Jankovic delivers big for Warriors
Senior guard drains 3 3-pointers in fourth to help win season opener
So many things regarding the Averill Park girls’ basketball team’s season-opener Monday were altered. The scheduled Senior Night festivities were postponed as the game’s start time against Niskayuna was moved up more than five hours to beat the snowfall. Contests usually held at this time of year end regular-season campaigns, not start them. Finally, Liv Olsen spent the afternoon swatting Averill Park shot attempts all around the gym.
With the game very much up for grabs in the fourth quarter, senior guard Anna Jankovic drained a trio of 3-pointers to help propel Averill Park to a 48-42 Suburban Council victory over the Silver Warriors.
“It felt really good. My shot wasn’t falling in the first half,” Jankovic said.
The coronavirus pandemic pushed back the start of the basketball season for the entire state, and Averill Park was hindered further by one player contracting COVID -19. That delayed the beginning of practice by one week. The Warriors started four seniors in Jankovic, Julia Gelder, Allison Lapinski and Emma Burdick to go along with junior point guard Amelia Wood. Averill Park missed its first seven shots against Niskayuna (1-1 overall, 1-1 Suburban Council), including three that were blocked by the 6-foot-2 Olsen.
Jankovic made four 3-pointers overall and tied for teamhigh scoring honors with Wood with 15 points each. Her third and fourth 3-pointers stretched a 36-35 lead to a 42-35 advantage with 3:52 left.
“That is really what we expect from her,” Averill Park coach Sean Organ said of Jankovic.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball, and Olsen hindered Averill Park’s efforts severely as she blocked 12 shots to go along with 16 points, 17 rebounds, three steals and two assists. The senior star, who is headed to play along with Albany City Rocks’ teammate Meghan Huerter (Shenendehowa) at Providence College, was limited to six points and three rebounds in the second half.
“The first game of the season can be rough and we really fought through,” Jankovic said “We stuck together and didn’t let those bad moments effect how we were going to play at the end. We knew Liv was going
to block a lot of shots. She’s a really good player.”
Averill Park led 24-23 at halftime and proceeded to miss its first 11 shots of the third quarter. Wood made the only two baskets of the 18 shots taken by the Warriors (five blocked by Olsen) in the stanza as they took a 29-28 lead into the final eight minutes.
“She’s definitely a great shotblocker,” Jankovic said of Olsen. “She had a lot of clean blocks.”
“When you are trying to prepare for zone and you have Olsen in the middle, the kids really started to think more than play,” Organ said.
Jankovic and Wood proved vital to the Warriors’ winning efforts, and another important element was freshman forward Taylor Holohan, who delivered two baskets in the first quarter and a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter. She finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
“She gave us a nice little burst when we needed it early,” Organ said. “She joined us last year as an eighth-grader and had some good
games, especially in the second part of the season. There were moments in practice where she had these big ‘this is what she could be’ moments.”
“She really stepped up tonight and we needed that,” Jankovic said. “That is what this season is about. We have a lot of veterans, but we
still need our younger girls to step up. You never know who will be in foul trouble or struggling. For her to come out in the first game and do that is a good start to what I think will be a good season for her.”