Kingston rolls to easy victory over Pine Bush
Tigers rides hot start to defeat Pine Bush and improve to 10-3
A superb first half and some solid patches in the second propelled Kingston High’s girls basketball team to its 10th victory, a 55-41 triumph over Pine Bush at Kate Walton Field House.
Sianna “CeCe” VanDyke paced the Tigers with 12 points. The balanced Kingston scoring also had Grace McComb with 10 points, Chloe Chaffin, Erica Prindle and Hannah Dorrian with eight apiece and Logan Brennan with six.
“We had great balance. The first half was wonderful. We played very well,” Kingston coach Steve Garner said. “We missed a ton of shots in the second half.
“It could be the layoff, almost two weeks with not a lot of practicing.”
The win improved Kingston’s record to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Division I, setting up a big upcoming week.
The Tigers play at (3-2) Newburgh Free Academy Tuesday and are home to (4-1) Monroe-Wood-
bury next Thursday. At stake is the likely top seed for the Section 9, Class AA tournament.
“The first half was wonderful. We played very well,” Kingston coach Stever Garner said.
“We missed a ton of shots in the second half. It could be the layoff — almost two weeks off with not a lot of practicing.”
Kingston dominated the first half, outscoring the Lady Bushmen 28-8.
The Tigers forced (4-7) Pine Bush into 21 turnovers in the first 16 minutes and 37 for the game, including 15 steals.
Kingston converted the turnovers into 25 points.
Dorrian hit 3-point field goals to end the first quarter and start the second.
“Hannah has done a lot for us this year, not necessarily in the scoring column, but tonight she did,” Garner said. “She definitely brought a spark.”
Chaffin, who scored seven of her eight points in the first half, did a terrific job handling Pine Bush’s 6-foot-5 sophomore center Katherine Cain despite giving up an eight-inch difference.
Chaffin held Cain to just two points in the first half. Cain did finish with a double-double with 13 points, 21 rebounds and four blocked shots.
“Chloe really battled in there with her. There were some up-for-grab balls that she got. She’s a small forward playing center,” Garner noted.
“I was very pleased with how she’s playing and passing out of that position and doing some good stuff.
“When you have someone on the other team who is very tall, you want to stay aggressive,” he added.
“We tried to run a fourlow where we were pulling her (Cain) out, but we were double-clutching on the foul-line jumpers.”
Kingston built the 20-point advantage at the intermission after holding Pine Bush to one basket for the final seven minutes of the half.
The Tigers, who missed 14 shots in the paint in that first half, misfired on 15 shots alone in the third quarter, aiding in a Pine Bush comeback.
The Bushmen ran more in the final half and Tayler King (game-high 15 points) and Maeve Magee (eight) became more active.
Cain, who scored eight in the third, connected on a baby hook shot to cut the margin to 30-18, but the Tigers countered with a 5-0 run.
Jenna Gray’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter cut the deficit to single digits, getting Pine Bush within 38-29 with 7:38 left.
That, however, was the closest the team got.
Dorrian answered with a drive and finger-roll layup.
Two possessions later, Dezhelle Foster reached back for a steal and fired the ball to Dorrian on the break.
Dorrian missed, but Foster was right behind for the follow and a three-point play.
Pine Bush rallied again to get within 45-35 with four minutes remaining, but VanDyke made two foul shots, Brennan scored on her steal and McComb connected for a layup off a Chaffin pass to effectively clinch the win.
VanDyke had a basket and went 5-for-6 at the foul line in the final half to reach double figures in scoring for only the third time this year.
“It was really, really good to see CeCe break through like that,” Garner said.
After watching Pine Bush slash Kingston’s 20-point advantage down to nine, Garner knows his team has to tighten things up, especially the shooting.
The Tigers shot 18-for-73 (24.7 percent) from the field.
“We got to close things out better than that,” he said.
“I thought we had good shots. I thought third quarter we were settling a little too much, but I thought we were passing the ball, moving the ball.
“We were just missing open shots.”