by Steve Bradley
The Hoosick Falls Central School Panthers boys basketball team continued its undefeated season over the past week with four wins. Two of the wins came against league foes Granville and Tamarac. The other two were good wins with one, Cohoes, putting the team to the test of coming from behind.
HF 57 Granville 40
The Panthers jumped out to a first quarter 15 – 5 lead, then hit a wall – the ball just wouldn’t fall in the basket. In the third quarter, Granville had chipped away at the lead until they finally tied the game at 30, outscoring the Panthers in the second quarter, 19 – 11. From there, the Panthers regained the upper hand and gradually pulled away from the Golden Horde.
Connor McCart led the way with 26 points and 17 rebounds with Andrew Hoag chipping in 11 points.
Lately, up until January 9, 2015, Granville was 0 – 50 in WASAREN league competition. Granville has applied for admittance into the Adirondack League, competitiveness and travel time being the top reasons cited. The vote of the 13 Adirondack League teams must be unanimous to allow Granville to enter. Granville would be the largest school in the league. Football and field hockey would not be affected. Only 29 percent of Granville senior boys participated in a sport this past fall, a number that should be around 50 percent.
HF 67 Cohoes 61
This was the game of the week. A Saturday afternoon matinee crowd at HFCS had just watched an exciting early girls varsity game that wasn’t decided until the last second, then they were treated to a encore performance of thrilling basketball.
Cohoes did some pretty fancy shooting in this game, shooting the lights out for a good part of the game. Dropping in three-pointers one right after the other kept the Tigers in the lead through three quarters. The Panthers stayed within range but couldn’t catch up. When the Tigers went up by 12, it looked like the Panthers could be facing their first loss of the season. By the end of the third quarter, Cohoes was leading 51 – 46.
But all good things must come to an end, and the hot shooting streak that the Tigers enjoyed came to an end in the fourth quarter. Even more horrifying to the Tigers, the Panthers dazzled themselves and the crowd on both ends of the court. Defensively, the Panthers kept the Tigers in check and got the rebounds to give them the ball. Once in possession, the Panthers quickly moved downcourt and wasted no time in going right to the hoop. Everything clicked for the Panthers. With a couple beautiful assists by Will Bradley, along with great team ball movement, it all fell into place. It was a coach’s dream to watch. With the crowd roaring their approval, the Panthers literally roared up to tie the Tigers, then left the Tigers in the dust.
Will Bradley scored 22 points, and had 8 rebounds and 11 assists. Andrew Hoag had 15 points. Connor McCart and Austin Pitt each added 10.
HF 67 Mt. Anthony 51
Mt. Anthony’s Damon Burgess got off to a blistering start Monday evening when he scored every one of his team’s 15 points in the first quarter. But, in a double whammy for Mt. Anthony, Hoosick Falls’ Connor McCart scored 12 of his own in the same period, and Burgess never scored again. With Andrew Hoag and Will Bradley each dropping in a basket, the Panthers held a two point advantage at the end of one quarter.
In the second quarter, with Burgess cooling down and the Panthers heating up, Panther sharpshooters put 21 more points on the board to the Patriots’ six, taking the home team Panthers to a 38 – 21 halftime lead.
The Patriots came out in the third quarter with a quick flurry, but by midway through the quarter the Panthers put a stop to any thoughts Mt. Anthony may have had about getting back in the game. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the game was over and both coaches substituted liberally, with many future players getting in some time.
Connor McCart dropped in 30 points, Andrew Hoag added 14, and Will Bradley chipped in 10. Jake Nolan came off the bench and filled in admirably for injured Noah Chani, dropping in nine points on three three-pointers.
HF 70 Tamarac 36
The score pretty much sums it up. Tamarac grabbed a 2 – 0 lead before the Panthers took control. Racing out to a 19 – 4 lead, the Panthers totally dominated the game. Even though starter Austin Pitt and sixth man Noah Chani were unable to play due to sickness, it wasn’t much of a contest.
The Panthers are ranked number eight in New York State Class B. They are now 11 – 0, 9 – 0 in league competition.
Coming Up
On Friday, January 23, the Panthers will roll up Route 67 to visit the Mechanicville Red Raiders. On Saturday, January 24, the HF boys will make the trip to Lake George to face the (12 – 0) Joel Winkowski led Warriors. Winkowski is scoring over 30 points per game and has signed to play Division I basketball at UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County). Lake George is currently number two in New York State Class C. After a week of mid-term exams, the next game, January 30, will be at HFCS against the always tough Hoosic Valley. All games begin after the JV game, about 7:30.
Looking ahead a bit, on Monday, February. 9, Green Tech, currently 11 – 0, number four in Class AA in New York State, will visit the Panther Den. Class AA is made up of the largest schools is the State.