by Ryan Mosher
The Hoosick Falls boys basketball team kicked off their postseason with a quarterfinal match up at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday against #9 seed Taconic Hills. The Titans beat #8 Maple Hill to earn the right to play the top seeded Panthers.
Hoosick Falls wasted no time jumping out in front, as Quinn Rasmus scored on the first possession. The Panthers used a fast pace to score the first ten points of the game and build a 15-6 lead after one quarter.
The fast pace carried over into the second quarter and the Titans could not keep up. The Panthers scored time and time again on fast break layups, wearing the Taconic Hills team down. Minutes into the quarter, Hoosick Falls had stretched the lead to double digits, and would not let it back into single digits. At halftime, the Panthers had a 29-14 lead.
The game wasn’t all bad for Taconic Hills. In the second half, they held Hoosick Falls to just four field goals. Unfortunately, they sent Panthers to the line 25 times in the second half, and, to do their part, Hoosick Falls hit 20 of those free throws. In the end the Titans just could not keep up with the Panthers, who advanced with the 57-34 victory.
Tanner Williams and Alex Lilac led the team with 14 points each. Lilac scored all 14 of his points from the charity stripe, including shooting 9 for 10 in the fourth. John Hayden added 12 points, and Quinn Rasmus scored 10 for the Panthers.