Panther Boys Hoop Team Beats Cambridge, Faces Schuylerville Friday Night

by Gary Danforth
The Hoosick Falls Central School boys basketball team got back to their winning ways last Friday night, January 22, when they traveled to Cambridge Central School and took the measure of the Indians by a 57-42 score. Mike Lilac Jr.’s Panther five raised their WASAREN League mark to 8-1 with the win and to 10-2 overall. HFCS had been coming off their only league loss to date with a 48-47 loss to Hoosic Valley being in their rear view mirror.
Hoosick Falls had another slow start with Cambridge jumping on the Panthers to the tune of 18-10 after eight minutes. The Panthers had trailed Hoosic Valley by a 17-4 margin after one quarter. But HFCS outscored the hosts 17-9 in period two to knot the score at 27-27 at the break.
The Panthers continued to dominate play in the third quarter, breaking out to a 44-33 lead heading into the final eight minutes. Hoosick Falls pulled away further in period four by outscoring their rivals by a 13-9 tally on their way to the 57-42 win.
Kevin McMahon led HFCS with 19 points. The 6’6” McMahon had been held to six points by the Hoosic Valley defense. Alex Lilac had 12 points, Tanner Williams, who did not play against the Hoosic Valley five, had nine points, Quinn Rasmus, 6, John Hayden, 4, Sean Dingman, 3, Ryan Hand, 2, and Hutton Rasmus with 2 points scored for HFCS. William Bromirski with 17 and Lucas D’Aiuto with 14 points led the Indian attack.
Rebounding from Afar: Every league game is important but next up for HFCS is a really important league contest versus Schuylerville Central School when Hoosick Falls hosts the Black Horses this Friday night, January 29. The Panthers beat the Horses in overtime on the Horses’ floorboards back on December 18. The Horses have been playing well and will be ready. Whichever team wins this all important battle will have a leg up in the title chase. If you want to be champions you must beat the best of the opposition. My advice is to get to the River Road gymnasium early as Schuylerville fans travel well and a standing room only crowd will most likely be in place long before the JV game is completed. The stage will be set for one of the biggest league games in HFCS hoop history. The Black Horses are going to be a handful. If HFCS doesn’t come out of the locker room ready to play, the Horses will bury them in their own gym by halftime. And the Panthers better be ready to play four quarters. This is going to be some ball game. The kind that is just very interesting to see how it unfolds. The kind you are just lucky to be at and marvel at the level of high school play.