by Ryan Mosher
At the beginning of last week, Tamarac’s undefeated boys basketball team held the top spot in the WASAREN League, with several other teams at their heels waiting for the Bengals to slip up. This past week the Bengals did slip up against Granville on Wednesday and then again on Saturday against Hoosick Falls. With those losses, Hoosick Falls, Granville and Stillwater all had their chance to make their case to be the top team in the league. The Panthers made their case quite clear with their victories over Stillwater and Tamarac on back to back days, and then their 46-40 comeback win over Granville on Wednesday night. With those wins Hoosick Falls took sole possession of first place in the WASAREN with a 6-1 league record. Trailing them by just half a game at 6-2 are both Stillwater and Tamarac, followed by Granville at 5-3.
Wednesday night’s game against Granville did not start out exactly how the Panthers would have liked, as
they struggled to hit shots early and trailed most of the first quarter. With 1:28 left Junior Kevin McMahon tied the score at 8-8, and on the following Granville possession, Senior Robert Shiland stole the ball and was fouled. His two free throws gave the Panthers the lead at 10-8. Granville would hit a basket with :12 left to tie the score going into the second quarter.
There were four lead changes in the first minute and a half of the second quarter with the visiting Golden Horde going ahead on two free throws with 6:28 left. They then went on a 13-5 run, stretching their lead up to nine points. By halftime, the Panthers had cut the lead to just seven points at 26-19.
Granville scored right away in the second half, but the Panther defense held them scoreless for the next four minutes. In that time HFCS managed to cut the lead, highlighted by a three-pointer by Shiland to bring the score to 28-26. From there the teams traded baskets until the quarter ended with Granville leading 35-33.
Tanner Finney tied the score for Hoosick Falls in the opening minute of the final quarter, and Hunter Rasmus scored to give the Panthers their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter. The Golden Horde fought back and took back the lead with a three-point play. On Hoosick Falls’ next possession, the 6’5” McMahon stepped up and hit a three-pointer to take lead 40-38 with 5:02 to play. Granville would bring the score within one at 41-40 with 1:02 left, but Anthony Goldstein and McMahon would both sink two free throws and Shiland one to seal the deal for the Panthers.
McMahon finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Shiland finished with 13 points for Hoosick Falls. The Panthers are now 10-2 overall. They play at Hoosic Valley on Friday at 7:30 pm.