Tough Shooting Night Upends Panther Girls Hoop Team

by Gary Danforth
One play might sum up last Friday night’s, January 15, girls WASAREN League game between home standing Hoosick Falls Central School and the visiting Granville Golden Horde. With 3:20 left in the third quarter, a Horde player drove to the rim and put up a shot which bounced off the top of the backboard and fell through the net. The hoop was disallowed, but that was the kind of help the Granville players seemed to have all night as they cruised to a 47-31 victory. And what kind of luck did Hoosick Falls Panther shooters have? Let’s just say it was one of those off nights for shooting the basketball. They might have to repaint the rims before the next game with so much paint chipped off from errant shots. Try as they might, the HFCS girls saw one shot after another clang off the rim, roll off the rim or spin off the rim.
Hoosick Falls started period one on fire. Frankie Pearson started the night with a teardrop runner in the lane which was followed by a Samantha Skott trey from the right side. After the Horde closed to 5-4, Pearson hit another teardrop, good for a 7-4 Panther lead. Two buckets by Granville gave them an 8-7 lead before Skott stole a pass and went in for a Panther layup with 4:54 remaining in the opening quarter. That 9-8 Panther edge would be the last time HFCS would lead the Horde.
Granville started fast breaking. They scored from the left baseline and then knocked down a trey. Then they hit two more field goals. It seemed whatever they threw up at the rim went through the net. The Horde led, 17-9, before a Jen Priore right baseline jumper got HFCS to 17-11 after eight minutes.
The Panther shooting woes continued into the second quarter. In fact, Hoosick Falls didn’t score a point in the quarter as Granville led at the half, 29-11.
A Skott offensive put back got HFCS to 31-13 with 6:02 left in the third stanza. Priore canned a three-pointer with 4:20 left in period three as a tight Horde defense held HFCS to five third period points on their way to a 40-16 spread heading into the final eight minutes.
Melody Mentiply hit a layup from the left baseline to open the Panther scoring in period four. Granville hit three foul shots. Priore hit a jumper for HFCS. Alyssa Schneider hit a Panther jumper from the left corner. Granville hit a trey. Skott answered with back to back three-pointers for HFCS, the first banked in from out front and the other drained from the left corner. Erin Shea’s right side jumper ended the game on an 8-0 Panther run as HFCS closed to the 47-31 final score.
Rebounding From Afar: HFCS just could not buy a bucket. Granville’s solid defense along with holding the Panthers to one shot on many possessions had a lot to do with the Horde win. The Panther girls return home on Friday, January 22, for a contest versus Cambridge. Hoosick Falls played well at Cambridge the first time around. Look for a competitive game for HFCS against the Indians.