by Ryan Mosher
The Hoosick Falls boys basketball team was rewarded for their WASAREN League Championship by receiving the #3 seed in the Class CC Sectionals. After a bye in the first round, the Panthers were set to take on the #6 seed Corinth at the College of St. Rose last Friday.
On their first possession of the game the Tomahawks hit a three-pointer to take a 3-0 lead. Corinth would hold their only lead for the next fifty-eight seconds until Tanner Finney gave them a taste of what the evening would have in store for them by draining a three-pointer to tie the game. Robert Shiland would
follow that up with a three-pointer of his own thirty seconds later to take the lead. The Panthers would cruise through the first quarter, with six points each from Finney and Kevin McMahon, taking a 19-8 lead.
The second quarter would pick up right where the first left off as the Panthers would use runs to stretch their lead out. With under two minutes remaining in the half, and just a six point lead, Finney scored five straight points to start a 9-0 run and help stretch the lead out to 33-21 at the half. Finney and McMahon each added six more points in the second quarter.
In the third quarter the teams combined for six three-pointers. As the Panthers widened their lead, Corinth’s Kevin Tucker tried to keep his team in this game himself. Tucker hit back to back three-pointers to bring the team within 13 points, but three-pointers by Finney and McMahon put an end to that Tomahawk run. Finney added a basket with :02 remaining, stretching the lead to 56-37 entering the fourth quarter.
The final eight minutes saw Hoosick Falls hold the Corinth team at bay, just waiting for the time to run out. The final score was Hoosick Falls 67, Corinth 46. Kevin McMahon led the Panthers with 27 points while Tanner Finney scored 23 points, including six three-pointers. The Panthers’ shooting was almost perfect from the free throw line, connecting on 13 of 15 shots.