Panther Girls Hoop Team Loses Tough One

by Gary Danforth
Last Friday night, January 8, the Hoosick Falls Central School girls basketball team came up just short in a very good effort against the Greenwich Witches in a 57-44 WASAREN League contest. In a game much closer than the final score indicated, Kerry Brannigan’s Panther five took GCS to the final minutes before this ball game was decided. With the loss, HFCS drops to 0-5 in league play and to 1-7, overall. But the effort was there on the part of HFCS.
Greenwich came out and defended the Panther perimeter like hound dogs on a fresh scent. GCS broke out to a 6-2 led before HFCS battled back and knotted the score at 6-6 on jump shots by Samantha Skott and Alyssa Schneider. An Erin Shea free throw and a runner by Frankie Pearson gave the Panthers a 9-6 advantage to close out period one.
HFCS boosted their lead to 12-6 on a Skott foul shot and Pearson’s teardrop runner along the right baseline. GCS came back with a trey from Dani DeGregory and a steal for another Witches score. Shelby Jones scored on a put back for HFCS. After a Witches score, Erin Shea hoisted up a three-pointer from long range, which banked in from out front, to give the Panthers a 17-15 lead with 2:55 left in the opening half. But DeGregory, a sophomore, hit another three-pointer and canned four consecutive free throws to push Greenwich into a 22-17 lead. Jones scored inside for HFCS before GCS hit another long trey to go into the break with a 25-19 lead.
There was no quit in the Panthers. They opened period three with a 7-0 run. Shea scored off a steal, Schneider scored in close, and Pearson knocked down a three-pointer, good for a 26-25 Panther lead. But the Witches’ Jasmine Woodard hit a three-pointer, and DeGregory scored inside and added a free throw to help GCS to a 33-26 spread. DeGregory and the Panthers’ Shelby Jones traded buckets before Woodard closed out period three by scoring twice inside, first from the right baseline and then from the left baseline, good for a 41-30 Witches lead heading into period four.
But HFCS wouldn’t go away. Jen Priore hit a trey from out front. Then Skott hit another trey from the right corner and added a free throw. Shea’s whirling reverse layup along the left baseline pulled the Panthers back to 41-39 with 6:36 to play. But Woodard knocked down a Witches trey. Pearson canned a free throw to draw HFCS to 44-40 with 6:03 left. But GCS went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a DeGregory three-pointer to lead HFCS by a 51-40 margin. Two Priore free throws and a Jones turnaround jumper were answered by a 6-0 Witches run as GCS finally subdued HFCS, 57-44.
For HFCS, Shea with 10 points, Jones, 10, Pearson, 8, Schneider, 6, Priore, 5, and Skott with 5 points scored. For the Witches, DeGregory with 29 points and Woodard with 14, a junior, led the way.
Rebounding from Afar: When more players get involved in the Panther offense it makes it much tougher on opposing defenses. Next up for HFCS is an away contest at Stillwater on Wednesday, January 13, before they return home on Friday, January 15, for a game versus the Granville Golden Horde.