Kingston loses to Division 1 rival
When things are clicking for the Kingston High girls basketball team, the Tigers’ speedy and quick squad is accustomed to forcing the other team into a lot of mistakes. But in Tuesday afternoon’s battle with Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division 1 rival Pine Bush, the shoe was on the other foot.
The Tigers committed an uncharacteristically high 20 turnovers in a 63-51 loss. The defeat probably cost Kingston (6-1 OCIAA Division 1, 15-4 overall) any chance to claim the top seed in the upcoming Section 9 Class AAA playoffs, which would have secured a home game.
Kingston could still share the divisional title if it is able to upend Pine Bush (7-0, 15-1) on the road at 4 p.m. on Thursday, hours before the Section 9 selection committee will meet to determine the sites and dates of the Class AAA playoffs.
Kingston coach Steve Garner seemed more dismayed by his players’ reactions to their mistakes than by the miscues they committed.
“When things were going well, we were all over it,” Garner said. “And when things weren’t, we hung our heads a little bit. You can’t do that in this game.”
Things started well for the Tigers as junior forward Jasanii Francis-Torres and senior guard Asia Lebon got the game’s first two buckets to give Kingston an early 4-0 lead.
But the Bushmen scored the next 13 points to take a 13-4 lead and it seemed as if the Tigers were always fighting from behind.
Tigers senior guard Diamond Banks converted a steal into a layup to end a quick Kingston 7-0 spurt that tied the game at 27-27 with 20 seconds left in the first half.
But Pine Bush center Ketura Rutty rebounded a missed free throw by teammate Jah-esa Stokes and made a layup in the waning
seconds of the half to give the visitors a 30-27 halftime lead.
Trailing 40-37 entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers pulled to within 42-41 on a Lebon layup with 7:09 remaining but quickly fell behind 47-41 as Pine Bush reeled off five points in a row.
Lebon pulled Kingston to within 47-44 with a 3-pointer with 5:50 remaining, but the Tigers missed on a couple chances to tie the game before Pine Bush put it away in the final five minutes.
“There were a couple of moments when we were down three and we couldn’t get over the hump,” Garner said. “I think that was a big thing and then they would come down and hit a shot. But we get to play them again Thursday and we’ll see what happens.”
Pine Bush coach Michelle Bouffard, who didn’t make a substitution until the final 1:44, thought her taller team missed too many shots from in close. She said the same thing happened in a 67-54 loss to Our Lady of Lourdes last Friday. That dropped the Bushmen from the unbeaten ranks.
“Lourdes is good, but we’re missing these little bunnies around the basket,” she said. “They have to go in. We missed a lot of shots in the paint today too, but if you can miss them and still win you can count yourself lucky. It’s always tough when we play Kingston. We know it’s coming down to a dogfight every game we meet them.”
Lebon (20), Torres-Francis (15) and junior guard Ava Scaturro (14) scored in double figures for the Tigers.
Stokes (18), Rutty (14), Leticia Watson (14) and M’ya Watson (11) were also in double figures for Pine Bush.