by Steve Bradley
When the Coxsackie – Athens Indians came out for warmups prior to the game Tuesday evening it looked like they would be a tough opponent. They were big, tall and athletic looking. Perhaps their number 15 seeding was not an indication of their abilities. It appeared this could be more of a game than anticipated. But looks turned out to be deceptive. In the end, the Panthers crisp passing on offense and a stellar defense, which gave up just 17 points by the end of the third quarter, was far too much for the Indians.
The number two seeded Hoosick Falls Panthers boy basketball team got off to a slow start. The Panthers got out to a four to six point lead through much of the first quarter. Andrew Hoag dropped in two three-pointers, and Austin Pitt added four points. When the quarter came to a close, C – A had scored 8 to the Panthers’ 14, and it looked like the Indians were going to be able to run with the Panthers.
In the second and third quarters the Panthers showed why they are a number two seed. It became clear the Indians were not going to be able to run with the Panthers. They ate the Indians up. Mark Hackett zeroed in on the hoop and dropped in four threes. The Panthers scored 19 in the second and 16 in the third. Hoosick Falls was passing the ball and finding the open man, and the open man was scoring. But where the Panthers really excelled was on the defensive end. Good shots were hard to come by for C – A. Actually, any shots were hard to come by as a few times C – A was throwing up shots just prior to the shot clock expiring. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 51 – 17. The dominating Panther D had given up four points in the second quarter and five points in the third.
No starters scored in the fourth quarter. Everyone who didn’t start played. The entire JV starting lineup, brought up for the Sectionals, got a taste of varsity play. Normally you would think this would be good for an opposing team on the ropes. But on this night, poor C – A got caught in a fourth quarter downpour of threes. The Panthers made eight baskets in the fourth, five of them three-pointers. Justin Lynch came off the bench hot as a pistol but cool inside, exploding for 11 points, including nine on three-pointers. Noah Chani added eight points, six on threes. Just for good measure, Jake Nolan dropped in another three. When the quarter came to an end the Panthers had their highest scoring quarter of the game, 22 points.
In the end, five Panthers had ten or more points. Mark Hackett and Chani had 14. Andrew Hoag had 10. Austin Pitt and Lynch had 11 points. Levi Brewster with 8, Nolan, 3, and Will Bradley with 3 rounded out the scoring.
The Next Step
The win brings the #2 Panthers another step into the Sectionals. Scheduled for 6:30 pm Friday, February 21, the Panthers will travel to Shenendahowa High School to face #10 Schalmont.
In the Class B bracket, number three seed Cohoes lost Tuesday to 14 seed Hudson by one point. Other bracket winners were #1 Voorheesville, #4 Mekeel Christian, #5 Mechanicvile, #6 Broadalbin-Perth and #8 Catskill.