by Steve Bradley
A very busy stretch for the Panthers boys concluded Saturday evening in Lake George. Over the past 11 days the team played 7 games, concluding with the team adding another two victories to their undefeated season. Over the past weekend the boys easily defeated Mechanicville and, in a thriller, pulled out a win over Lake George. With midterm tests beginning Monday and no games scheduled during this week, the boys will get a much deserved rest until Friday.
HF 44 Mechanicville 29
Defense was the name of the game for the Panthers on Friday, January 23. Holding the Red Raiders to 3 points in the first quarter and 11 points total at the half allowed the Panthers to take a ten point lead into the locker room.
After the half, the Red Raiders chipped away at the Panther lead and outscored the Panthers 13 – 11 during the third quarter. But the Panthers’ defense stiffened in the fourth quarter, holding the Raiders to 5 points.
Mark Hackett scored 12 points, 9 of them on three-pointers, to lead the way. Will Bradley chipped in nine points, and Austin Pitt added eight points.
HF 51 Lake George 50
This game was a thriller. Late in the fourth quarter it appeared that the undefeated Lake George Warriors, number two in NYS Class C, were going to come out of their gym with the win. But the Panthers hung together and escaped to win by one point.
The first half went back and forth. Every time the Panthers were able to get out to lead, once by five points, the Warriors were able to come back. At the half the score was knotted at 22 – 22. The Warrior’s Kyle Jones hit three three-pointers in the first half. Lake George’s future Division I player Joel Winkowski had 11 points at the half and appeared determined to include all his teammates in playing the game. That mentality would change as the game progressed.
Early in the second half, everything stayed the same. The Panthers were playing their game, great defense and spreading the ball around. No one was shooting out the lights, but everyone was contributing. Lake George was using the same game plan. The game stayed close, but the Panthers opened up a gap in the score to their advantage occasionally.
The fourth quarter began with the Panthers leading 40 – 35. The lead was very shaky, and no one felt a win was in the bag. One big change was that Winkowski was beginning to assert himself. The Warriors needed points, and Winkowski was the surest thing to points they had. And he began to score points, too many of them from the Panthers point of view. Actually, he began to do everything but connect on three-pointers on the offensive end. Over the last ten minutes of the game, he scored 21 points, the rest of the team total points was zero. He was driving to the basket, getting fouled and making the foul shots (7 for 9) and basically took over the game.
With less than two minutes in the game, Winkowski put Lake George in the lead. The Panthers were looking into the eyes of their first loss of the season.
But the Panthers hung in there. They scrapped and fought for everything they could get. The crowd of each team was right there with their team, cheering them on. With the score at LG 50 – HF 47, Austin Pitt made a nice move to the hoop to bring the Panthers within one point. Lake George’s Jones missed an air ball three-point attempt on the Warrior’s possession.
With less than 40 seconds to go, the Panthers brought the ball down and worked for a shot. Not getting a shot, they took a time-out. After the time-out, with 20 seconds to go, Will Bradley went to the hoop, then kicked the ball out to Mark Hackett. Hackett attempted a three-pointer that missed everything but ended up being a perfect pass to Connor McCart, who was at the basket. McCart put the ball up and in for the go ahead point. With seven seconds left on the clock, Lake George quickly took the ball to their end of the court and had three attempts to score but couldn’t get the ball in the hoop. The Panthers got the win.
Connor McCart had 16 points; Andrew Hoag had 14, and Mark Hackett added 10. Winkowski ended the night with 34 points, but was 1 for 8 from beyond the three-point line.
Coming Up
This week the Panthers will return to a more regular schedule. On Friday, January 30, the team will host (9 – 4, 5 – 4) Hoosic Valley. The Valley has struggled of late, losing two of their last four. But records don’t really mean much in this rivalry, and good games are the norm when they play. Wednesday, February 4, will find the team hosting Cambridge, who have been more competitive lately. On Friday, February 6, the Panthers will travel to Stillwater, which is giving everyone a run for their money. Then, on Monday, February 9, Green Tech, the number one team in the Capital Region (Channel 13) and number four team in State ranking, will visit. All games begin at approximately 7:30, following the JV game.