by Gary Danforth
Visiting Stillwater Central School played a solid, tough WASAREN League game Tuesday night, January 12, but it wasn’t enough to keep Mike Lilac Jr.’s Hoosick Falls Central School Panther boys five from remaining unbeaten in league action as HFCS took the measure of the Warriors by a 69-51 score. With the win, Hoosick Falls jumps to 6-0 in league play while climbing to 8-1 overall.
Dave Cook’s Stillwater quintet battled the Panthers tooth and nail over the first eight minutes. Hoosick Falls took a 6-2 lead on a Hutton Rasmus drive, two Alex Lilac free throws and a Mike Brewster inside bucket. But Stillwater gave HFCS all they wanted. The Warriors finally took a 9-7 advantage with 4:07 left in period one. Buckets by Rasmus and Kevin McMahon tied the score for HFCS before Stillwater took a 13-11 edge. The Warriors took a 15-12 lead before a Lilac three-pointer and another Brewster inside score left Hoosick Falls ahead, 17-15, at the first quarter break.
The Warriors’ 15-12 lead in period one would be the last time the visitors would lead. The Panthers’ Quinn Rasmus hit a three-pointer to open period two. McMahon, a 6’6” center/forward who is used to break the press and is out front in the Panthers’ motion offense, scored twice on consecutive drives, good for a 24-15 Panther spread. McMahon canned a foul shot to give HFCS a 25-15 lead which completed an 8-0 Panther run. After a Warrior foul shot, Brewster scored inside again, and Lilac knocked down a trey from out front, giving HFCS a 30-18 advantage. But a hard nosed Warrior five closed the half with a 5-0 spurt to close their halftime gap to 30-23.
McMahon opened period three with an inside score and then completed a conventional three-point play to propel the Panthers into a 35-23 lead. Hutton Rasmus scored on a right baseline jumper and added two foul shots before Lilac gave HFCS their biggest lead of the night with a three-pointer from the right side. HFCS led, 42-27 with 4:47 left in period three.
The teams were exchanging points. McMahon scored off the Panther fast break, and Lilac scored on a right baseline drive. Quinn Rasmus hit a foul line jumper for HFCS. Lilac hit a trey from the right side with :28 left in the quarter, giving the hosts a 52-37 bulge entering the final eight minutes.
Stillwater hung around in the fourth quarter like a bothersome, summertime gnat. HFCS could never quite shake the Warriors. A Tanner Williams drive and two McMahon free throws gave HFCS a 56-39 lead. But Stillwater went on a 6-0 run to close to within 56-45 with 5:14 to play. Then Williams hit a trey from the right side. Williams, a sophomore, then stole the ball and went in for a layup, giving HFCS a 61-45 led with 3:55 left. An old time three-point play got Stillwater to 61-48 with 3:27 to go.
But that was it for the Warriors. Quinn Rasmus hit both ends of a one and one foul shot opportunity, and Brewster hit another free throw. After Stillwater hit a foul shot and scored inside, Lilac beat the shot clock with an off balance three-pointer. Then McMahon closed out the night’s scoring with two free throws to salt away the Panthers 69-51 win.
McMahon with 19 points, Lilac with 20, Quinn Rasmus, 8, Hutton Rasmus, 9, Williams, 8, and Brewster with 5 scored for the Panthers. For Stillwater, Jake Izzo led the way with 13 points.
Rebounding From Afar: Stillwater looked like a pretty good team despite being near the bottom of the league standings. The Warriors played hard, and Hoosick Falls had trouble shaking the Stillwater five. HFCS missed seven first half free throws. Missed free throws in basketball are like missed extra points in football. They sometimes catch up with you later in the season. Next up for HFCS is a big league encounter at Granville with the Golden Horde this coming Friday night, January 15. The Class B-sized Horde are for real, finishing second behind HFCS in the league race a year ago. The Panthers will have their hands full, but a sound effort on the boards and at both ends of the court should go a long way toward a Hoosick Falls win. But it may not be easy.
