by Gary Danforth
Well, the Hoosick Falls Central School girls basketball team didn’t get a win last Friday night, January 22, when they hosted Cambridge Central School in a WASAREN League game, but they did give a very good accounting of themselves in their 57-43 loss. Coach Kerry Brannigan’s Panther five trailed by just a slim 48-42 margin with 3:20 left before Doug Luke’s CCS quintet finished the game with a 9-1 run to make the final score much more lopsided than the game was. Hoosick Falls played tough to the end and hung in there like moss on a tree. With but one win on their side of the slate this year, I have been impressed with how hard these young people have played together. With this latest setback, HFCS drops to 0-9 in league action and to 1-12 on the year.
This ball game was deadlocked at 8-8 after eight minutes. CCS jumped out to a 6-0 lead before HFCS, as they did on this night and throughout the year, battled back. Three-pointers by Samantha Skott and Emily Wilwol and a right baseline jumper by Shelby Jones forged the tie for Hoosick Falls.
In a back and forth tussle, a trey by the Panthers’ Jen Priore knotted the score at 13-13. Two Erin Shea free throws again tied the score at 15-15 with 4:58 left in the opening half. CCS spurted to a 21-15 spread before a Priore right side jumper drew HFCS to 21-17 with 2:00 remaining in period two. Cambridge got some breathing room, leading 24-17 at the break.
Cambridge tried to put the Panthers away early in period three. But HFCS would have none of it. Hoosick Falls rained five consecutive three-pointers down on the Indians. It was like a wild west shootout. Priore connected from the left side. Wilwol drained a trey from the right side. Skott knocked down a three from the right side. Shea canned a three-pointer from the right side. Skott hit another trey from the right side. With CCS hitting two treys between Panther three-pointers, when the smoke cleared, Cambridge had a 35-32 lead with 5:17 still to be played in quarter three. A Skott foul shot, a Priore three-pointer and an Alyssa Schneider right baseline drive pulled HFCS within 2 at 46-38. Two Jones free throws kept HFCS close, 46-40, entering the final eight minutes.
HFCS missed a one and one free throw opportunity before getting to a 48-42 deficit with 3:20 left in the game. Then CCS went on their 9-1 run, interrupted only by a Skott foul shot with 1:42 left, to move out to their 57-43 victory.
Skott with 16 points, Priore with 13, Wilwol, 6, Jones, 4, Shea, 2, and Schneider with 2 points scored for HFCS. For CCS, Molly Lauver with 24 points, Sara Tironi with 12 and Amelia Bromirski with 11 led the way.
Rebounding from Afar: Next up for HFCS is an away contest at Schuylerville on Friday, January 29, and then HFCS hosts Brittonkill-Tamarac on Wednesday, February 3. You have to remember that a lot more than basketball is being taught on the hardwood. Things like perseverance and patience on the court may translate to real life situations later on in life, like how to hang on in a tough economy.
