way back to trail 35-27 through 24 minutes of action.

“We were up by 32 on them two weeks ago. I told the girls before the game not to expect anything like that again,” Slater said. “They’re experience­d and have an excellent coach.”

Mechanicvi­lle called timeout with 3:04 left down 41-31. On the next possession, the Witches worked the ball around and Kuzmich concluded it by draining a 3-pointer with 2:31 left.

When asked to break down what makes her squad special, Kuzmich simply stated, “We’re all good at scoring and playing defense. We just work well as a team.”

Saturday proved to be an excellent illustrati­on of a balanced attack prevailing. Kuzmich led the way with 13 points, followed by juniors Norah Niesz and Cate Abate who each tallied 11 points. Slater also received strong contributi­ons from sophomore Adrianna Rojas and freshman Grace Autiello.

Phelps paced Mechanicvi­lle (15-4), ranked No. 22 in the Class B state poll, with 11 points (seven coming in the third quarter) and Lila Christense­n, a sophomore, added 10 points. The Red Raiders made just 7-of -35 shots (20 percent) over the final three quarters.

 ?? Jenn March / Special to the Times Union ?? Greenwich eighth-grader Brooke Kuzmich attempts to block Mechanicvi­lle’s Sara Fitzgerald during the Wasaren League final on Saturday in Saratoga Springs. Kuzmich had a game-high 13 points.
Jenn March / Special to the Times Union Greenwich eighth-grader Brooke Kuzmich attempts to block Mechanicvi­lle’s Sara Fitzgerald during the Wasaren League final on Saturday in Saratoga Springs. Kuzmich had a game-high 13 points.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States